The history of the rise and progress of the United States of North America, 'till the British Revolution in 1688

Front matter

MEMOIRS OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION. Printed by MacJonald and Sou, Great Sutton Stieet, Clerkenwell, London. Ji? Hams on, Fl'-cxT Hid? Wright .Sc\uf ® e n t m 1 JCwt er ill w a, " B Oil TB E I B 9-IHJLL 1'ICTl I- E *,'''•/ y / / * / ' ' i / ■ : MEMOIRS OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION; INCLUDING A NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION OF GENERAL XAVIER MINA. To which are annexed g>ome Æusnbattons ON THE PRACTICABILITY OF OPENING A COMMERCE BETWEEN THE PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC OCEANS, THROUGH THE MEXICAN ISTHMUS, IN THE PROVINCE OF OAXACA, AND AT THE LAKE OF NICARAGUA: AND ON THE VAST IMPORTANCE OF SUCH COMMERCE TO THE CIVILIZED WORLD. BY WILLIAM DAVIS ROBINSON. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : PRINTED FOR LACKIN£TON, HUGHES, HARDING, MAVOR, & LEPARD, F1NSBURY SQUARE. 1821.

ADVERTISEMENT.

. The arduous struggle for independence, so long maintained in the Spanish possessions of America, has, from its commencement down to the present eventful crisis, never once ceased to t>e an object of deep interest to the world. The extent, the fertility, the rich and varied produce of these possessions, give to them an importance which it is impossible to over-rate, and easily account for the interest which the people of every country — but, most of all, the people of so eminently commercial a country as England — have always taken in this struggle. Here, all classes and descriptions of persons may be said to have espoused the cause of the South Ame ricans. The young, the generous, and the hrave, could not remain unmoved spectators of a contest for emancipation from a grievous and oppressive yoke; the philosopher and politician looked to the incalculable influence ofthe issue, in promoting the welfare of mankind, and adding to the means of human enjoyment ; and the merchant and manufacturer saw, in regions hitherto almost closed to commercial enter-

Chapter I

Summary account of the Conquest of Mexico — Humane enactments of Charles V. — Grievances of the Americans — Loyalty displayed by them, on receipt of the intelligence of the difficulties in Spain, in 1808 — Politic course of conduct proposed to be adopted, in this emergency, by theViceroy Iturrigaray — His deposition by a faction of Europeans — Arrival of his successor, Venegas — Plot entered into to overthrow the Spanish government in Mexico — Breaking out of the Revolution, alike town of Dolores, under the direction of Hidalgo^-Gaptuie of the city of Guanaxuato — Proclamations of the Viceroy, and fiilminations of the Church — Action at Las Cruces — Conduct of Hidalgo — Battle of Aculco — Massacre at Guanaxuato, by Calleja — Battle ofthe Bridge of Calderon — Capture of Hidalgo — Death of that patriot, and of many other officers 1

Chapter II

State of the Revolution after the death of Hidalgo — General Don Jose Maria Morelos — Capture of CONTENTS. X 75 Oaxaca and Acapulco — Formation of a Congress and Constitution — Manifesto of the Junta of Zultepec — Defeat at Valladolid — General Matamoros taken prisoner, and shot — Capture of Morelos, at Tepecua cuilco — His death — Arrival of the Congress at Tehuacan — General Observations 44

Chapter III

General Mina — His early life, and career in Spain — His motives for embarking in the cause of Mexico — Arrival at, and transactions in Baltimore — Departure of the Expedition — Occurrences at Port au Prince — Arrival of the Expedition at Galvezton — Treachery of Correa — Departure of the Expedition from Galvezton, and its arrival off the bar of the River Santander — Disembarkation of the Division.

