The Mexican War of Independence: Sudden Independence - Part 5

By the latter half of the 17th century, the rule of Spain in the New World was reaching 200 years. Times were changing, both in the New World and in Europe, and the leaders of Spain knew it. Their problem was what to do about it. Spain had never had a coherent policy in its imperial rule. Since 1492, Spain was seemingly constantly at war, with an endless series of crises thrown into the mix. Solutions had to be found for the here and now, the future would take care of itself.

Erick Redington continues his look at the independence of Spanish America by looking at the Mexican War of Independence. Here he looks at how the Mexican War of Independence finished rapidly. This was in large part due to Agustín de Iturbide and the Plan of Iguala. However, independence did not bring calm and prosperity.

If you missed them, Erick’s article on the four viceroyalties is here, Francisco de Miranda’s early life is here, his travels in Europe and the US is here, and his later years is here. Then, you can read about the Abdications of Bayonne here, the start of the Mexican War of Independence here, how Hidalgo continued the war here, the impact of José Morelos here, and the changes of the 1810s here.

A print of Agustín de Iturbide as Emperor of Mexico.

The revolution in Spain meant the mother country had no credibility left either at home or abroad. The country was a basket case. For the last 30 years, some of the most feckless and dim-witted leaders in the sorry history of humanity had presided over the Spanish people and empire. Revolutions, war (worse—a guerilla war), coups, invasions, mismanagement. You name it, Spain had gone through it. The country could not get its act together. What was there left to be loyal to at this point?

The grueling continuation of the war of independence was destroying New Spain. Most of the original leaders of the war, on both sides, were either dead or out of the country. The economy had been devastated. The rebels had their backs to the wall, and there seemed to be no way for the rebels to militarily achieve their goals, namely the expulsion of the Spanish and freedom for the people of Mexico. The situation seemed hopeless. Yet, within a matter of months, Mexico would achieve its independence. This was due to the machinations of one man, Agustín de Iturbide.

Return of Iturbide

Iturbide has been seen before, in the decisive defeat of Morales’ army. He was born in Valladolid (as seemingly so many others in this war were). After studying at the Colegio de San Nicolás (again, as so many others did), he joined the royal army and progressively rose through the ranks. Recognized as a bold and forceful soldier, he achieved several victories against Morelos.

Cruelty was something that came naturally to Iturbide. He ruthlessly crushed his opponents and harshly punished civilian populations that had supported the rebels. To celebrate Good Friday one year, he had 300 rebels executed. Relieved of command in 1816 for corruption and graft in even greater excess than those around him, he spent a year on the sidelines clearing his name, which he did. Despite his exoneration, Iturbide would never forgive those who sullied his name.

Iturbide was young and dashing on the battlefield. Handsome, and cutting a good figure on a horse, he looked like a hero out of central casting. But still, he was born in New Spain. The leaders of the viceregal government, particularly Calleja, had never really trusted him. Ambition is a good thing, in moderation, and Iturbide was full of naked ambition. During the war, he had risen from lieutenant to general. Having powerful enemies, this fact is a testament to the skill he did have. Iturbide was a good general, and a very good leader of men, which is something that gets forgotten with later events. It does explain, however, that when he did say to the effect “move in a different direction”, everyone did.

He had never forgotten his humiliation. Like an old wound that would not heal, the ordeal he went through to clear his name festered. Added to this resentment was the humiliation of what was happening in Spain. Now, he was fighting for a government that did not support the ideals he held dear anymore. There was a liberal government in Spain, and the king had been forced to reintroduce the constitution. What was the point? Perhaps, there was another way.

Seeing Another Way

Why would independence mean, by default, a social revolution and the chaos inherent in republican rule? Why would liberal ideas, which Iturbide and the rest of the royalists thought were foolish at best, and malevolent at worst, automatically guide an independent Mexico? Couldn’t an independent Mexico be guided by conservative ideals, based on order and structure in society?

What if, as the most powerful leader on the royalist side, and as a native-born Mexican, Iturbide could bring the two sides together? If the independentists and the royalists joined forces, then everyone could get what they wanted. The rebels would get a Mexico free from Spain and Spanish oppression. The royalists would get a conservative Mexico with a monarchy at its head. And Iturbide…he would get to be the leader of it all.

In 1820, Iturbide was given command of troops in the south of New Spain. This put him in direct conflict with Vincente Guerrero. The two fought several battles, with both men gaining victories over the other. However, despite the clashes, both men were exchanging letters, decrying the fighting, and trying to convince the other of their good intentions. The letters, and the subsequent negotiations, would lead to both commanders coming to an agreement.

The Plan of Iguala

On February 24, 1821, the proclamation of the Plan of Iguala was made. It was a plan made by Iturbide and supported by Guerrero. There was a list of 24 articles that laid out how the newly independent Mexico would be governed. In a brilliant piece of branding, the combined armies of Iturbide and Guerrero would be known as the Army of the Three Guarantees, after the first three articles of the plan. These were an independent Mexico, Catholicism was to be the official religion, and racial and political equality was to be had by all. There was something in the plan for everyone. Independence for the rebel leaders. Protection for the church for the royalists. Civil equality for the masses. Under this umbrella, it was felt everyone in New Spain could unite and transform the country into Mexico.

Iturbide and Guerrero met at Acatempán. When they saw each other, they embraced as a symbol of their new union, receiving cheers from their watching armies. For Iturbide, there was the concern of convincing his army to go along. This is where the previous successes of the royalists doomed the viceregal government. The former viceroy, Apodaca, had been able to sway many former rebels to come over to the royalist side. There was a not insignificant proportion of the royalist army that were former rebels. This meant many were happy about this turn of events and formed the basis of support within the regular army for this new turn. In addition, many were touched by the prospect of quick advancement in a new national army after independence. Antonio López de Santa Anna, for example, was a captain. He, at first, refused to come over to the rebel side. He was offered the rank of lieutenant colonel if he did. He began to “waver” in his firmness and was offered the rank of colonel. When he joined Iturbide, it was as a general.

The key to military support was the army of Anastasio Bustamante, commander of the royalist army in Guanajuato. Known as one of the royalist’s best commanders, and probably just as aggressive and ruthless as Iturbide, with 6,000 men under his command, he could make life very difficult for the Army of the Three Guarantees. It was not to be. Not only did Bustamante declare for the Plan of Iguala, he symbolically came over as well. This royalist commander, who had executed as many rebels as he could get his hands on, took the skull of Hidalgo out of the cage in which it had been on public display since his execution and buried it will full honors.

After Bustamante came over, the movement snowballed. Commanders in the north declared for the Plan of Iguala. By August, Iturbide marched his army into Puebla with Guadalupe Victoria, now out of hiding, by his side. Puebla was a good prize on its own, yet its position was most important for Iturbide. A new viceroy, Juan de O’Donojú, had arrived in New Spain and was in Veracruz. Iturbide had cut the route between Veracruz and Mexico City.

