back, and he saw action at the Battle of Angostura. The American northern advance under Zachary Taylor stalled after the Battle of Buena Vista, and after the bulk of the Mexican army was called back to the capital to face Winfield Scott’s expedition from the East, Mejía was made part of a garrison that was ordered to stay in the north at San Luis Potosi where he would remain until the end of the war. In 1849, he was granted the rank of commander. In 1850 during the presidency of Mariano Arista, a revolt flared up in the Sierra Gorda led by the rebel Quiros, and Mejía was among the troops sent to pacify the region. The operation was a success and Quiros was executed at the end of the year. The region had long been a source of instability and president Mariano Arista began to plan a series of military colonies to help maintain order in the region. Mejía was made military commander of the region, but the colonization project was interrupted when the Arista administration was overthrown in 1853 and replaced by Santa Anna. Nonetheless Mejía maintained his post as the region’s political administrator The liberal Plan of Ayutla was proclaimed against Santa Anna in 1854, but Mejía remained loyal to the government, and crushed a local revolt. The Plan of Ayutla however continued to gain adherents. The governor of Queretaro, Mejía ’s superior, was overthrown, and Mejía attempted to join a counter-revolt, which however surrendered to the government Mejía would find himself pardoned by the new liberal government. La Reforma The Plan of Ayutla would triumph and result in the liberal Juan Álvarez coming to power. Under his administration would begin a series of reforms known as La Reforma which would include a new constitution, and among which were anti-clerical measures intended to strip the Catholic Church of its legal privileges and wealth. On June 25, 1856, under the presidency of Ignacio Comonfort, the Ley Lerdo was passed, nationalizing lands which were legally held communally. The measure stripped both the Catholic Church and Mexico’s Indigenous communities of the land that they owned, and it was intended to break up the land and sell it to individual owners, under the assumption that this would lead to economic development. Amidst nationwide conservative revolts, on October 13, Mejía took over the town of Queretaro, proclaiming his defense of the church