USA > Texas > The history of the republic of Texas, from the discovery of the country to the present time; and the cause of her separation from the republic of Mexico > Part 4
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Jan. 1S13. The Texans made several overtures to Morelos to be incorporated in the Mexican army then under his command, but Morelos was a man of great foresight, and though he could not help at once appreciating the diversions which the Ameri- cans had caused in his favour, still he deemed it highly impolitic to connect himself with foreigners, when he was leading not only an army, but the whole people of a country, whose great and general cause of complaint was the constant introduction and patronage which was exclusively reserved for Spaniards, the very people from whom Morelos' followers had for the most part descended, but by whom the Spaniards even were deemed and opposed
24
MEXICAN CRY FOR THE EXPULSION OF
as foreigners. Morelos, therefore, resolved to keep himself aloof from the Americans, and lost no time
in setting public opinion right on that score. While Calleja, who now filled the viceroyal chair, anxious to respond to the universal cry of the people ci Mexico for the expulsion of the Americans, gave orders for the departure of 2000 men for the province of Texas. The command of this expe- dition was given to general Arredondo, who was universally esteemed a sound politician and intrepid soldier. fle addressed himself to the various duties of his new appointment with such tact and alacrity, that in a few days he was enabled to leave the capital for San Antonio, where he found the Americans strongly intrenched. After the defes: of Elizondo before San Antonio, about two hundred Americans, outlaws and pirates,# who up to the: period had remained scattered over the province of Texas, made patriotismn their refuge, and joined their victorious countrymen, so that when Are dondo arrived before San Antonio, he found the number of the intruders increased to about 100: men. However, on reconnoitring the enemy's position, though he was not disposed to make a: attack on the town, he was resolved to bring him :: an engagement, more particularly as he entertained a very contemptible opinion of the abilities of
* The remnant of Burr's followers, who with the Lafaye". Nolans, and Hunters, were all dispersed, or put to the www. by the Mexicans, at different periods, and before any of the. petty revolutionary schemes were matured.
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THE ANGLO-AMERICANS.
Bernardo, who commanded, and was now aided by generals Toledo and Menchaca ; the former was unknown to Arredondo, but the latter was generally known as a common muleteer.
Arredondo gave his men one night's rest, and carly on the following morning he put himself at the head of his troops, and moved slowly towards the enemy's lines. This approach of the Mexicans was soon made known to the Texans, who, flushed with victory, raised a contemptuous yell, which was followed by a confused sound of voices, such as one sometimes hears in the neighbourhood of a school-boys' play-ground. Such sounds issuing from a camp then surrounded by an enemy, might have led a general less acquainted with the un- controllable boyishness of the Americans under all circumstances, into an error, by inducing him to believe that it betokened internal strife and dis- order ; but Arredondo knew the character of his enemy, and had formed his plans, which only re- mained to be carried into execution. Accordingly, he drew out three storming parties in front of the main body of his troops, and made such other movements as at once led the enemy to suppose that he meant to make a vigorous assault on their lines. The storming parties being in advance were now put in motion, followed by 700 men, while 500 were kept as a reserve. The storming parties soon came within the range of the American rifles, which was no sooner discovered by the Texans than they opened a brisk fire from the town, and
26
SAN ANTONIO RETAKEN BY ARREDONDO.
at the same time they raised another yell, where- upon the Mexicans, as it was previously arranged, retreated ; the Americans deeming this the harbin- ger of another victory, rushed from their strong- hold ; the foremost, led by Menchaca in person, were soon surrounded, and made prisoners, together with about 300 Mexicans, who had joined the Americans. This rashness of Menchaca was deemed by the Americans nothing short of a premeditated desertion on his part, while they did not hesitate them- selves to follow his example; this they did, in the Indian style, by creeping on their hands and knees through the long prairie grass until they got within range of the Mexicans who were retreating before them. But Arredondo, on finding he had thus succeeded in drawing them into the open field, sud- denly faced them, and after a short struggle com- pelled them to retreat, leaving 200 killed and wounded, and 400 prisoners in the hands of the Mexicans. Arredondo, placing himself'at the head of a squadron of lancers, pursued the Americans, making many prisoners, and putting to the sword all who refused to surrender; when he found himself abreast of the American lines, he wheeled suddenly to the right, presently crossed their trenches, and then entered San Antonio in tri- umph. Hence these outlaws, who thought again to arouse the sympathy of their country en masse, by their daring military exploits, saw their fond hopes completely blasted, and those who escaped the
27
EXPULSION OF THE AMERICANS FROM TEXAS.
disasters of San Antonio returned to their former avocation of piracy, &c., with increased energy ; but before they could reach their old haunts, they were overtaken by Arredondo, on the Trinity, where the whole of the fugitives were made pri- soners, sent to the interior of Mexico, and dis- posed of for life in the mines.
With the entire expulsion of the Americans from the province of Texas, the first revolution on the frontiers of Mexico was quelled, and Arre- dondo returned to the capital, where he received the hearty thanks and warm congratulations of his fellow-citizens; but the Americans, finding that the " strong arm " had gained them nothing, soon tried how far stratagem would enable them to possess themselves of a country which had so long attracted their " acquisitive " rapacity ; the aspect of affairs, however, at this moment did not appear quite so favourable for another "strong arm" attempt. Morelos, who had at this time been defeated by the royalists, held out no hopes to the Americans, even when in the zenith of his brilliant career, and the royalists who were now driving- Morelos into the north states of Mexico, by their contiguity could at once check any attempt that might be made in Texas by the Americans, and thus these lawless insurrectionists were kept down until the death of Morelos, who was arrested at the village of Tesmeluca, on the 5th of November, 1815, and executed at San Christoval, on the 29th of December in the same year.
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CHAPTER II.
Anglo-American Schemes in Mexico-Austin's Petition- Spanish Constitution Introduced-Iturbide at Iguala-Plan of Iguala -- Provisional Junta-Iturbide Regent of Mexico- Dissolution of the National Assembly-Rebellious State of the Country -- First Colonization Law-Abdication of Iturbide -First Republican Government of Mexico-Sovereign Repub- lican Congress -- Territorial Division of Mexico-Legislative Qualifications-Functions of the Executive-Judiciary Dis- tricts-Petition of the General Convention of Texas-Austin's Advice to the Colonists-The Close of Federalism.
Soo after the fall of Morelos, and complete de- struction of his followers, the aspect of the internal affairs of Mexico became more tranquil, and would doubtless have remained so for some years, had the Mexicans kept their Anglo-American neigh- bours at a respectful distance ; but tranquillity was no sooner restored than a host of land specula- tors and wild adventurers from the United States, entered the country in all directions; the former intrigued in the capital, while the latter, by mixing themselves up in petty brawls in the provinces, soon gained the confidence of the leaders of the factions, whose cause they espoused.
As cach demagogue appeared on the stage, he was put in possession by these American agents of
29
ANGLO-AMERICAN SCHEMES IN MEXICO.
some scheme for the aggrandisement of either himself or his party, or the total subversion of the then existing state of things. In their projects, the probability of the great honour that would re- dound, and the unlimited patronage and emolument that would eventually accrue, to the leader of a brilliant enterprise, was duly set forth.
Such schemes were widely and speedily dissemi- nated through the northern provinces; and not- withstanding that each particular plan was meant to aggrandise different individuals and parties, yet they all seemed to unite in infusing into the public mind a fresh spirit of anarchy and discontent.
1820. While all this was going forward in the provinces remote from the capital, General Austin,*
Mrs. Holley, in speaking of her brother, General Austin, says, "This gentleman was a native of Durham county, in the State of Connecticut, and presents an eminent specimen of the enter- prising character of the New England people. At a very early age, impelled by a thirst for knowledge, and ambitious to make a speedy fortune, he left his native state at the age of twenty, and was married to Miss Maria Brown in Philadelphia. Shortly after, in partnership with his brother, Stephen Austin, he purchased the lead mines, called Chesset's Mine, on the New River, Wythe county, Virginia, to which he removed, and established a regular system of mining and smelting, together with the manufacture of shot, sheet lead, &c. Miners and mechanics to prosecute this business were introduced from England, for at that time manufac- tures of this kind were in their infancy in the United States.
"Owing to causes beyond his control, this enterprise failed of stiecesa. Having received flattering accounts of the lead mines
30
AUSTIN'S PETITION.
the real " prince of hypocrites," appeared in the city of Mexico, at the head of the Anglo-American land jobbers, with his notable petition, praying to be allowed to introduce a certain number of colonists, from the United States into the province of Texas.