Chapter IV

Soto la Marina occupied by Mina — General arrangements there — Action of Colonel Perry with Don Felipe la Garza — Continuation of events in Soto la Marina— Capture of the Cleopatra, by the Spanish frigate la Sabina — Dastardly conduct of the officers of that Expedition — Line of march taken up for the interior — A succession of events — Action at, and capture of the town of El Valle de Maiz — Occurrences at that place, and departure therefrom — Battle of Peotillos — Sanguinary decrees of the enemy — Conduct of the priest of Hideonda, and remarks thereon — Mina's progress — Attack and taking of Sierra de Pinos — Departure therefrom — Junction with the Patriots — Arrival at the Patriot fortress of Sombrero — Its description CONTENTS. XI

Chapter V

Reflections on the state of the Revolution after the dispersion of the Congress—General Don Manuel Mier y Teran — His talent and enterprise — His fall — General Don Guadalupe Victoria — General Osourno — General Don Ignacio Rayon — General Don Jose Antonio Torres — Degraded state of the Patriots after the latter assumed the command — Reflections thereon .+ , 213

Chapter VI

Action of San Juan de los Llanos — Capture of the Jaral — Interview at Sombrero, between General Mina and some of the Revolutionary Chiefs — Overture by Mina for an exchange of prisoners — Events at Sombrero 252

Chapter VII

Intelligence of the fall of Soto la Marina received at Sombrero — Investment of the fort by Arredondo — Operations during the siege — Desertion of La Sola — His base conduct — Gallant defence of the garrison — Its capitulation — The terms-- Their violation — Cruel treatment experienced by the captives, in Altamira, on the road to Vera Cruz, and in the dungeons of San Juan de Ulua — Departure of some of the captives for Spain — -Order of the minister of war at Madrid — Strictures on the violation of the capitulation, and on the decree of the Cortes, of the 10th of April, 1813 — Violation of Miranda's capitulation at Caracas — The consequences thereof — Cruelty of the Spaniards in Puerto Cavello — Dreadful measures of retaliation adopted by General Bolivar

Introduction

. It is incumbent on every person who presents a state ment of important events to the public, to unfold the sources from whence he derives his information. The writer therefore, in the first instance, with great pleasure acknowledges his obligations to Mr. James A. Brush, a gentleman who accompanied General Mina from Eng land to Mexico, and was finally appointed his commis sary-general. The journal of Mr. Brush was submitted to the in spection of the writer, with the liberty of making such use of it as was thought proper, and from it he compiled the narrative of the military operations of General Mina, of the fidelity of which not the least doubt exists in his mind; indeed, all the essential facts contained in the narrative were fully corroborated by information derived from various sources, while he was in Mexico, and by the testimony of the few surviving officers of Mina's expedition, whom he met with in Mexico and in the United States, and who were carefully consulted on the subject. To John E. Howard, Esq. of Baltimore, he likewise feels under particular obligations, for having furnished

INTRODUCTION.

. XIV him with the greater portion of the facts contained in the biographical sketch of Mina, and indeed for having infused into that sketch more animation than it would have been in his power alone to have given it. The perusal of the correspondence of Mina with various distinguished individuals in Europe and the United States, from which the writer obtained important information, was politely afforded him by General Win field Scott, to whom he likewise begs leave to offer his acknowledgments. The writer has also examined, with much attention, files of the Mexican, Havana, and Madrid gazettes, for the last ten years ; and however ridiculous or exaggerated may be their statements of the operations of the royal forces against the patriots, one feature of the story, we may be assured, they have not too highly coloured — the cruelties exercised by them.

It is from such indubitable sources, and others of a similar character, which were submitted to his inspec tion in Mexico, and other parts of Spanish America, as wellas from personal observation, that the writer has been enabled to draw the dark-hued picture of Spanish in humanity which is exhibited in the following pages. The information embodied in the chapter treating of the Route to the Pacific ocean, has been derived from various Spanish and British authorities : among the lat ter, William Walton, Esq. of London, and the late celebrated Bryan Edwards, of Jamaica, deserve parti cular notice. Several important documents relating to this subject, written by intelligent Creoles, were likewise placed in the writer's hands; and he has frequently conversed with individuals who have visited or resided

INTRODUCTION.