O’Donojú was in a tough spot. He had just arrived at his new posting and the rebels were taking over the country. He and his family were stuck in Veracruz and the city was notorious for terrible yellow fever outbreaks. His family was becoming ill, and he feared for their lives. O’Donojú was not a dumb man. He could see the writing on the wall. The only thing left to determine was if Spain could have relations with this new Mexican nation, or if the two nations would be determined enemies. O’Donojú preferred friendship.

The Treaty of Cordoba

The new viceroy came out of Veracruz to negotiate with the rebels. The two sides were able to hammer out an agreement very quickly, and the viceroy and the general signed the Treaty of Córdoba. Article 1 of the treaty stated that Mexico would receive independence from Spain as the Mexican Empire. So far so good.

The problem arose with Article 3, which stated that Ferdinand VII was to be invited to take the throne. How serious this offer was is unknown. Many conservatives supported the reactionary king, and for the liberals, Ferdinand was still the “desired one” from all those years ago. Should Ferdinand refuse, the throne would descend through his brothers. Here was the rub.

When informed about the treaty, Ferdinand immediately repudiated it and denied for all his relations any rights to the throne of Mexico. Going even further, Ferdinand notified the other courts of Europe that should any royal house accept an offer of the Mexican crown, that would finish all diplomatic relations between Spain and that country. To him, New Spain was simply another rebellious colony that would be suppressed in time. This, however, was for the future.

There was now a treaty that guaranteed independence. Iturbide, Guerrero, O’Donojú, and the rest now began a triumphal march to Mexico City. On September 27, 1821, the Army of the Three Guarantees entered the capital, bringing the War of Independence to an end. Unfortunately, the unifying act of both conservatives and liberals arriving in the capital to begin a new national life would not be the end. The conflict between the two sides began.

The Plans Fall Apart

First, a government had to be set up. The Treaty of Córdoba laid out a framework. Article 2 stated that the government would be a monarchy but limited by a constitution. Article 6 laid out that an assembly would be created, to be made up of the “most eminent” men. It was explicitly said that this assembly would be named, not elected. The assembly would then name a president (Article 9), set up the rules for the election of a national Cortes, or legislature (Article 10), and set up a regency council of three men (Article 11). The goal of the regency was to rule in the name of Ferdinand VII, or if he were to refuse, find another to take up the throne.

Of course, Ferdinand refused. With the automatic rejection from his brothers, who would be made emperor? Even Joseph Bonaparte, the usurper against whom the entire empire had risen in 1808 was allegedly offered the throne, but he refused. With no ruling houses taking the job, yet still supporting the concept of a monarchical government, someone had to be found.

In February 1822, elections were held for the first Mexican Congress. With no history or tradition of democratic rule, the elections were obviously weighted toward the wealthy and powerful. The assumption by all concerned was that the congress would assemble and ratify the choice of the new Emperor, Ferdinand VII, to be Ferdinand I, Emperor of the Mexicans.

When it became clear that Ferdinand would not be coming by the time the congress convened, the members declared that they would not be bound by the Treaty of Cordoba and would not allow all power to be concentrated into the hands of one person (which was not what the treaty said, by the way). Congress, it declared of itself, was the ultimate holder of sovereignty with a legitimate claim to exercise, not only the legislative powers, but executive and judicial as well. In addition, the congress struck at the army, considering it a threat. The army was to be reduced to 60,000 men. Further, no member of the regency council was to be allowed to hold a military command, striking directly at Iturbide.

Same Song, Different Words

There had been several attempts to name Iturbide emperor. At least twice, back in September and October, 1821, he had rejected calls to assume the throne. On May 18, 1822, soldiers of the 1st infantry regiment marched out of their barracks and demonstrated in favor of making their old commander, Iturbide, the emperor. Appearing at his doorstep, the soldiers called out for their hero to take the crown. This time, he would “reluctantly” acquiesce. The congress, now surrounded by mobs of soldiers and citizenry voted for Iturbide to become emperor. Only 15 congressmen voted no.

On July 21, 1822, Iturbide was officially declared Emperor Agustín I in the National Cathedral of Mexico. Modeled on the coronation of Napoleon, the ceremony had all the pomp and circumstance befitting the birth of a new, grand empire. New titles of nobility and offices were created for Agustín’s cronies. Orders of chivalry issued row upon row of shiny medals for the heroes of the revolution in an attempt to buy loyalty to the new regime.

The Infighting Begins - and Truly Never Ends

Immediately, the new emperor and congress squabbled. The country was bankrupt, and the lavish spending was the first issue upon which the congressmen felt they could attack Agustín. Not having any money, but needing more, especially to pay his power base in the army, the emperor’s government authorized the printing of paper money, causing massive inflation and economic dislocation, driving discontent. By August, Agustín ordered the arrest of 15 members of congress. Due to the discontent this caused, he would disband congress by force.

The conservative forces rallied around the figure of the emperor and the liberals rallied around the congress. Two divergent views of how the future of Mexico would be. Now, seemingly, those views were irreconcilable. Not even a year before, both sides had united around the Plan of Iguala and marched triumphantly into Mexico City side by side. There had been so much hope, and so much hope had died.

This was the great tragedy of the Mexican War of Independence. The conservatives believed that they could simply transfix the edifice of the Spain of old onto the new structure that was Mexico. The good old days could come back, only this time they would be in charge. They believed that the people could easily be led by their intellectual and social betters, and building a conservative Mexico would be simple if everyone could just be put back in their place. The conservatives were blind to the idea that they expected everyone to go back to their old social and economic stations but them. They could rise to the top of the social pyramid, but everyone else should stay in their place. That would be only right and just in their eyes.

Unfortunately, the liberals were just as good at fooling themselves. They believed in the greatest lie ever told, that human nature is changeable with laws, constitutions, and good intentions. If the perfect constitution could be drafted, an elected government of Plato’s philosopher kings could transform society and the hearts of men. Everyone would be brothers who would live in social and economic harmony. It was obvious. Once good government for all the people was instituted, knowing the right and subsequently doing the right would finally be possible. Everyone would live happily ever after.

Then Santa Anna opened Pandora’s box.

What do you think of the sudden independence of Mexico and the results? Let us know below.

Now, read about Francisco Solano Lopez, the Paraguayan president who brought his country to military catastrophe in the War of the Triple Alliance here.

The Mexican War of Independence: The Changes of the 1810s - Part 4

By the latter half of the 17th century, the rule of Spain in the New World was reaching 200 years. Times were changing, both in the New World and in Europe, and the leaders of Spain knew it. Their problem was what to do about it. Spain had never had a coherent policy in its imperial rule. Since 1492, Spain was seemingly constantly at war, with an endless series of crises thrown into the mix. Solutions had to be found for the here and now, the future would take care of itself.

