his services at this battle Iturbide granted Paredes a coat of arms. He was present at San Luis de la Paz where seven hundred prisoners of war were taken and he took part in the siege and capture of Querétaro and Mexico City for which he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After independence, he continued to serve in the military. His superiors viewed him as quarrelsome and Paredes found himself sent to the distant western provinces, embarking from San Blas, but a storm obliged him to return to port and continue the journey on land. In 1831, he was granted the rank of general. Entry into politics He found himself becoming involved in politics in 1835 during the collapse of the First Republic. The government had been overthrown in a coup led by Santa Anna, and Mexico was in the process of being transformed from a federal republic to a centralist republic under a new constitution known as the Siete Leyes. The centralist movement gained the support of Paredes and he was in charge of the 1st brigade which captured Zacatecas from the federalists commanded by Garcia. He then participated in the Southern Campaign in Morelia. He was promoted to division general in August, 1841 and named commander general of Jalisco. In the same month, due to President Anastasio Bustamante's inability to deal with the various political and financial crises afflicting the nation, Paredes published a manifesto to his fellow commander generals, calling for the formation of a new government. He gathered as many troops as he could, gathered more on the way and entered the city of Tacubaya where he was joined by Santa Anna. A military junta was formed which wrote the Bases of Tacubaya, a plan which swept away the entire structure of government, except the judiciary, and also called for elections for a new constituent congress meant to write a new constitution. Santa Anna then placed himself at the head of a provisional government. Despite the key role he had played in establishing the new Bases of Tacubaya, Paredes was not invited to accept any position within it, as he was perceived to lack the talents for political administration. He was simply sent back to his post as commander general of Jalisco. Nonetheless, he remained loyal to Santa Anna. The congress which was elected proved itself to be federalist and on December 11,