Two weeks after the Emperor’s arrival (March fifth), the republican forces, under General Escobedo, appeared before Querétaro and began to invest the town. The garrison consisted of about four thousand infantry, three thousand cavalry, and had forty-four cannon—a force so insignificant, compared with the vast armies of the present day, that it is remarkable it should have held out as long as it did against such overwhelming superiority of numbers. General Mejia had arrived at Querétaro shortly before this, with his troops from Potosi, among whom were a number of German officers and soldiers, while serving under Miramon were some six hundred Frenchmen. Immediately after the appearance of the enemy, Maximilian held a council of war with his generals. Miramon and Mejia were in favor of attacking the republicans before their forces should have time to unite—an excellent plan which was not carried out owing to the opposition of the all-influential Marquez, who held that the defence of the city should be their first consideration. Thus precious time was allowed to pass, and the imperialists looked calmly on while the enemy gradually crowned the surrounding heights with batteries. The Emperor had first established his headquarters on the Cerro de la Campaña, but when the republicans extended their lines eastward, they were moved to the Convent de la Cruz (so called from a cross erected there in commemoration of the conquest). General Miramon now occupied the former headquarters with a battery of eight guns, while the chief defence of the town was entrusted to the Mexican Castillo, an able general, but no longer young and almost entirely deaf. The enemy’s next move was to cut off the city’s supplies, both of water and provisions, hoping to subdue it by starvation. The only water now obtainable was that of the Rio Blanco, while meat soon grew so scarce that many of the cavalry horses had to be sacrificed. Juarez himself joined the republican camp for a time, but, being unable to endure the smell of powder, soon returned to Potosi. On the fourteenth of March the Juarists made their first general attack on the town, assaults being made on three sides at once, under cover of the batteries. The main struggle, however, took place at La Cruz. After a hot fight they succeeded in capturing the Pantheon, but were afterward driven out by a body of Austrians. During the attack Maximilian remained in the great square before the convent, exposed to the hottest fire, yet quite calm and apparently unconscious of the deadly hail of bullets all about him. Once a shell burst only a few paces in front of him, but fortunately no one was injured, though an adjutant had his sword bent and his clothes burned by a flying splinter. Prince Salm, always conspicuous for bravery, made a brilliant sortie and succeeded in capturing the first guns from the enemy.