Erick Redington continues his look at the independence of Spanish America by looking at the Mexican War of Independence. Here he looks at what happened during the Mexican War of Independence with the important figure of José Morelos - and how things didn’t turn out quite as the rebels intended.

If you missed them, Erick’s article on the four viceroyalties is here, Francisco de Miranda’s early life is here, his travels in Europe and the US is here, and his later years is here. Then, you can read about the Abdications of Bayonne here, the start of the Mexican War of Independence here, how Hidalgo continued the war here, and the impact of José Morelos here.

Am portrait of King Fernando VII of Spain. By Vicente López Portaña.

Changes On Both Sides of the Atlantic

The year 1815 brought many changes to the struggle for independence in New Spain. The death of Morelos brought confusion as to who would be the primary leader of the revolution. Morelos had known how to groom younger officers into becoming leaders. The problem was so many, such as Matamoros, were already dead. The rebels needed a leader to rally around. After his victory over Morelos, Viceroy Calleja had offered amnesty to all rebels, and many would take him up on his offer, all seeming lost.

Another change was the conditions in Spain. In 1814, the French were finally driven across the Pyrenees. Napoleon abdicated after the occupation of Paris and his Spanish royal prisoners were freed. The long-awaited King Ferdinand VII was able to return to his capital (literally no one wanted Carlos IV back) and he would lead Spain to a glorious future of freedom and liberal politics. Except…he wouldn’t. Ferdinand was not the man his supporters thought he was.

Ferdinand the Reactionary

The Spain of 1814 was governed by the Constitution of 1812, born in the fires of the Peninsular War. This constitution limited the powers of the monarch, created a legislature that would represent all Spaniards on both sides of the Atlantic, and provided for guarantees of rights to all citizens. After all, this constitution and the person of Ferdinand VII were what the Spanish had just fought a six-year occupation for. In town after town, the people of Spain rapturously turned out to greet their longed-for monarch. All the conflicting classes, groups, juntas, and political factions were united. What possible reason could anyone want to fight against the new Spanish government that offered the colonials everything they could hope for, freedom, a liberal constitution, and the lifting of racial restrictions?

It only took a few weeks after his return to Madrid for Ferdinand to discard the constitution and restore absolute rule. He had proven to be far more reactionary than anyone could have feared. Barely a week after the end of the constitution, liberal leaders in and out of the government were arrested in a wide sweep. Ferdinand had even allowed the Jesuits to return. The united front with which Spain could have faced its fractious colonials was gone. Now Spain would see a continuation of the chaos of the war years.

War Exhaustion Grips Mexico

The situation in New Spain was little better than what was seen in the mother country. The rebels were forced to fight a guerrilla campaign against the forces of the Viceroy. Outnumbered, outgunned, and without any financial resources, the rebels were forced to extract supplies and money from the populations of the areas they operated in. This led to a great deal of economic devastation and needless deaths.

For the royalists, their situation was not much better. The great treasure fleets were a thing of the past. Spain was a chaotic mess led by a man who seemed to combine the fecklessness of his father with the corruption of Godoy. Despite their battlefield victories, the royalists were unable to finish off the rebels, who could retreat into the vastness of the desolate countryside. Lacking money and support from Spain, the royalists were forced to take food and supplies from the local populace. Many royalist commanders, receiving little to no support from Mexico City, set up their own fiefdoms throughout the colony, making themselves answerable to no one.

In many cases, the people of New Spain would be forced to contribute to both sides at the barrels of their guns, leaving nothing left for themselves. New Spain was dying by its own hand. The fight between the rebels and the royalists after the death of Morelos was carried out with a brutality that led many to disregard causes and ideologies and fight simply for hate’s sake.

New Rebel Leaders Arise

For two men, the war was still about the ideals of Hidalgo and Morelos. Vicente Guerrero was the right-hand man of Morelos. He was a man who still believed in freedom and independence for Mexico. A man who showed so much integrity during the war, that when the new Viceroy, Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, wanted to coax Guerrero to surrender he dispatched Guerrero’s own father, who was a royalist, to try to convince him. Guerrero turned down his own father, convinced of the justice of his cause. Guerrero would be made General in Chief of the rebels and fought battle after battle against the royalist forces. While successful time and again, he lacked the men and resources to deal a killing blow.

José Miguel Fernandez also believed in the dream. He came to see himself as the embodiment of the struggle for independence. In time, he would be known more famously as Guadalupe Victoria, taking this name symbolizing the fight for freedom.  Victoria would also gain several victories against the royalists.

From 1815 to 1817, these two leaders would lead a semi-successful partisan war against the royalists. Hitting isolated towns and garrisons hard, they would quickly retreat back into the mountains or the jungle. Despite these victories, the rebels were not capable of driving the Spanish from Mexico. For all the problems the royalists had, they were still better armed, trained, and provisioned. The only advantage the rebels seemed to possess was mobility. Neither side could achieve anything like a decisive victory that could affect the outcome of the war.

The Royalists Hit Back Harder

In 1817, the royalists decided to concentrate on Victoria, operating in the area around Veracruz. Striking hard and fast, the royalists hammered Victoria’s forces, retaking all the cities he had occupied. Victoria’s army was destroyed, and he himself had to hide in the jungle with only a few followers for several years. With one threat defeated, and seemingly out of the war, Apodaca now concentrated on Guerrero. Royalist troops were thrown at Guerrero’s rebels, but they were never able to pin him down. What the royalists were able to do was, through battle and attrition, whittle down Guerrero’s forces and so devastate the countryside in his area of operations that his effectiveness was limited.

By 1819, Apodaca could fairly accurately report to Ferdinand’s government that he did not need any more troops from Spain. From the Viceroy’s seat, the insurgency may still linger on, but the war of independence was over. There was a less than zero chance that Guerrero would be able to victoriously march into the Zocalo with his army and win the war. Events in New Spain, however, would be overtaken by events in Old Spain.

Fire From the Rear for the Royalists

As mentioned earlier, Ferdinand VII restored absolute rule in 1814. By 1820, Spanish liberals were either in prison or in hiding. They groaned under the heavy hand of Ferdinand and his neo-absolutist rule. Dissatisfaction was high, and the constant wars in the colonies were driving discontent even higher. In order to deal with the rebellions in the New World, Ferdinand had ordered a force to gather in Cádiz and sail for the Americas to put down the rebels once and for all. Ferdinand wanted to take no chances. Despite the war in New Spain seemingly being won, he would reinforce his colonies, finish off the rebels, then his troops would move colony by colony destroying rebel armies until the colonials were finally suppressed. On New Year’s Day, 1820, troops in the city led by Colonel Rafael del Riego staged a revolt demanding the return of the Constitution of 1812 and the end of absolutism. Riego’s army began marching into the interior to gather supporters when another uprising took place in Galicia. From these two seeds, the rebellion grew throughout Spain. By March, the liberals approached Madrid and even surrounded the royal palace. Ferdinand saw the writing on the wall and agreed to restore the constitution and surrender many of his own powers.