De Onis, the Spanish Minister at Washington, took charge of Austin's petition, and lost no time in forwarding it to the Spanish viceroy, who referred the whole business to the royal audience of the eastern internal provinces, then sitting at Monterey.
The audience received the petition with becoming courtesy, and after mature consideration, granted Austin's petition ; and on the 17th of January,
in Upper Louisiana, now Missouri, he resolved to visit that dis- tant and unknown country. Accordingly, having procured the necessary passports from the Spanish minister, he visited Upper Louisiana in 1799, and procured a grant from the governor- general, Baron de Carondelet, for one league of land, including the Mine-a-Burton, how called Potosi, forty miles west of St. Genevieve, where still stands Durham Hall, the ancient seat of hospitality in the wilderness.
" After closing all his affairs in the United States," continues the same author, "he removed his family, with a number of others from Wythe county, by a new and almost unknown route, down the Kinpana river, to his new grant in 1799, and laid the foundation of what is now called Washington county, in Missouri. The early settlers of this county will bear ample testimony to his enterprise, public spirit, and honourable cha- racter. The exercise of the generous qualities brought on another reverse of fortune, and compelled him to turn with un- abated ardour, in the decline of life, to a new and hazardous enterprise in the wilderness of Texas."
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SPANISH CONSTITUTION INTRODUCED.
1821, the necessary authority was given him, to introduce three hundred families into Texas, under such conditions as the fundamental laws of Mexico peremptorily required, and which Austin bound himself to respect, decming them by no means arbitrary at this period.
Having accomplished his object so far, Austin returned to the United States, where he died, leav- ing his son, Mr. Moses Austin, to complete the crea- tion of a new world. While the Anglo-Americans were thus engaged in securing a footing in the eastern part of Mexico, party spirit had risen gra- dually to an alarming degree in the interior of the country. Murmurs from the remotest districts were echoed in the capital. The Spanish viceroy found himself deserted by many of the first creoles in Mexico, while none seemed anxious to supply their place. These symptoms, however, did not make any visible impression on the mind of Apodoca, who was then the viceroy. He flattered himself that he could at all times call to his assistance the priest- hood, whose influence had been restored by his predecessor Venegas, and which he deemed suffici- ent of itself to sustain his authority as the Spanish viceroy. He called to mind the tranquillity that followed, and reigned, in his own imagination only, after the death of Morelos; and in his weakness and inactivity he shrunk from making examples of the disturbers of the public peace, while he neglected to inquire into the character of the new and general
32
ITURBIDE AT IGUALA.
complaint, or the nature and extent of the agency employed to irritate the public mind.
The introduction of the Spanish constitution helped to increase the discontent of the people of Mexico at this epoch, who only wanted a leader in whom they could confide, to relieve them of the Spanish yoke altogether.
Augustine Iturbide, a creole, and a general of great experience, at once saw that the introduction of the Spanish constitution into Mexico, prepared as it was under the eye of Europe to mystify and baffle the intrigues of two powerful parties in Old Spain, had brought New Spain into a most singular and critical position, unanimously disposed as the latter then was to shake off the yoke of the mother country. The emergencies of the latter were of a different nature, which the constitution was totally inadequate, or, in fact, was never meant, to obviate, while by bestowing an elective franchise upon her colonial subjects, it gave a power which was exercised only as the medium of expressing the true sentiments of the nation on the great question of independence.
Iturbide, who had for four years kept a vigilant eye on all that was going forward in Mexico, lost no time in preparing his plans, founded on his own practical experience, and, being then in command of a body of troops, openly declared the inde- pendence of Mexico.
The first success that attended Iturbide was the
33
PLAN OF IGUALA.
seizure of a conducta, with 1,000,000 dollars, en route to Iguala, where he subsequently established his head-quarters, and published a plan of constitu- tional government, generally known as the " Plan of Iguala." After the promulgation of this plan, Iturbide was hailed throughout Mexico as a true patriot, and was looked up to as the deliverer of his country, to whose standard the people flew with one voice and unparalleled eagerness.
