Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/814

794 back to Mexico at 2 o'clock in the morning of the 23d, and summoned his ministers for eight o'clock to consult on the situation, after which he retired to snatch a little rest till the appointed hour. The representatives of France and Spain attended the council of ministers, and as a result of their deliberations repaired, accompanied with generals Berriozábal and Ayesteran, to Gonzalez Ortega's headquarters, to treat on terms of capitulation. Miramon had an intention of retiring to Puebla. The whole day passed in discussions, and in adopting precautions to prevent desertions, alarming symptoms of defection being noticed in the several barracks. At last it was resolved that the only course left was to capitulate. But Gonzalez Ortega would listen to nothing but unconditional surrender; and when the commissioners returned, on the 24th, the cry then was, each one for himself; the ministers went into hiding, and Miramon surrendered the city to Degollado and Berriozábal, who had been chosen by the ayuntamiento for the preservation of public order till General Ortega's arrival; after doing which, the remaining troops, and many prominent reactionists, among them Miramon and Zuloaga, assembled in the Ciudadela, and after dividing among themselves $140,000, started together by the Toluca road, Miramon disappearing after a while. In his attempt to reach the coast, he narrowly escaped capture at Jico, in the vicinity of Jalapa; his companions, Isidro Diaz and Ordoñez, were taken. Miramon remained in concealment at Jalapa, and finally was conveyed by a French man-of-war's boat on board a vessel of that nation, called Le Mercure, that took him to Europe.