Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/305

Rh, General Rangel of the artillery entered the palace with some of the seduced troops, and seized the president and three of his ministers. Fortunately Herrera had, in anticipation of an outbreak, taken pre cautions; and warned by the war minister who had eluded the rebels, Uraga, the colonel in command at the palace, hastened to the rescue with a strong force. A brief though sharp contest, involving a loss of twenty-three men, sufficed to reduce the intruders; and elsewhere similar prompt measures served to counteract the effort of conspirators, who with bellringing and shouts of Federation and Santa Anna! sought to rally the populace. Rangel was captured in a hiding-place, yet let off by a sympathetic courtmartial with ten years confinement to Acapulco fortress, while the rebellious troops were distrib uted in different directions to brood and brew fresh trouble. The Tabasco movement was also quelled, with the arrest of the leader.