The " Plan of Iguala," considering the peculiar situation of Mexico at the period of its promulga- tion, is certainly one of the ablest state documents that ever fell from the pen of a statesman. It brought about a great moral revolution throughout a country filled with conflicting interests, without bloodshed. It consolidated the various views and interests of the innumerable factions into which the nation had fallen, as it at once removed the cause, and securing the great and first object of all, viz., the independence of Mexico, which it sub- stantially guaranteed, as follows :---
PLAN OF IGUALA.
ARTICLE 1. The Mexican nation is independent of the Spanish nation, and of every other, even on its own continent.
Aur. 2. Its religion shall be the Catholic, which all its inha- hitants profess.
ART. 3. They shall all be united, without any distinction be- tween Americans and Europeans.
ART. 4. The government shall be a constitutional monarchy.
ART. 5. A junta shall be named, consisting of individuals who
D
34
PLAN OF IGUALA.
enjoy the highest reputation in the different parties which have shown themselves.
ART. 6. This junta shall be under the presidency of his Ex- cellency the Conde del Venadito, the present Viceroy of Mexico.
ART. 7. It shall govern in the name of the nation, according to the laws now in force ; and its principal business will be to convoke, according to such rules as it shall deem expedient, a congress, for the formation of a constitution more suitable to the country.
ART. S. His Majesty Ferdinand VII. shall be invited to the throne of the empire; and, in case of his refusal, the Infantes Don Carlos and Don Francisco de Paula.
ART. 9. Should his Majesty Ferdinand VII., and his august brothers, decline the invitation, the nation is at liberty to invite to the imperial throne any member of reigning families whom it may select.
ART. 10. The formation of the constitution by the congress, and the oath of the emperor to observe it, must precede bis entry into the country.
ART. 11. The distinction of castes is abolished, which was made by the Spanish laws, excluding them from the rights of citizenship. All the inhabitants of the country are citizens and equal, and the door of advancement is open to virtue and merit.
ART. 12. An army shall be formed for the purpose of religion, independence, and union, guaranteeing these three prin- ciples, and therefore it shall be called the army of the three guarantees.
ART. 13. It shall solemnly swear to defend the fundamental basis of this plan.
ART. 14. It shall strictly observe the military ordinances now in force.
ART. 15. There shall be no other promotions than those which are due to seniority, or which shall be necessary for the good of the service.
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PLAN OF IGUALA.
ART. 16. This army shall be considered as of the line.
ART. 17. The old partisans of independence who shall imme- diately adhere to this plan, shall be considered as individuals of this army.
ART. 18. The patriots and peasants who shall adhere to it hereafter shall be considered as provincial militia-men.
ART. 19. The secular and regular priests shall be continued in the state in which they now are.
ART. 20. All the public functionaries, civil, ecclesiastical, poli- tical, and military, who adhere to the cause of independence, shall be continued in their offices without any distinction between Americans and Europeans.
ART. 21. Those functionaries, of whatever degree and condi- tion, who dissent from the cause of independence, shall be divested of their offices, and shall quit the territory of the empire, taking with them their families and their effects.
ART. 22. The military commandants shall regulate themselves according to the general instructions, in conformity with this plan, which shall be transmitted to them.
ART. 23. No accused person shall be condemned capitally by the military commandants. Those accused of treason against the nation, which is the next greatest crime to that of treason against the Divine Ruler, shall be conveyed to the fortress of Barrasbas, where they shall remain until congress shall resolve on the punish- ment which ought to be inflicted on them.
ART. 24. It being indispensable to the country that this plan should be carried into effect, inasmuch as the welfare of the country is its object, every individual of the army shall maintain it, to the shedding (if it be necessary) of the last drop of his blood.
Town of IGUALA, Feb. 24, 1821. 1755215
From the date of Iturbide's plan, Mexico must be considered as an independent nation, as the Spanish troops never after that day dared to take the field D 2
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PROVISIONAL JUNTA.
against the people, and the resident Spaniards seemed to give up all thoughts of resistance ; while the commander-in-chief of the troops newly arrived from Spain deemed it expedient to accept the terms proposed to him by Iturbide, to save the effusion of blood.
Having thus set the Spaniards at defiance, Itur- bide entered the capital on the 27th of September, 1821, without bloodshed, and immediately issued a proclamation establishing a provisional junta in the capital.
