Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/778

758 defeated liberals from Jalisco had found refuge, was the general headquarters of Degollado, several governors, and other prominent chiefs. Artillery and war material of all kinds were made there for the liberal army, and thence were despatched troops in all directions. An army under Degollado himself went to operate in Querétaro and the valley of Mexico. The reactionists were so weakened that they could not assail Morelia.

Miramon's army to attack Vera Cruz consisted of 5,000 well-provided men, with 28 pieces of artillery. The town was divided into four quarters, and the positions were covered by about 1,350 infantry and 440 artillerymen; the rest of the garrison were some 1,200 men.

Cobos and Tamariz attacked the liberals in the barranca of Jamapa and were repulsed. Miramon, on hearing it, ordered the reserve division at the hacienda Potrero to retreat, and marched with the main body from Córdoba to the barranca. Oronoz received counter-orders to retreat from Omealca and take his position in the Potrero. The liberals, after destroying the bridge of Paso del Macho, retreated to Huatusco and next to Jalapa, leaving the route to Vera Cruz free. Their opponents took the Chiquihuite without resistance on the 12th of March, three pieces falling into Miramon's hands. On his near approach, Governor Gutierrez Zanmora declared martial law in the city, and on the 18th announced to the citizens that the enemy was already upon them; and so it was, Miramon's headquarters being at Medellin, which, like Alvarado, had embraced his cause.

While these operations were going on, the constitutionalists, under Degollado, abandoning Leon, Guanajuato, and Querétaro, advanced from San Juan del Rio to Arroyo Zarco, paying no heed to the