Back in 1812, the Supreme Junta in Spain had ordered the old Viceroy, Vanegas, to implement the Constitution. Vanegas was a liberal, so he was not necessarily opposed to many of the high ideals contained therein. What he did oppose was independence for New Spain. Vanegas was more far-sighted than the Supreme Junta. He recognized that the implementation of liberal ideas in New Spain would inevitably lead to independence. The Supreme Junta missed this and believed that no one truly informed of the guarantees of the Constitution would oppose it.

Vanegas knew the Constitution of 1812 made his job virtually impossible. He suspended its implementation soon after, using Morelos’ rebellion as justification. By the time news reached Spain about this, the new government of Ferdinand approved heartily. Vanegas was replaced by Calleja, who decreed in August 1815 that the Constitution was dead. This was how the political situation in New Spain sat for several years.

A Time for Questions

When, in 1820, the liberal Constitution came back, many of the royalists were horrified. They were conservative by nature and political outlook. They had spent the better part of a decade fighting against the liberalism that the rebels embodied. Now, they were being told by the government that they had put their lives on the line for, that the liberal ideals were the right ones. This new, liberal Spain was not one they were willing to fight for.

In 1820, the revolution was nearly dead. Guerrero was driven deep into the mountains. Victoria was still eating bugs in the jungles around Veracruz. The people were exhausted. The country was devastated. Most of the true believers were dead or in hiding. It had seemed that all the years of fighting and struggle had been for nothing. Militarily, the rebels had lost.

For the royalists, it had seemed a lost cause too. Sure, they had won on the battlefield. Yes, the rebels were still fighting, but they were disorganized bands not much more organized than outlaws. It was ideologically where they had lost the war. They had fought for the ideals of dios, patria, y rey; God, Fatherland, and King. Now, through no fault of their own, those ideals were thrown out the window by rebels in Madrid who were attempting to undermine everything they had done for almost a decade. What was the point of fighting against the liberalism the rebels were trying to establish in New Spain when their very government, seemingly their very king, they were fighting for was telling them that liberalism was the new order of the day?

It was a time for choosing in New Spain, for all of the combatants. Where did your first loyalty lie? To the king? To Mexico? To New Spain? To liberalism? To conservatism? To republicanism? To monarchism? For everyone fighting in New Spain by the dawn of 1821, the answer to that question would put to the test all of the major players. They would all be held in the balance.

What do you think of the 1810s in Mexico and the impact from changes in Spain? Let us know below.

Now, read about Francisco Solano Lopez, the Paraguayan president who brought his country to military catastrophe in the War of the Triple Alliance here.

The Mexican War of Independence: Morelos Arrives - Part 3

By the latter half of the 17th century, the rule of Spain in the New World was reaching 200 years. Times were changing, both in the New World and in Europe, and the leaders of Spain knew it. Their problem was what to do about it. Spain had never had a coherent policy in its imperial rule. Since 1492, Spain was seemingly constantly at war, with an endless series of crises thrown into the mix. Solutions had to be found for the here and now, the future would take care of itself.

Erick Redington continues his look at the independence of Spanish America by looking at the Mexican War of Independence. Here he looks at what happened during the Mexican War of Independence with the important figure of José Morelos - and how things didn’t turn out quite as the rebels intended.

If you missed them, Erick’s article on the four viceroyalties is here, Francisco de Miranda’s early life is here, his travels in Europe and the US is here, and his later years is here. Then, you can read about the Abdications of Bayonne here, the start of the Mexican War of Independence here, and how Hidalgo continued the war here.

An 1865 painting of José Morelos. By Petronilo Monroy.

The beginning of the Mexican War of Independence was dominated by the person and personality of Miguel Hidalgo. Even today, in both the historiography and the popular imagination, the character of Hidalgo and his role in starting the journey to independence is glorified and memorialized. The role of a “great leader” would characterize the history of the War of Independence, and its phases can be broken down into eras with the name of the preeminent leader attached to them. With the passing of the first phase of the war, now the second phase began, and with it, a new leader.

Morelos’ Formative Years

The second phase also began the way the first did, with a priest. José Morelos was born in Valladolid, a town later renamed Morelia in his honor. He grew up in a family of limited means, and upon being old enough, was put to work. He learned to be a teamster, driving mules along local roads. Like most children born in conditions of near poverty, he dreamed of something more. Unlike most, he did something about it. He would read every book he could find. He taught himself skills that no teamster would dream of needing. He was preparing himself for something more.

When old enough to work for himself, Morelos saved all the money he could to educate himself. Surviving on scraps of food, and taking all the work that he could find, he was able to save enough money to receive a formal education. He enrolled in the local institution of higher learning, the Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo in his hometown. It was while here that he would come into contact with the most influential figure of his life. Teaching at the Colegio at the same time was Miguel Hidalgo.

While learning at the knee of Hidalgo, Morelos took in all of the Enlightenment learning that would later get Hidalgo into so much trouble. Ideas about freedom, the superiority of reason over superstition, and resentment against social distinctions. Morelos became enraptured by these ideas and would use them as guides for all his future endeavors. Like Hidalgo, he would accept Enlightenment ideals while still maintaining support for the Catholic Church and accepting its beliefs. Morelos would attack what he saw as superstition, like Hidalgo, but he would remain a Catholic until the end.

There was one way in which Morelos would differ from his teacher, and it would be a major, defining point in their characters. Hidalgo had a mind that was undisciplined. He was interested in everything and wanted to learn everything. This lack of discipline would lead to disaster when he neither had the desire nor the capacity to exert control over the baser instincts of his uprising. Morelos, however, was very disciplined. Perhaps it was the discipline required of being a self-made man, or perhaps it was something else. Whatever it was, when Morelos learned, he was able to systematize knowledge and apply it usefully. The importance of this would be seen to full effect later.

After graduating from the Colegio, Morelos was ordained a priest. However, due to his social standing, he was given the lowly position of curate at an even lesser backwater than Hidalgo ended up, the town of Carácuaro. For over ten years, from 1799 until 1810, Morelos would live and work in obscurity, eventually rising to the position of a parish priest. Living in the poor colonial town further fed into the resentment against the colonial authorities that his Enlightenment ideals helped foster. Morelos saw the same inefficiency and oppression in Carácuaro as Hidalgo saw in Dolores. Working and living next to the poor indios and mestizos gave Morelos a personal connection with these groups of people that only proved in his mind the philosophies he believed in.

