CHAPTER II. 1810–1816.

triumphantly, whence he passed to Orizaba where he captured artillery, vast quantities of tobacco, and a large amount of treasure. But he was not allowed to rest long in peace. The regular forces pursued his partizan warriors; and we next hear of him at Oaxaca, where he took possession of the town after a brief resistance. It was at this place that Guadalupe Victoria, afterwards president of the republic, performed a feat which merits special remembrance as an act of extraordinary heroism and daring in the face of an enemy. The town was moated and the single drawbridge suspended, so as to cut off the approach of the insurgents. There were no boats to cross the stagnant water; and the insurgents, as they approached, were dismayed by the difficulty of reaching a town which seemed almost in their grasp. At this moment Guadalupe Victoria, sprang into the moat, swam across the strait in sight of the soldiers in the town who seem to have been panic struck by his signal courage, and cut the ropes that suspended the drawbridge, which, immediately falling over the moat, allowed the soldiers of Morelos a free entrance into the city!