. XV at the places which he has pointed out as being the most eligible for the cutting of canals, or the construc tion of roads, so as to give a rapid and certain commu nication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, more especially at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec ; of the prac ticability of accomplishing which, at that place, personal investigation has also convinced him. As respects the general remarks on Mexico, and the situation, political and civil, of the people of Spanish America, he has endeavoured to divest himself of those prejudices which a citizen of the United States may be supposed to entertain in favour of a people struggling against oppression, and to state faithfully what came under his own personal observation, as well with regard to royalists as revolutionists. It is now more than twenty-one years since he made his first visit to Spanish America ; and, as far as it has been in his power to gather information, he has done so.

If he could not obtain all that he desired, it arose from his having constantly to be upon his guard against the jealousies of the Spanish government, and from the difficulty of gaining access to the Spanish archives ; but, nevertheless, he flatters himself the reader will find in the work now submitted to his inspection, some facts entitled to consideration, as well from their importance as for their novelty. It will naturally be asked, how he gained admission into the Spanish territories in America, in contravention to the laws of the Indies ? To this it is replied, that his first visit was to Caracas, in the year 1799, where he continued, in the prosecution of extensive mercantile engagements with the Spanish authorities, until the

INTRODUCTION.

. year 1806. Those engagements were with the appro bation of his Catholic Majesty, and consequently his residence in that country, during the time before men tioned, was under the royal sanction. The extraordinary manner in which his interests were sacrificed, and his personal rights outraged, by the bad faith and arbi trary conduct of the Spanish authorities in Caracas, will be found in a statement of his claims on the Spanish government, in the Appendix to these volumes, and to which he particularly refers such of his readers as may feel any curiosity to see the extent of the injuries he has suffered as a merchant, in his intercourse with the Spanish government. As respects his subsequent visits to the Spanish dominions, more especially to Mexico, he is perfectly aware that the government of Spain has said, and will continue to say, that such visits being con trary to her laws and her policy, she had a right to punish him for their infraction.

She has, on several occasions during the last ten years, enforced those laws against foreigners, by imprisonment, and in some in stances by death. When the Spanish general Morillo captured Cartha gena, he seized all the British and other foreign mer chants, threw them into dungeons, threatened to try them by a military tribunal, and would unquestionably have shot them, had it not been for the timely inter ference of the British admiral on the Jamaica station, who despatched a frigate to Carthagena, with such communications from the British authorities at Jamaica, as at once settled the question, and compelled Morillo instantaneously to release all the British subjects. The American government likewise sent a vessel of war to

INTRODUCTION.

XVII Carthagena, and obtained the liberation of several Ame rican citizens. If these measures had not been adopted, no mercy nor regard would have been extended to any foreigner who might unfortunately have fallen into the hands of the Spanish government ; because not only by the " Leyes de las Indias" was it a capital crime for a foreigner to enter the Spanish dominions, without a special authority from his Catholic Majesty, but during the present revolutions in America, the Spanish government have issued various decrees, expressly declaring that all strangers aiding the insurgents, or found residing among them, were to be punished as insurgents, by death. If these decrees have not been executed by the Spanish government, it was by no means for lack of disposition, but from the apprehension of the resentment of those governments whose subjects and citizens held intercourse with the insurgents.

The writer has been thus particular in stating these facts, because they shew that any individual, not en gaged in the military or naval service of the insurgents of Spanish America, is under the protection of the laws of nations in favour of all non-combatants; and that any attempt on the part of Spain to infringe this security is a violation of the usages of civilized nations, and a direct outrage against that nation whose subjects may have been thus wantonly punished. It is not only on these principles that the writer feels justified in complaining of the barbarous treatment he has received from the Spanish government, during an imprisonment of two years and a half, but because there are some peculiar circumstances attending the affair, which, if he is not greatly mistaken, will excite the indignation and surprise of every unprejudiced reader.

INTRODUCTION.

