30 September and San Luis Potosi by early November. The resulting armistice signed between Taylor and Ampudia had major effects upon the outcome of the war. Taylor was lambasted by some in the federal government, where President James K. Polk insisted that the U.S. Army had no authority to negotiate truces, only to "kill the enemy." In addition, his terms of armistice, which allowed Ampudia's forces to retreat with battle honors and all of their weapons, were seen as foolish and short-sighted by some U.S. observers. For his part, some have argued that Ampudia had begun the defeat of Mexico. Many Mexican soldiers became disenchanted with the war. In a well-fortified, well-supplied position, an army of ten thousand Mexican soldiers had resisted the U.S. Army for three days, only to be forced into surrender by American urban battle tactics, heavy artillery and possibly further division in the Mexican ranks. The invading army occupied the city and remained until June 18, 1848. As soon as the occupation occurred, the U.S. Army committed several executions of civilians and several women were raped. Among the most memorable massacres is the one reported by the Houston Telegraph and Register on January 4, 1847 when Texas volunteers blamed the Mexicans for the death of several of their companions in Monterrey. Consequently, Americans began to shoot all civilians they encountered. The newspaper, citing military sources reported more than fifty civilians killed in Monterrey in a single event. Similar acts of violence occurred in other surrounding occupied towns such as Marín (which was destroyed and set on fire), Apodaca as well as other towns between the Rio Grande and Monterrey. In most cases those attacks were perpetrated by the Texas Rangers. Several American volunteers condemned the attacks, and blamed the Texas Rangers for committing hate crimes on civilians allegedly for revenge of the former Mexican campaigns in Texas. Before and after the US occupation, a large number of civilians fled the city. In response to the occupation several local guerrilla groups emerged such as those led by Antonio Canales Rosillo and José Urrea, the latter widely repudiated by the Texans because of his leadership participation in the campaigns of the Texas War ten years earlier. Taylor admitted the atrocities committed by his men, but took no action to punish them. Mexican order of battle Army of the North Gen. div. Pedro de Ampudia, Commanding Chief of Staff: