Reinosa to face the now allied opponents, but was so severely chastised during an attack on Cerralvo, at the close of November, that he took refuge across the border. In the following February he made a fresh inroad, with about five hundred men. The government was on the watch, however, and forced him back at once with considerable loss.[1] The old tariff was now restored, to the relief of creditors and foreign traders, and pretexts for sympathetic pronunciamientos, notably at Tampico and in Vera Cruz, were removed.
The government lodged a reasonable protest against the criminal forbearance which permitted adventurers to enroll and equip in Texas for raids into Mexican territory. Orders were accordingly issued in the United States for checking such movements, but the local authorities had reasons for giving little heed to them.[2] Mexico, therefore, remained exposed to this infliction, as well as to the inroads of wild Indians, for which her northern neighbor was likewise blamed, although less at fault. By the treaty of Guadalupe, the government of the United States had bound itself in a measure to check this evil, only to find the task beyond its power, owing to the habits of the savages and the vast expanse and wild nature of the region which sheltered them. It could not protect its own settlements against such swift and flitting marauders.
- ↑ The Mexicans claimed to have killed 48 men and captured 143 rifles and the solitary field-piece, while acknowledging 6 killed and 9 wounded. The battle took place Feb. 21st near the Rio San Juan. Carbajal retreated during the night. The old tariff was restored three months later. Comments in Méx., Discurso, 4-11; Sistema Prohib., Represent. á favor, 1-16; Pap. Var., cxcix. pt 5; ccxxiv. pt 10. See also Universal, Siglo XIX., and Español, during the months in question. Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, iv. 248-53, etc.
- ↑ Carbajal was arrested at Brownsville during the spring of 1852, but was released on a comparatively insignificant bail. Zamacois, Hist. Mej., xiii. 488, 530-1, joins in bitterly condemning such farcical interference.
for the combatants on both sides remained carefully under cover. Ávalos was wounded in the leg by a spent ball, 'ct courut se cacher.' Hist. du Mex., ii. 235; Id., Miss. Adven., 330-5. Carbajal had 300 U. S. riflemen and 600 Mexicans. Constitucional, Nov. 1851, passim; Pinart Coll. Congress conferred the title of 'leal' on the heroic city, and granted medals to its defenders. Méx., Legisl. Mej., 1852, 134-6; Sonorense, Aug. 6, 1852. A steamer arrived during the conflict with troops from Tampico, but thought it prudent to turn. The commander was arraigned. Méx., Mem. Min. Guer., 1852, 25-6.