. XVIII The recital of this case has become the more necessary, because, during his imprisonment in the dungeons of Mexico, he was honoured with the sympathy of his fellow-citizens, and the interference of his government in his behalf. He therefore deems it incumbent upon him to prove, that he was not undeserving of such sym pathy and protection. In addition to this, he is anxious to remove all doubts with regard to his conduct, that may have arisen from the misrepresentations made in the public newspapers respecting him ; for in some of these he has been called Doctor Robinson, and in others it has been asserted that he held a military command in the service of the Mexican insurgents, and was taken prisoner on the field of battle. The writer has not in any one instance violated his neutral obligations as a citizen of the United States.

But, while making this assertion, he does not at all hesitate openly to avow, that if an ardent desire to promote the independence of all Spanish America, and more especially of Mexico, constitutes him an enemy of Spain, and cri minal in her eyes, — then he is guilty. If the fact of his having visited New Grenada, Caracas, and Mexico, during the political commotions of those countries, for the purpose of ascertaining their actual condition, and of succouring the revolutionists, as a neutral merchant, by all fair and honourable means, renders him an enemy to Spain, — then is he her enemy. If cherishing those sentiments, and a determination to persevere in promoting the independence of South America and Mexico, by every means in his power, consistent with his duties as a citizen of the United States, proves him to entertain criminal intentions towards the Spanish government, — then indeed is he criminal.

INTRODUCTION.

XIX Having thus acknowledged all that the government of Spain can possibly lay to his charge, he now invites the attention of the reader to the following detail of facts. . On the 4*th of March, 1816, he embarked at New Orleans on board the United States' brig of war Sara nac, commanded by John H. Elton, Esq. bound on a cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. When he applied for a passage, he stated to the naval commander on that station, Commodore Patterson, that he wished to be landed on the Mexican coast, for the purpose of having an interview with some of the Mexican authorities, on whom he had drafts for a large amount of money, due to certain merchants in the United States. His request was politely acceded to, and Captain Elton received di rections accordingly. The author premises this, to shew that he did not depart from the United States in an unauthorized manner, or with an illegal object in view.

On the 4th of the ensuing month, he was landed from the Saranac, at Boquilla de Piedra, a post then in possession of the revolutionists, on the coast of Vera Cruz. He thence proceeded to the head-quarters of Don Guadalupe Victoria, commandant-general of the patriot forces in the province of Vera Cruz, who re ceived him in the most friendly manner. Upon his ex plaining the object of his visit to Mexico, General Vic toria observed, that although he was unable immediately to pay the drafts on the Mexican government, yet if the writer would remain a few weeks in the country, pay ment should be made. He was the more readily induced to wait, as he was desirous to view the interesting country in which he then was, and likewise to acquire

INTRODUCTION.

. XX correct information respecting the political state of its affairs, in the expectation that it might be such as would justify his entering into some commercial arrangements, as well with the government as with individuals. But he soon discovered that the representations made to him at New Orleans by the Mexican minister, Don Jose Manuel de Herrera, and by Don Alvarez Toledo, were destitute of foundation, and indeed that in many points they had deceived him. However, as he received some flattering accounts of the situation of the patriots in the interior, and had a prospect of obtaining the payment of his drafts at a place called Tehuacan, he proceeded thither, and was received with every mark of civility by the patriot commandant, Don Jose Manuel de Mier y Teran, who accepted and paid part of the drafts, and promised to discharge the residue in a short time.

He remained at Tehuacan until the last of July, and was treated with the greatest hospitality and attention, as well by the general as by the respectable Creoles of the country. At this place he met with Doctor' John Hamilton Robinson, who was then a brigadier-general in the service of the Mexican patriots, and who had long been a very obnoxious individual to the Spanish government ; a circumstance to wbich the author in part owes his subsequent persecution by the Spanish authorities in Mexico. The author communicated to General Teran his desire to return to the United States ; but as the royalists had recently been successful in the province of Vera Cruz, and had impeded all communication between Tehuacan and the coast, it became impossible to return by the

INTRODUCTION.

