Page:Vol 6 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/443

Rh was done. But the reformed plan, or plan of Palo Blanco, as it was called, was but the original one in another form. Iglesias was required to recognize it in toto, otherwise the general-in-chief would be invested with the executive power. As Iglesias, the president of the supreme court, the legitimate successor of a deposed executive, was a strong constitutionalist, he would not entertain the revolutionary proposals, and rejected the plan.

Favored by the defection of the troops and garrison at Matamoros, Diaz entered that city April 2d, after a slight engagement with the cavalry which sallied out against him. The surrendered forces, amounting to 400 infantry and over 300 cavalry, were set at liberty. Escobedo, however, was already on the march to the frontier with 6,000 men in different columns, and on his approach Diaz, though he had been joined by Treviño and Naranjo, and his forces were daily increasing, was obliged to evacuate Matamoros, and directed his course with the cavalry toward Monterey, while Gonzalez with the infantry marched southward through the Huasteca. It was the intention of Diaz