Joining Hidalgo

When he heard of the rising under Hidalgo, Morelos rushed to join his old mentor. Here was the revolution that men like him had been waiting for. When he finally found Hidalgo, he was just as overjoyed as Hidalgo was. Hidalgo knew the restless genius that lay within Morelos; indeed, Hidalgo had done so much to foster and encourage Morelos’ intellectual upbringing.

Hidalgo was smart enough to know that he could not be in all places at once. He needed trusted lieutenants who could rally the people in the same way he could. Morelos was just such a man. Needing a man to raise the country in the south, Hidalgo directed Morelos to raise an army and operate along the Pacific coast. Setting out from the main army with only 25 men, the core of the next insurgent army grew.

Building a Movement in the South

In building this army, Morelos would show his true genius, building a movement. Hidalgo had raised an enormous army, the size of which New Spain had not seen since the days of the Aztecs. Unfortunately for the revolutionary cause, this army was poorly disciplined and even more poorly equipped. As any person of genius knows, more can be learned from negative examples than from positive ones. Seeing the chaos in the insurgent army convinced Morelos that a strong discipline was necessary for success, a belief that was only reinforced when Hidalgo’s army was destroyed. Further, Morelos knew that if a soldier was unequipped with the necessities of a soldier, he would be worse than useless. That unarmed soldier would simply be a wasted mouth to feed, draining the supplies of the army to no positive effect. Therefore, Morelos would allow no one into his army whom he could not provide arms for.

Morelos knew that a revolution could not be made from vague promises and lofty slogans. Order had to prevail, and law had to be established. On August 19, 1811, Morelos and Ignacio Rayón would establish a junta, the Junta de Zitácuaro. This junta would provide the new Mexican state with a government. It would create the Constitutional Elements, a set of principles that were meant to guide in the creation of a future constitution for the Mexican state. There were expressions for individual rights and the abolition of slavery. It was also still tied to the person of King Ferdinand VII, calling for an independent Mexico with Ferdinand VII as its king. The nation would be governed, not by the king, but by the people through a Congress.

People are led by principles as much as they are led by great leaders. Morelos, a believer in enlightenment philosophy, understood that the movement he was building had to have concrete principles that others could rally around, but also be broad enough to attract the fence-sitters and not chase away the indifferent. This is what the Constitutional Elements did, and they would become the basis of virtually every constitution in Mexico’s history.

Another lesson he learned from Hidalgo’s army was to select the right people to lead with him. Hidalgo had attracted a wide array of dissatisfied elements to his banner. Many of those had radically divergent views of what they wanted from the revolution. This led to the leadership of the insurgent army being at cross-purposes, and when that army began losing, it fell apart quickly. Morelos would not make the same mistake. He was a master at recognizing dormant talent and bringing out the best in others. Men like Vicente Guerrero and Mariano Matamoros were discovered and fostered by Morelos. Rising from humble origins, especially Guerrero, those with true talent were given progressively greater responsibility. Building this leadership cadre would help Morelos’ movement survive its creator.

Morelos Strikes the Royalists

While building his army, Morelos kept active. He would take his men and occupy large swaths of the south, including the city of Oaxaca. He would attack and defeat small units of the Spanish army, providing experience for his troops. Experience with hard marching, field living, and standing in the face of fire would discipline Morelos’ army and give them confidence and pride in themselves. Morelos knew that they would need these qualities when the day came to face the weight of the Spanish army.

Morelos left Hidalgo’s army in 1810. By the beginning of 1812, about 9,000 men were under his command. This was not Hidalgo’s disorganized mob. This was an army of disciplined and well-armed troops ready for campaign. They needed to be ready since it was at this time that the sword of the viceroy, General Félix Calleja, was ready to turn his attention to rooting out the insurgents in the south.

The mere presence of Morelos’ army in the south threatened one of the largest revenue streams of the government of New Spain, the trade with the Philippines. Long a Spanish colony, the Philippines provided Spain with a way to tap into the vast amounts of wealth in the Far East. Since going through the Indian Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope would be too dangerous, the trade from the Philippines had always been routed through the city of Acapulco, on the west coast of New Spain. It was in this area that Morelos operated, and if he could interdict the wagon trains that brought goods and treasure from Acapulco through Mexico City and then on the Veracruz, the tenuous financial supports that held up the viceroyalty would crumble.

Calleja: the Antithesis of Morelos

The man who would be Morelos’ nemesis and lead the campaigns against him, Félix Calleja, was also a man of exceptional talent. It was he who finished off Hidalgo. He had also defeated Hidalgo’s rebels in the north and he had fought in dozens of campaigns against the Indians. He was also a man of iron discipline and believed in supporting his soldiers with better food and equipment. In many ways, Morelos and Calleja were reflections of each other through a dark mirror. The best Spain had to offer would face the best Mexico could offer.

In February 1812, Calleja would strike. Morelos had fortified the town of Cuautla, and Calleja wanted to destroy this base. He further hoped that he could pin down the insurgents and destroy them in one siege. What Calleja did not count on was that he was not facing insurgents anymore, but a rebel army that could stand up to him. Both sides recognized the importance of the city and their respective positions. Calleja brought in 7,000 reinforcements to support his main army of 5,000 men. Morelos brought in as many troops as the rebels could muster, about 16,000, and fortified the town further. For Calleja, this was perfect. If he could catch the rebels in a siege, he could destroy them all at once. After surrounding Cuautla, he ordered a direct assault, believing that insurgents like those in Hidalgo’s army could not stand up to his trained regulars. The assault failed after a bloody back and forth. Morelos had trained his troops well and had even brought cannons for support.

Calleja was still unconcerned. Time was on his side since he was not the one surrounded. For the rebels, conditions inside Cuautla deteriorated. Food began to run out. As time went on, fear amongst the civilian populace set in. Calleja had a well-deserved reputation for brutality. By the common rules of war at the time, the longer a city resisted, the worse the city would be punished if the invader conquered. Murder, plunder, and rape were the least of what could be expected when the Spanish took the city. Morelos knew that he had to do something, but he was not willing to just give up and surrender.

The only possible solution for Morelos was to break out from the city and attempt to get away. At 2:00 am on May 2, 1812, after a siege lasting almost two months, the rebel army attacked Calleja’s lines. Complicating matters was that many of the civilians of the city, fearing Calleja’s wrath, broke out with the rebel soldiers. While most of the soldiers and men of Cuautla managed to escape, the women and children were not so lucky and would be killed indiscriminately by Calleja’s men. Unfortunately for Morelos, one of those men who was captured was Leonardo Bravo, one of his most trusted lieutenants.

Morelos Brings Success Militarily and Politically

Freed from defending a fixed position, Morelos showed his brilliance as a strategic commander. He operated in the mountains hitting Spanish positions repeatedly. In only a few months, he was able to return to Cuautla and push further toward Veracruz. Understanding the economics of warfare, Morelos occupied the tobacco-growing regions west of Veracruz and destroyed the government storehouses full of tobacco. The monopoly on tobacco was one of the main revenue sources for the viceregal government, damaging Calleja’s ability to logistically support his army.

