The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1 Page: 11
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for Austin’s Colony.
11
congress, whose members had been dispersed by the arbitrary order of
the emperor, on the 31st October; and that its deliberations should be
free from military restraint. General Victoria suddenly appeared from
the retreat where he had remained concealed, since his flight from Mex-
ico, in February, 1822, and joined the congress party. A severe, though
not decisive battle, was founght at Xalapa, on the 21st of December,
between Santa Anna and the imperial troops, in which the former failed
to get possession of that town. General Guerrero and Bravo also retired
suddenly from the capital, and took the field in favor of congress, at
the head of the guerillas, in Oaxaca, and towards Acapulco; and on the
2d of February, the army that was beseiging Santa Anna in Vera Cruz,
under the command of Gen. Echavarri, revolted in a body from the
emperor, and forming a junction with the beseiged, declared in favor
of congress, and published another plan, similar to that of Santa Anna’s,
called the Plan of Casa Mata. These events gave great impulse to the
revolution, which spread through the provinces of Vera Cruz, Puebla,
Oaxaca, and parts of Mexico. Vivanco, the captain general of Puebla,
declared in favor of congress; and owing to his popularity with the
soldiers, was appointed commander-in-chief of the ‘‘liberating army.”
All the other parts of the nation, however, had thus far appeared to
remain quiet, and in favor of the emperor: though a general anxiety,
suspense and excitement, had prevailed since Santa Anna’s defection;
which was daily becoming more intense, and tending towards a decisive
crisis. On the 19th February, the minister Jose Manuel Herrera, secretly
fled from the capital, and concealed himself so effectually, that he was
supposed to be dead for two years afterwards. And on the 20th and
21st, information was circulated in the city, of the general defection
from the emperor, of those parts of the nation, which had heretofore
remained passive; and Iturbide began to be publicly spoken of as a
usurper; and some were of opinion that all his acts would be annulled
by congress. This would have thrown Austin back to where he started
the year before: and it was therefore too important a matter to be left
unattended to. Fie consulted several lawyers and other persons of in-
formation on the subject: some gave the opinion that all acts of the
government de facto, of such an individual nature as this, where the
rights and interests of individuals alone were concerned, without being in
any way connected with the general politics of the government or nation,
would be good; and others thought that it would be safer to obtain the
sanction of congress. It was sufficient for Austin, that any doubt ap-
peared to exist; and he determined to suspend his journey to Texas, and
wait the meeting of congress, which it was now evident, must soon take
place.
Early in February, the emperor marched out of the city in person, at
the head of all the troops he could collect, and occupied a station at the
village of Istapaluca, five leagues on the road to Puebla. Finding, how-
ever, that he could not rely upon his troops, and that the opposing force,
which was approaching on the Puebla road, under Vivanco, greatly ex-
ceeded his, and was daily augmenting by desertions from his own army;
he consented to a cessation of hostilities, and commissioners were ap-
pointed on both sides, to treat. ' The said commissioners met in the
village of Mexicansingo, a few leagues out of the capital, and agreed in
substance: that the emperor should retire to Tacubaya, three leagues
(11)
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Gammel, Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen. The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 Volume 1, book, 1898; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5872/m1/19/?rotate=270: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .