Colonel Manuel Montaño marched up the surrounding mountainside to the Cerro de la Soledad to cut the town's water supply and to impede any retreat in that direction by way of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec.

Morelos, thinking that his position was unfavorable for attack, sent the colonels Ramón Sesma and Manuel de Mier y Terán to take the fort on the mountain.

They attempted to move a cannon close to the fort to assist in their attack but soon discovered that they were under heavy fire from two sides and abandoned the gun.

The royalist troops initially returned fire but as the battle progressed, they were unable to sustain the firepower until the town's defender ordered a retreat.

The last skirmish, referred to as the Juego de Pelota (literally: ball game), was the taking of a fortified position that was surrounded by a moat and trenches.

Insurgent forces were initially hesitant to advance on the well fortified position until Guadalupe Victoria hurled his sword across the pit exclaiming - ¡va mi espada en prenda, voy por ella!