Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/607

Rh He was replaced in May 1851 by General Vega, who recognized that the actual method of hemming in the natives by pushing cantonments had passed its limits, owing to the lack of sufficient resources in the country still unsubdued, and the necessity for letting a large proportion of the starving troops return to attend to their long-neglected farming and other pursuits. He accordingly reorganized the men on the new Mexican system, into guardia móvil and sedentaria, and reduced the occupation along the front to the leading cantonments, where the móvil militia would be relieved at intervals by the sedentaria, which remained at home ready for any call. Vega established his headquarters at Peto, whence he directed occasional expeditions to distract the enemy and gather supplies and prisoners. The natives retaliated in different ways, partly by falling upon the reduced garrisons; and so the contest dropped into a prolonged desultory warfare, wherein several quieted districts joined, notably the eastern, encouraged by the decreased efficiency and activity of their opponents. At the same time party spirit began to add to the disorder in the gulf settlements, the main factions being that of Barbachano, the popular governor, who so stoutly upheld the rights of the peninsula against Mexico; and of Mendez, who sought to strengthen himself by appealing to the military chiefs and other federal adherents, and