The first act of this junta was to appoint a re- gency of five members, with Iturbide as president. This act gave offence to Generals Victoria and Bravo, who with several others were ordered to quit the country by Iturbide. The junta next prepared a plan for assembling a national congress ; and after secing its realization in the capital, on the 24th of February, 1822, it dissolved itself.
Previous to the dissolution of the provisional junta and the assembling of the congress, the foundation stone of the short-lived Mexican mo- narchy was laid by the wonderful Iturbide. He was now at the head of the regency, and by the wise disposition of his patronage he drew round him those whom he knew to be devoted to his person. But unfortunately for him, and the na- tion too, his train was soon filled with the mean, the weak, and the wicked. Fawned on by the mean, unopposed by the weak, and prompted by
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37
ITURBIDE, REGENT OF MEXICO.
the wicked, to seize upon the first opportunity of securing to himself a throne, of which they were to form the gaudy pillars; Iturbide, although a man of the strongest mind, was not proof against double- tongued flattery and admiration; and being a re- gent, invested with the supreme, but not the sole command of the nation, he did not, or rather could not think it his place, to suspect those, who only a few days before held higher offices in the state than himself.
They represented to him, that he was to consider himself as elected to the Regency by the unani- mous voice of the people : therefore, it only re- mained for him to declare himself Emperor of Mexico. And thus, while he was led on within the walls of his palace, he found himself so completely compromised by his crafty partisans without, that he was obliged to declare his intention of appear- ing before the people as their emperor ; which was no sooner whispered in the capital, than the popu- lace collected round the palace, and with many hearty " hurrahs" approved the past conduct and
future intentions of Iturbide. While this was going forward in the capital, many counter in- trigues among the Spanish residents and the old insurgents took place. The former were divided into Constitutionalists, Bourbonists, and Impe- rialists ; and such of the first who were in the northern provinces unanimously declared in fa- vour of republicanism, and only wanted a man to
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ITURBIDE PROCLAIMED EMPEROR.
lead them in arms upon the capital, to enforce its establishment. Iturbide, who had allowed the national congress to meet on the day appointed, (24th of February, 1822,) without discovering his intentions, thus taking time to see how parties stood in the national assembly, soon found it to be divided into innumerable factions of about equal numbers. He therefore resolved to wait no longer. Accord- ingly, on the 18th of May, 1822, he publicly declared his intention of placing himself on the throne, and on the same day he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico, under the title of Augustine I. ; and as such he appeared before the congress on the following day, and was received, when the emperor imme- diately issued a decree confirming the authority of congress ; and the assembly continued in session until the 30th of October, when republican parti- sanship became so manifest in the national assem- bly, that Iturbide issued an order for its immediate dissolution ; and the bearer of the order, (General Cortazar) which was read to the congress, was desired to clear the house, and convey the key to the palace, which was accordingly done.
The sudden dissolution of the national assembly was eagerly seized by the republicans as a sufficient pretext for taking up arms against the emperor, which they did in the month of December, 1822, under General Santa Anna, military commandant of Vera Cruz.
Santa Anna, a young, brave, and ambitious
39
DISSOLUTION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
officer, published an address to the Mexican nation, in which he accused the emperor of usurping and trampling on the rights of the people, and finally of gross perjury.
The promulgation of this address no sooner reached the capital, than Iturbide entrusted the government of the country to the junta of forty- five members, whom he had appointed on the 31st of October, and proposed leading the imperialist troops in person against the insurgents; but he was subsequently dissuaded from placing himself in such a perilous situation, and the command of the troops destined to oppose Santa Anna, (in favour of whose republican views the garrison of Vera Cruz, and many of the northern provinces had decided) was consigned to General Echavari, a Spaniard of moderate principles, and warmly at- tached to Iturbide's person.
The present distressed state of Mexico must be ostensibly attributed to the premature dissolution of the national assembly by Iturbide. This step, although dictated by the soundest policy as regards the maintenance of his throne, proved however no less a national calamity. First, it showed that Itur- bide was the author of his own aggrandisement, and that he was not only ambitious, but impatient of legitimate restraint, and jealous of the rights of the representatives of the nation, which caused the most intense anxiety and excitement throughout the country. It gave to those who lost their seats in
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