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196 existed in Sinaloa that Corona, who had meanwhile been laying his plans, now resumed the campaign with a vigor that soon reduced the French battalion in this state to the immediate neighborhood of Mazatlan.

Farther eastward, from Chihuahua to the gulf of Mexico, republican arms had met with a similarly varied fortune. The growing success of the federals in the United States created here a corresponding glow, with the hope that a portion of the surplus, or needless, northern armies would soon lend their aid to the sister cause. As a result, the victories of the imperialists in this region were less overwhelming among the Juarists, and the spring of 1865 saw a number of leaders in the field, some menacing the eastern line of Durango, and others organizing forces in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. Negrete so far mustered the largest army, of about 2,000, with which he in March moved from the Rio Florido district into Coahuila, and took possession of Saltillo on April 9th, and three days later of Monterey.

From here he advanced against Matamoros, joined by Cortina, who thought the movement favorable for again changing sides and by Carbajal, who, assisted