. XXI way of Boquilla de Piedra , and as Teran was about to undertake an expedition against the port of Guasa cualco, at the bottom of the Mexican Gulf, on the Isth mus of Tehuantepec, the writer resolved to avail him self of that opportunity to leave the country. The conduct of General Teran on that expedition, and the circumstances which caused its failure, will be found detailed in Chapter V. of this work. A few days after Teran had left Tehuacan, on his enterprise against Guasacualco, the author followed with his servant, in company with a detachment of troops, who were escorting a sum of money. About sixty leagues from Tehuacan, we came up with Teran, who informed us, that he had met with no difficulties in his route ; that the few troops which the enemy usually kept in that part of the country, had either fled or joined him ; and that, as all the Indians were in his favour, he was confident of reaching Guasacualco in a few days.

This information afforded satisfaction to the writer, because, although he was a non-combatant, he was aware that, in the event of a battle, no respect would be shewn by the royalists to any person who might fall into their hands. On the morning of the 8th of September, Teran took possession of the village of Playa Vicente, situated on a branch of the river Tustepec, which the enemy had abandoned the day previous. The body of the patriot army, encamped on the bank of the river, opposite to the village; intending to cross it in the evening, on rafts to be constructed for the purpose. In the mean time, the general, unapprehensive of clanger, passed over to the village, with about fifteen men. The writer vol. i. c

INTRODUCTION.

. XXII liad accompanied him, and was regaling himself with eating pine-apples, in a garden at the extremity of the village, when a sudden discharge of musquetry aroused him from his feelings of security. He immediately be held Teran and his little party defending themselves against a considerable body of the enemy. The con flict was short : Teran, with one or two of his men, escaped to the river, and swam -across, amidst a shower of balls : the rest of the party were cut to pieces. During this perilous affray, the writer effected his retreat to a small thicket, which afforded him security for the time. He here had ample leisure to reflect upon his situation, and the course which he should adopt to obtain ultimate safety. He conceived it possible that Teran would attack and re-capture the village, in which case he might again have an opportunity of pursuing his route to Guasacualco ; and continued to flatter him self with this delusive hope for five days, when he be came so exhausted by hunger that he could scarcely move.

In this wretched condition, and on the point of perishing in the woods, he determined to deliver up his person to the royalists. Accordingly, on the evening of the 12th of September, he crawled from his place of concealment, reached the road to the village, and with great difficulty walked to the head-quarters of the roy alists. Being almost covered with mud, and fainting under fatigue and hunger, his appearance and situation excited the surprise and sympathy of the Spanish officers, particularly of the commander, Ortega, who in a friendly mariner took him by the hand, and inquired his name. As soon as it was mentioned, the officers exclaimed, " Thank God! (gracias a DiosJ Doctor

INTRODUCTION.

. XXIII Robinson has at last fallen into our hands." They wished to interrogate the writer very particularly ; but he declined replying, and requested they would suspend their inquiries until the next morning, for the want of sleep and food had rendered it impossible for him at that moment to gratify their curiosity. They acceded to his wishes, and supplied him with food, a change of clothes, and a hammock in their quarters. The following morning he arose perfectly refreshed, and was prepared to go through the scene which he anticipated. He endeavoured, in the first place, to convince the com mander, Ortega, that he was a different individual from Doctor Robinson ; for which purpose he exhibited his passport from the government of the United States: but he found it impossible to remove from the minds of the Spanish officers the fixed impression that he was the Doctor.

After some amicable discussion, Ortega suddenly assumed a stern aspect, and informed him, that his orders were of the most peremptory nature to put to death all prisoners who fell into his hands ; and that he was empowered to deviate from them only when an in surgent voluntarily surrendered his person, and implored the benefit of his Catholic Majesty's pardon (indultoj. He continued, " In your case, Doctor Robinson, al though your presenting yourself to the Spanish authorities has been the result of necessity, yet I am willing to spare your life, provided you claim the protection of the indulto; but otherwise, it becomes my painful duty to put you to death." At this critical moment, the eyes of all the Spanish officers were fixed on the writer, who was sensible that on his acceptance or rejection of the proposed terms depended his fate. It was answered,

INTRODUCTION.

. XXIV in the first place, that as he had not borne arms against his Catholic Majesty, nor had done any act in violation of his neutral character as a citizen of the United States, having been among the insurgents as a foreigner and a non-combatant, he considered himself under the safe guard of the laws of nations, and exempt from being considered or treated as an enemy of his Catholic Ma jesty ; and secondly, that he felt a repugnance to ask for the benefit of the royal indulto, because he should thereby tacitly acknowledge himself to be an insurgent. Ortega then said, with a great deal of heat, " Sir, you have been among the insurgents, and must be treated as one ; therefore, I once more tender to you the clemency of my sovereign." Perceiving that remonstrance was vain, and that obstinacy in refusing the proffered offer would inevitably lead to the threatened vengeance, the writer was induced to avail himself of the benefit of the indulto.

Immediately thereupon, Ortega shook him by the hand with great cordiality, and in the pre sence of his officers and soldiers extended to him the indulto of his Catholic Majesty. He was then permitted to walk about the village, and indeed no restraint was laid upon his person: he could therefore have easily escaped ; but as he had pledged his honour not to vio late the conditions of the indulto, presuming that it would be honourably fulfilled on the part of the Spanish government, he was morally withheld from thinking of such an attempt ; in fact, it was not his wish to do so, particularly as he expected to be at liberty to proceed to Vera Cruz, and embark for the United States. On applying to the commander for permission to depart, he declared, that it was not in his power to grant it, until

INTRODUCTION.

. XXV he should hear from the commander-in-chief of the pro vince of Oaxaca, to whom he would write on the subject. On the 22d of the month, the answer came from Oaxaca; but, instead ofthe writer's request to be permit ted to proceed to Vera Cruz being acceded to, Ortega was ordered to send him under a strong escort to the city of Oaxaca. This measure excited his surprise, and he immediately suspected that it was the intention of the government to withdraw from him the protection of the royal indulto. On the 23d, he proceeded on his route to Oaxaca, escorted by a body of cavalry. He was furnished with a good horse, and treated with every possible kindness, but both by day and night was closely watched. In all the villages through which he passed, he re ceived the most hospitable attentions from the inhabit ants ; but when they understood that he had delivered up his person on the faith of the royal indulto, and was still treated as a prisoner, they shook their heads, and appeared to anticipate his fate.

Some of these generous Creoles offered, at the hazard of their lives, to assist him in making his escape ; but, as he had not yet re ceived any positive proof of the intentions of the govern ment, he determined on his part faithfully to adhere to the conditions of the indulto. On the evening of the 27th, he arrived at the city of Oaxaca, and was conducted to the government house, where he was presented to the commander-in-chief, D on Manuel Obesa, who received him with great kind ness. He stated, that it was his intention to send the writer to the city of Mexico, where his excellency the

INTRODUCTION.

. XXVI viceroy would determine whether he was entitled to the benefit of the royal indulto, or not. On the writer's expressing his astonishment at such a breach of good faith, General Obesa observed, that it was sometimes expedient for the viceroy to withhold the benefit of the indultos that had been granted by his officers, but he hoped that in the present case it would be sacredly fulfilled. He added, that the writer must remain in Oaxaca until arrangements were made for conducting him to the city of Mexico ; and that, in order to prevent his being insulted by the populace, a cell should be fitted up for his reception in the convent of St. Domingo, and a strong guard be stationed there for his protection. Having thanked him for such peculiar marks of his politeness, the writer was conducted to the convent, and placed in a cell which wore the appearance of a dungeon.

A soldier was stationed at the door, and ano ther at the window. The head of the convent was a worthy friar (Don Nicolas Medina), whose countenance indicated that he could cherish benevolent feelings even towards a heretic : his subsequent conduct, and that of all the friars of the institution, was marked with the most hospitable and generous attentions. On the 28th, the commander, his secretary, and the intendant of the province, visited the writer, for the purpose of interrogating him, and of taking his de claration as to the motives which had induced him to visit the country. To the latter point he candidly replied, by stating the facts as they have been previously narrated, but declined answering many of the interroga tories, particularly such as related to the situation and views of the insurgents. He considered many