The mentality of the two men facing each other, Morelos and Calleja, can be seen in the fate of two hundred prisoners taken. A detachment under Nicolás Bravo captured two hundred royalist troops in a lightning strike. Morelos, desirous of getting his friend back, and understanding the poetry of the son freeing the father, offered to Calleja to exchange the two hundred prisoners in exchange for one man, Leonardo Bravo, who had been sentenced to death for treason. Calleja refused and had Bravo executed forthwith. Morelos, finding this out, ordered the younger Bravo to execute all two hundred of the royalist prisoners. Bravo, however, would show himself more merciful than either of the antagonists and release all the prisoners.

Defeat brings dissension, and among the royalists, everyone was blaming the viceroy for their troubles. Calleja was victorious wherever he was, but he could not be everywhere at once. The army was beginning to suffer from insufficient pay and supplies. The government seemed to be collapsing. The Audiencia complained to the latest Spanish government in Cadiz, which authorized the replacement of Viceroy Venegas with the only man who seemed to have the spine to defeat the rebels and end the war once and for all, Calleja himself.

Taking control, Calleja would reorganize the entire New Spanish army, providing more consistent pay and supplies. Inefficient people were purged from the government. Needing more money, he seized the assets of the Inquisition, which had been abolished by the Spanish Junta, but this had never been enforced in New Spain. Wasteful spending was cut, and corruption was punished in the exceptionally cruel way that Calleja was known for. All people of any amount of European descent would now be subject to conscription. More than creating efficiency, Calleja was showing the people of New Spain that the royalist government could support the country and the army, and was a viable alternative to the rebels, offering order in place of the rebel’s freedom.

In 1813, Morelos’ army would see further success. Launching repeated hit-and-run attacks, time and again the royalists would be routed. He would even take Acapulco itself, depriving the viceregal government of its base on the Pacific. Clearly, Morelos was taking advantage of the opportunity presented by Calleja’s focus on governmental reform and not on the army. During this time of success, Morelos felt emboldened and wanted to begin creating not just a rebel government, as had been done earlier with Rayón. As Morelos put it “it is time to strip the mask from independence.” Until this time, the rebels, even under Hidalgo, had been fighting under the assumption that Ferdinand VII would still be king of Mexico. Morelos was never happy with this formulation, and now, at the peak of his success, he began pressing for a republic. He called the Congress of Chilpancingo, which met on September 13, 1813, and directed reforms, including removing all aristocratic and priestly privileges, racial equality, universal manhood suffrage, fair taxation, and opening service to men of all ranks. For the time, this was a radical formulation to base a government upon. Most importantly, the Congress passed Mexico’s declaration of independence. Unlike Hidalgo, who gave himself grandiloquent titles, the most Morelos would accept was “servant of the nation.”

Calleja Hits Back Hard

When Calleja had finally built the army he wanted and reorganized the government, he did not directly confront Morelos in the south. The rebels in the south were beginning to act as if they had already won. Calleja was down, but not out. Like Morelos, he knew that his newly raised army would have to be bloodied before the real confrontation took place. So, instead of attacking south, Calleja led his army north and struck at those who had thrown in their lot with the rebel leader.

The campaign in the north was no contest. The drive and ruthlessness of Calleja could not be stopped. The silver mines were immediately captured, providing an instant infusion of cash for the viceroy. Any and all groups of rebels were dealt with ruthlessly, with the commanders almost invariably being executed. When word reached Calleja that some Americans had crossed the border into Texas, he sent troops north and the Americans were crushed, scurrying back across the border. Anyone living in the province who had supported the Americans, Calleja ordered their throats to be cut. The 1813 campaign for Calleja was a long one and covered vast distances, but in the end, it was successful and by the new year, Calleja was ready for the final showdown with Morelos.

Morelos, consumed with the Congress of Chilpancingo, had not initially responded to Calleja’s advances. Rising from political concerns, Morelos decided to take his army and march on Michoacán. The target of Morelos’ campaign was Valladolid, which Morelos intended to proclaim his capital. Due to the royalist garrison in the city, he was obliged to surround it and proceed with a siege. Calleja, in response, sent an army to relieve the garrison.

It All Comes Tumbling Down

Upon arriving at the rebel camp, the royalist army prepared to strike. One member of the royalist army was a young colonel of cavalry, almost as ruthless as Calleja himself, Agustín de Iturbide. Iturbide, learning from spies and prisoners that the rebel troops were to blacken their faces so they could identify themselves during battle, Iturbide had his troops blacken their own faces. Then, violating his orders, Iturbide led his troops in an insane attack into the heart of the rebel army, aiming straight for Morelos’ headquarters, located at the top of a hill. The chaos and confusion caused by this attack broke all discipline in the rebel army. The attackers could not be royalists, some thought, no one would be stupid enough to attack like this. They had to be rebels who were betraying their own. Groups of rebels began firing into each other, and others broke and ran. Matamoros, Morelos’ best commander, tried to rally some troops but was defeated, captured, and shot. The army that Morelos had spent so much time building and training was gone.

Calleja, not one to pass up an opportunity, struck. He immediately began ordering his various forces throughout New Spain to attack any rebel forces they could get their hands on. City after city fell, including Chilpancingo, the site of the rebel Congress. Acapulco fell without a shot being fired. Hermenegildo Galeana, Morelos’ best commander now that Matamoros was gone, was captured and beheaded by the royalists.

Morelos had been the driving force behind the creation of the Congress of Chilpancingo. Now, it would be his downfall. As the most prominent and important leader of the rebels, he received all the honors when things were going well. Over two years, Morelos had taken a broken group of insurgents and transformed it into a movement that had declared itself an independent republic and had achieved many military victories. Now, it was Morelos who would receive all of the blame. The congress, now calling itself the Congress of the Republic of Anáhuac, demanded that Morelos resign from command of the army. He did, and the most brilliant of the rebel leaders was removed in this most trying time.

To handle the crisis, the political leaders of the Republic did what political leaders do best, issue meaningless proclamations backed by little but words. A new constitution was issued in October of 1814 but would never be implemented. The proclamation of new rights did not deter Calleja. He advanced further faster. Michoacán fell in its entirety. The royalist army was closing in. Congress had to flee. They needed troops to protect the congressmen. None were available since the bulk of the army was either fighting the royalists or had deserted and were at home. The members called on Morelos to escort them. Being an honest man with a sense of duty, Morelos agreed.

While escorting the congressmen, royalists found the convoy at Texmalaca. Morelos told his companions to save themselves and scatter. He took a few men and acted as bait for the royalists to let everyone else escape. Morelos was captured soon after by a man who had once fought in his army and changed sides. Morelos was brought to Mexico City under guard. Calleja would not make a spectacle of his new prisoner and had him smuggled into the city quietly.

