Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/314

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298
MORELOS AND RAYON.

Martinez, captain of the militia cavalry of that port, with fifty men well provided with arms.[1] Thence Morelos marched to Petatlan. Success again attended him. Gregorio Valdeolivar, the captain in command, was in the city of Mexico at the time, and Morelos, having surprised and captured his wife, compelled her to deliver up the keys of the quarter in which the arms were stored. By this procedure he obtained possession of fifty additional muskets, and as many lances. His forces were also increased by more than 100 men. Henceforward the progress of Morelos was rapid; and on his march to Acapulco followers

daily flocked to his standard. Passing through Tecpan, Zanjon, and Coyuca, he arrived at Aguacatillo, his forces now numbering 3,000, all well armed with muskets, swords, and lances. Unlike Hidalgo, Morelos would not permit the rabble to follow him; he would not have an army of undisciplined and refractory men; he confined himself to a small but efficient force. At Tecpan he won to the cause the Galeana family, whose chief members soon distin-

  1. Martinez accompanied Morelos during the first five months of the campaign, and was then sent back to Zacatula with the title of comandante of that port, to which the prisoners taken in future were sent. Declaracion de Morelos, 19.