Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/272

252 men, including 300 Austrians, in charge of nearly 200 wagons. On the 16th of June, when near Camargo, he was surrounded by the troops of Escobedo, over 4,000 strong, and after a bloody battle, in which half of the Austrians perished, the convoy was captured, together with nearly 1,000 prisoners. Olvera regained Matamoros with 150 cavalry, and Tucé, who had advanced from Monterey with about 2,000 men to meet him, was obliged to return with his caravans, less a large number of deserters, who took advantage of the proximity to the Texan frontier.

Mejía was now left with only 500 men, many of them disaffected, to defend Matamoros; yet he prepared to do so, withdrawing to this effect the garrison at Bagdad. Foreseeing only a useless loss of life and property, American merchants and other influential persons hastened to prevail on Governor Carbajal and General Garza, then besieging the town, to grant a favorable capitulation, under which Mejía on June 23d retired by sea for Vera Cruz with all his men, arms, and baggage, sacrificing only the artillery. Juarez refused to confirm the arrangement, and the inhabitants were held in suspense for a time.