“I had just delivered this message when the Emperor’s Mexican chamberlain, Severo, came and informed me that His Majesty wished to speak with me. Returning to his room, I found him already dressed. ‘I do not think it is anything serious,’ he declared with the utmost calmness, ‘but the enemy have forced their way into the courtyard. Get your pistol and follow me to the square.’
“Grill, the steward, afterward told me during our imprisonment that the Emperor did not lose his presence of mind for a moment. While he was dressing he had his sword placed by the door unsheathed, to be at hand in case of need. In obedience to His Majesty’s command I went to my room to buckle on my revolver and there my servant met me with the news that he had been stopped by a strange officer who had taken the saddle blankets from him. Having myself given the order for the hussars to mount, it was necessary for me to have my horse at once if I was to accompany the Emperor, so I told my servant to follow me and point out the officer who had prevented his obeying my orders. We met him in one of the passageways, wrapped in one of the blankets and carrying the other on his shoulder. As the Emperor had only spoken of the enemy as having entered the courtyard, I naturally supposed, meeting this man inside the convent, that he and the ten soldiers with him were our men and asked if he did not recognize me as the Emperor’s physician. He tried to evade me, pointing to a staircase leading to the roof of the convent, and saying, ‘Your blankets are up there.’
“Still in the dark as to the meaning of all this, and indignant at the unnecessary delay, I drew my revolver, whereupon the officer cried to the soldiers, ‘Desarme lo!’ (Disarm him!) I saw a row of bayonets pointed at me and heard the click of triggers and in a flash the whole thing was clear to me. Any attempt at resistance would have been madness, so, escorted by the officer and his squad, I mounted the steps to the convent roof, which to my amazement I found crowded with republican troops. ‘You are my prisoner!’ said the officer, now speaking for the first time. ‘So I see!’ was my angry rejoinder. My revolver was then taken away from me, and Perez, for such was the officer’s name, began to search my pockets with a dexterity that proved him no novice in the business. Naturally the well-filled money belt did not escape his deft fingers, nor my watch which I had with me, and this unexpected booty caused him to treat me with more favor. In spite of the danger of the situation, I could not refrain from drawing out my surgical case, which had been overlooked, and, offering it to Perez, inquiring whether he would not like that also. This voluntary gift, however, he did not accept nor did he take my note-book. There being no bank notes in Mexico, paper naturally did not interest him as much as coin or valuables, and my papers were left undisturbed in my pocket. I was then taken to the tower where the Emperor had so often exposed himself to the enemy’s fire, and placed under the guard of two men.”
So much for the physician’s experiences on that eventful night. Meanwhile, after telling Dr. Basch to get his pistol and follow him, Maximilian, accompanied by Prince Salm, General Castillo, Lieutenant-colonel Pradillo, and Secretary Blasio, went out into the courtyard. At the gates they found one of the enemy’s guards stationed, and standing near by were Colonel Lopez and Colonel José Rincon Gallardo. The latter, to whom the Emperor was well known, said to the guard: “Let them pass, they are civilians,” and Maximilian and his companions walked out unmolested. From La Cruz they made their way to Miramon’s headquarters on the Cerro de la Campaña, several other officers joining them on the way. The lines everywhere were already in the possession of the enemy and even the small body of cavalry they found assembled at the foot of the hill soon melted away, going over to the enemy little by little as their fears overcame them. Turning to Mejia, the Emperor asked if there was no possibility of breaking through with a few faithful followers, but Mejia sadly replied in the negative, saying any such attempt would be useless. Resigning himself to his fate, therefore, Maximilian ordered the white flag hoisted and a few moments later surrendered his sword to a republican officer who galloped up. The Emperor was a prisoner.
That afternoon at four o’clock Escobedo sent the following telegram to the Juarist minister of war in Potosi:
“At three o’clock this morning our troops captured the convent La Cruz. The garrison were taken prisoners, part of the enemy’s troops having retreated to Cerro de la Campaña in great disorder and under fire from our artillery. About eight this morning Maximilian with his generals Mejia and Castillo surrendered at discretion. I beg to offer the President my congratulations on this great triumph of the national arms.
Mariano Escobedo.”
A mighty triumph, indeed, for fifty thousand men to conquer a garrison of five thousand, exhausted by famine and disease, and that only by an act of treachery!
As to the manner and conditions of Lopez’ betrayal, accounts vary. He is said to have been promised as much as ten thousand piastres by Escobedo. His accomplice in the plot was a certain Anton Jablonski, but the whole affair was managed with such adroitness that not one of the Emperor’s friends had a suspicion of it. Lopez afterward published an emphatic denial of the accusation, which was supported by Escobedo and in which he had the audacity to appeal to Prince Salm for confirmation. The latter’s reply, written during his imprisonment and after Maximilian’s death, leaves nothing to be desired in the way of plain speaking. It runs in part as follows:
“To Miguel Lopez, former imperial Mexican colonel and author of the article entitled ‘The Capture of Querétaro’: