Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/294

274 Santa Anna, with a select army of nearly 14,000 men, was already at Silao, on the way to crush Paredes and reduce to obedience the adjoining provinces. The task seemed easy enough, for their forces were scattered, and the mere appearance of so imposing an opponent might suffice to restore order. Paredes himself felt so little confidence that he prepared to intrench himself in some strong position. The news from Mexico upset the whole plan. In a council of officers it was decided that Santa Anna should reassume the role of president in order to give legality to his acts, and march at once against the capital, as the present centre of the revolt. A preliminary measure was to seize all the funds he could lay hands upon at the mint and public offices of Guanajuato and other towns, and to impress additional men at the settlements en route, all of which swelled the popular outcry. A force was left at Guanajuato to check the speeding outbreak, and as a further precaution Governor Cortazar was inveigled and made a prisoner, after having rejected the different offers of Santa Anna for obtaining his adhesion, while a partial concession was made at Querétaro by reinstalling the assembly and governor.

Fully aware that the wrath of the suspended president would turn against them, the new authorities at Mexico took prompt steps for defence, authorizing a loan of half a million and the free introduction of