170 IVl K X I C O. Puente del Rey, (a pass, the natural strength of which the Insurgents had increased by placing artillery upon the heights, by which it is commanded,) nor did it reach Veracruz for up- wards of six months. The necessity of keeping the channel of communication with Europe open, induced Calleja, in De- cember 1815, to intrust the chief command, both civil and military, of the Province of Veracruz, to Don Fernando Miyares, (an officer of high rank, and distinguished attain- ments, recently arrived from Spain,) for the special purpose of establishing a chain of fortified posts, on the whole ascent to the Table-land, sufficiently strong to curb Victoria's in- cursions. The execution of this plan was preceded, and ac- companied, by a series of actions between the Insurgents and Royalists, in the course of which Miyares gradually drove Victoria from his strong-holds at Puente del Rey and Puente de San Juan ; (September 1815,) and although the latter maintained the unequal struggle for upwards of two years, he never was able to obtain any decisive advantage over the rein- forcements, which the Government was continually sending to the seat of war. Two thousand European troops landed with Miyares, and one thousand more with Apodaca, (in 1816 ;) and notwithstanding the desperate effiarts of Victorias men, their courage was of no avail against the superior discipline, and arms, of their adversaries. In the course of the year 1816, most of his old soldiers fell : those by whom he replaced them had neither the same enthusiasm, nor the same attach- ment to his person. The zeal with which the inhabitants had engaged in the cause of the Revolution was worn out : with each reverse their discouragement increased, and, as the dis- astrous accounts from the Interior left them but little hope of bringing the contest to a favourable issue, the villages refused to furnish any farther supplies ; the last remnant of Victoria's followers deserted him, and he was left absolutely alone. Still his courage was unsubdued, and his resolution not to yield, on any terms, to the Spaniards, unshaken. He refused the
