The remainder of this story of revolution is a brief and unfortunate one.
Hidalgo gathered another army and led them to Guadalajara, where he
organized a government, appointed ministers, and styled himself
generalissimo. He despatched a commissioner to the United States, but this
personage soon found himself a prisoner. Arms were collected and the army
organized as rapidly as possible, but his forces were still in the rough
when, disregarding the advice of Allende and others, he resolved to attack
Calleja. He advanced on the 16th of January to the Puenta de Calderon,
where he found himself in face of a well-equipped and disciplined army of
ten thousand men, superior in everything but numbers to his undisciplined
levies. They fought bravely enough in the battle of the next day, but they
were no match for their opponents, and the contest ended in a complete
rout, the insurgents scattering in all directions.
Hidalgo hastened towards Zacatecas, meeting on his way Allende, Jiminez,
and other leaders who had escaped from the fatal field of Calderon. The
cause of liberty seemed at an end.
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