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46 violation of the treaty was, that a letter had been received from Zaragoza indicating that the safety of some 400 sick French soldiers in that town was endangered, which was purely subterfuge.

Almonte sent emissaries into the interior to undermine the loyalty of the troops and circulate revolutionary plans, and had himself proclaimed president by Taboada and others at a pronunciamiento in Córdoba. Orizaba seconded the movement the next day; and then Almonte, who had accepted the role assigned him, his ministers Colonel Gonzalez, Manuel Castellanos, and Desiderio Samaniego, Padre Miranda, and Haro y Tamariz, repaired to that city. The plan was also adopted by the city of Vera Cruz, and by Alvarado, Isla del Cármen, and other places. On the 27th, by order of Almonte and Lorencez, Taboada A left Córdoba for Orizaba with 300 Mexican cavalry, and the next day the French division, 6,000 strong, started on its march to Puebla. On the summit of Acultzingo was posted a republican force of 2,000 men, according to a liberal authority, or of 4,000, as