The economic heart of the area was the railroad, which was constructed in 1881 and connected Mexico City with Pachuca, Tulancingo, Puebla and the Ometusco Hacienda in Hidalgo state.
A few days later, 7,000 reinforcement loyalists troops arrived under the command of Ciriaco del Llano and José Gabriel de Armijo from Asturias, Guanajuato, Lovera, San Luis Potosí, Zamora and Tulancingo.