BarbarousMexico JOHN KENNETH TURNER

172 BARBAROUS MEXICO
on its way to prison. The concentration of troops into
those towns was nothing short of wonderful. As before
stated, though Acayucan is comparatively isolated, 4,000
regular soldiers reached the scene WitlliI1 twenty-four
hours after hostilities began.
The second rebellion was scheduled to come off in
July, 1908. This time the Liberals claimed to have
forty-six military groups ready to rise in Mexico. But,
as it turned out, nearly all the fighting was done by
Mexican refugees, who recrossed from the United States
at Del Rio, Texas, and other border centers, armed with
guns purchased here. The Liberal leaders here claim
that every military group in Mexico was anticipated
by the government and the members arrested before
the appointed hour. This certainly occurred at Casas
Grandes, Chihuahua, and the affair, being given much
publicity, caused the groups from the United States to
act prematurely. It is also claimed that some of the
strongest groups were betrayed by a criminal who, because
of his facial resemblance to Antonio J . Villarreal,
secretary of the Liberal Junta, was freed from the
Torreon jail and pardoned by the authorities on condition
that he go among the revolutionists, pass himself
off as Villarreal and betray them. I personally know
of two cases in which emissaries who left the Liberal
headquarters in the United States carrying orders for
the rising of certain groups fell into the clutches of the
government soon after they crossed the line.
Nevertheless, the rebellion of June, 1908, profoundly
shook Mexico for a time. The fighting in Coahuila furnished
the American press with a week's sensation,
and it was a month before the last of the rebels had
been hunted down and shot by the superior forces of
soldiers and rurales.