The End

Just like Father Hidalgo, Morelos was a priest, and therefore, his captivity would be governed by the church, not the viceregal government. He was examined and interrogated for forty-six days. Morelos was not a man who took his vow of celibacy as a priest seriously and confessed to a few minor priestly infractions. The Inquisition had him defrocked, just like Hidalgo, and turned over to the secular authorities for punishment for treason. He was executed by firing squad on December 22, 1815.

The death of Morelos was a tragedy for Mexico. He was the genius of the Mexican War of Independence. Whereas many leaders of revolutions have goals that they want to attain, Morelos had a vision. He had a vision of a nation free of racial and class distinctions, free of foreign domination. A vision of a free people, with rights granted by God that no one else could take away. A vision of an orderly government that was balanced and not under threat from strongmen. When ordered to resign, he did. He was consistent in proclaiming the rights of the people of Mexico and understood the importance of merit, regardless of background.

With the death of Morelos, men of fewer principles would control the war of independence. Without Morelos, the vision of Mexico, strong and free, would melt away. A towering man without a desire for personal enrichment or power, he was the only person with the ability to stand above the rest and lead Mexico to something more. Instead, it would be to men of the next, lower, rank in ability, men who were jealous of each other, and feckless in their pursuits of wealth and power. The death of Morelos was the death of the vision. The greatest tragedy though was that no one quite knew it yet.

What do you think of the time of José Morelos in the Mexican War of Independence? Let us know below.

Now, read about Francisco Solano Lopez, the Paraguayan president who brought his country to military catastrophe in the War of the Triple Alliance here.

The Mexican War of Independence: Hidalgo’s Insurgents - Part 2

By the latter half of the 17th century, the rule of Spain in the New World was reaching 200 years. Times were changing, both in the New World and in Europe, and the leaders of Spain knew it. Their problem was what to do about it. Spain had never had a coherent policy in its imperial rule. Since 1492, Spain was seemingly constantly at war, with an endless series of crises thrown into the mix. Solutions had to be found for the here and now, the future would take care of itself.

Erick Redington continues his look at the independence of Spanish America by looking at the Mexican War of Independence. Here he looks at the evolution of the war and some successes for the revolutionaries.

If you missed them, Erick’s article on the four viceroyalties is here, Francisco de Miranda’s early life is here, his travels in Europe and the US is here, and his later years is here. Then, you can read about the Abdications of Bayonne here, and the start of the Mexican War of Independence here.

A painting of Ignacio Allende. By Ramon Perez, 1865.

Revolutionary Fire

When Hidalgo went to his parish church and assembled the people, he summoned all of his natural charisma and speaking abilities. He knew he had one chance to rally the common people to the cause of rebellion.

The speech that Hidalgo gave, known to history as the Cry of Dolores, was not written down and has varied in its retelling over the years. What is known is that Hidalgo’s theme was to revolt against oppression and tyranny. For him, the symbols of that tyranny were the Spanish peninsulares, or as they were called resentfully, the gachupines. For Hidalgo and the others in the conspiracy, it was the peninsulares who kept them from the highest orders in society. So, Hidalgo laid it on to the people. If only they could get rid of the gachupines, tyranny would be abolished. To add further insult to injury, he told the crowd that the hated gachupines were going to surrender the colony to the Bonaparte usurper carried on the coattails of the invading French army. These atheistic Frenchmen would further oppress them if they did nothing.

This was to be a rebellion, not to destroy the established authorities, which went directly against Biblical teaching, and would be odd coming from a priest, it would be a holy crusade for both religion and their true king, Ferdinand VII, still living a prisoner of the French. The cry went up from Hidalgo, “Long live the King! Long live America! Death to bad government!” Ominously, the response he got back from the crowd was “Death to the gachupines!”

There is no known telling of this story that says Hidalgo attempted to tamp down on this spirit of bloodlust from the crowd. Indeed, he fostered it. This first stage of the Mexican War of Independence lost the character of the clean military coup with little bloodshed that men like Allende hoped for. This was to be a social revolution intending the destruction of the social class at the top of the social pyramid. Hidalgo, like many revolutionary leaders, understood that to will a result implies an absolute acceptance of the means to achieve that result. If the end of Spanish tyranny meant the deaths of everyone who exercised such tyranny, then so be it.

The Revolutionaries Move

Revolutionary movements have a history of either growing or dying. Hidalgo understood that with the passions of his followers at a fever pitch, they had to move out of the colonial backwater they were located in and gain new followers. Further, the passions of the people could glow white hot, but without proper channeling, those passions could dissipate just as fast as they grew. The insurgent army had to strike.

To secure his local region, Hidalgo first ordered the emptying of the local jails. This was to make room for the hated gachupines whose haciendas he authorized to be plundered and burned. The people took to this work with gusto. Homes were burned and their Spanish owners were beaten, imprisoned, and killed. The people who had lived on these haciendas and worked them would, in the frenzy, join the insurgents. Hidalgo’s army grew with every hacienda burned.

“Take, my children! Everything is yours!” This was the battle cry from Hidalgo to his followers at this stage (yes, he really did say this). One thing that was taken by Hidalgo himself was a representation of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Located at a shrine in Atotonilco, this representation became the symbol of the budding revolution.

At San Miguel, the birthplace of Allende, the insurgents sacked the properties of the gachupines. For the primarily indio and mestizo insurgents, they could not tell the difference between a creole and a gachupine. This led to many creoles being attacked and beaten, and their property seized. For Hidalgo, this was just the justifiable rage of the people. For the original conspirators, such as Allende, this was terrifying. All the bloody scenes of revolutionary Paris were coming to New Spain. This was not a targeted activity to change the government, this was a mob indiscriminately committing crimes.

For Allende, this was doubly frustrating. He was supposed to be the military leader of the revolution. Yet, Hidalgo would not allow him to exercise any command. Hidalgo had even proclaimed himself the “Captain-General of America,” assuming a military rank higher than the professional conspirators. Their leader was now bestowing grandiloquent titles on himself while leading a mob on an excursion of pillage and murder.

First Resistance

As the insurgent army approached Guanajuato, the leader of the Spanish forces there, José Antonio Raiño, decided to make a stand against the rebel army. He ordered the fortification of a granary, and much of the wealth of the city was stored there for defense, including almost three million pesos in cash and gold. On September 28, 1810, the battle began.

The insurgents up to this point had relied upon numbers and fury to carry them forward. This was the first time they had encountered an organized military force armed with cannons. When Hidalgo ordered an attack upon the granary, he found that his men were joined by many locals, especially miners, who were eager to destroy the gachupines and get some of that gold.

Wave after wave of insurgents flung themselves at the granary. Hidalgo, who had read books on military tactics as part of his Enlightenment studies, did not have military experience, despite his title. Allende, the man with experience was not able to exert command authority. So, bodies piled up in front of the granary. Yet the fervor of the insurgents did not flag in this trial. Raiño was shot in the head leading the defense. In the confusion that the lack of leadership caused, the insurgents were able to set fire to the building. The defenders tried to surrender. With the insurgents’ blood up, surrender was not an option. The defenders were killed to a man.

The Turning Point

The fall of the granary was not the end of the insurgents’ first battle. The capture of Guanajuato had just begun. Angered by the deaths of their friends and family, the insurgents proceeded to put the city to the torch. Three hundred years of hate, oppression, slavery, and ignorance were brought out on this one night. Guanajuato was burned and pillaged. Any Spaniard that could be found was killed out of hand. Worse happened to the Spanish women of the city. Since this movement had a working-class tinge to it, the machinery used to work the mines was also destroyed in the hatred of their labor.

It was at Guanajuato that the Hidalgo insurgency showed its most important characteristic. It was not really about the future. The idea did not exist in the minds of the movement that it was working to create a free and prosperous Mexico, unshackled by tyranny and foreign, racial domination. No, this was about the past. The actions of everyone in New Spain since November 8, 1519, the day Cortés met Montezuma II, had led to this moment. This revolution was about the hacienda system, the racial caste system, the destruction of indio independence, and a thousand other incidences in the almost three hundred years since. Hidalgo’s enlightenment ideals on the superiority of human reason over emotional barbarism and superstition were held in the balance and found wanting. For Hidalgo, this was only a minor obstacle. Consistency is for fools; he was the leader of a movement. Ever onward.

Guanajuato also taught one other lesson, the price of failure. For the leadership in Mexico City, they saw a preview on a smaller scale of what would happen in case the insurgents took the capital. Negotiating and compromising with the insurgents was no longer an option. For both sides, it was only victory or death.

The Revolution Moves Forward

Hidalgo’s next target was the city of Valladolid. This city of about 50,000 people was one he was intimately familiar with. As a young man, Hidalgo had been a teacher here. The Bishop, Manuel Abad y Queipo, had been a friend of Hidalgo’s. Abad, however, believed that Hidalgo’s ideas were heretical, and did not support the atrocities carried out in Hidalgo’s name. On his own authority, Abad excommunicated Hidalgo. Despite this, the garrison of the city went over to the insurgents, as the people of the city did not want to see the scenes of Guanajuato repeated. Abad abandoned the city, and it was peacefully occupied.

From the regional capital of Valladolid, Hidalgo began sending out agents throughout New Spain to attract new followers. Hearing of the collapse of authority among the gachupines, many, especially in the north of New Spain, began declaring for Hidalgo. Many leaders in San Luis Potosí, Saltillo, and many others were all in on destroying the hated Spanish. It had seemed that despite the scenes in Guanajuato, Hidalgo would sweep all before him, mostly without a fight.

The defection of the north to the insurgents presented a problem for the Spanish. Where to focus efforts? In the north, the revolution was sweeping everything before it, but there was no organized army, and could seemingly be reconquered easily. In the south, Hidalgo had what passed for an army, but its numbers were enormous. With limited resources at his disposal, the viceroy could not directly confront both threats. In the end, he chose to send an army north under an able, if extremely ruthless, general, Félix María Calleja.

Attempting to Bring Order to Chaos

Relieved of any pressure from the viceroy, Hidalgo tried to put some organizational and ideological backing into his revolution. He attempted to assuage the creoles by emphasizing that his only goal was to create a new congress, and that would be under the authority of Ferdinand VII. He did not support independence or a republic, he assured the creole leaders. To marry patriotism and self-interest, Hidalgo passed out military ranks and offices in his new government to men of influence., hoping to win them over.

At the same time, Hidalgo attempted to shore up his support with the lower classes. He abolished the privileges of the haciendas and ended all tribute that the indios owed to the haciendados. Slavery was to be abolished. Despite the promises made, and regardless of the merit of any of Hidalgo’s decrees, many of the potential intellectual, political, and military leaders of the revolution saw Hidalgo’s support for, what was in their minds, economic and social radicalism as an existential threat to their position in the economic and political order, let alone their hoped-for societal dominance. Hidalgo even allowed himself to be addressed by his indio followers as “His Most Serene Highness.” Social revolution by a racial underclass exacting bloody revenge had precedent in their minds: Haiti. The specter of a Haitian-style race war hovered over Hidalgo’s insurgency. Many creoles with Hidalgo’s main force now began to slowly filter out of the insurgent army.

Despite offering ranks and titles to some, while at Valladolid, Hidalgo was unable to bring any semblance of order to what was in essence, a mob. Placing the indios and mestizos under military discipline would defeat the purpose of the revolution in his eyes. It went against the core ideals of what he, and they, were fighting for. This lack of discipline would be one of the primary undoings of the insurgent army.

Attempt on the Capital

Understanding he had to keep moving, Hidalgo ordered his army to advance on Mexico City at the end of October. The insurgents numbered almost 80,000 by this point, dwarfing the numbers that the Spanish could deploy. The lesson of Guanajuato was ever-present. For the viceregal government and army, despite being heavily outnumbered, there could be no surrender. The Spanish had to fight.

The viceroy ordered a small force under General Torcuato Trujillo to engage the rebels. Trujillo, having the advantage in firepower, decided to find the most defensible ground possible and fight on his own ground. He chose the Sierra de las Cruces located between Toluca and Mexico City. Riddled with forests and steep ridges, this was the perfect defensive position.

On October 30, the battle began. The insurgent strategy was simple. With a colossal advantage in numbers, the most simplistic path to victory was to surround the Spanish force by enveloping it. For the Spanish, the imperative was survival on their part and killing as many insurgents as possible until one side had to retreat.

All day the battle raged. The insurgents sent waves of men into the teeth of Trujillo’s cannon. Thousands of insurgents would fall this day attempting to storm the Spanish lines. With only a few thousand men, time was not on Trujillo’s side. Although his men rebuffed attack after attack, in the end, they ran out of time. With the size advantage Hidalgo’s army enjoyed, it was almost inevitable he would find a weak spot in Trujillo’s defenses, and the Spanish were nearly surrounded.

Trujillo ordered the withdrawal of his forces. While the Spanish had lost less than 2,000 men, the insurgents had lost, by some estimates, 5,000. Although he would claim victory to the viceroy, Trujillo and everyone else knew that the battle was lost, despite the disproportionate casualties. The path to Mexico City now appeared clear.

Victory in the Palm of His Hand

Mexico City, the most populated city in the Western Hemisphere and the second city of all the Spanish realms, was now open to attack. The people in the city panicked. The viceroy ordered a service held at the cathedral, naming the Virgin of Remedios as the new Captain-General of New Spain. The army sent north was hastily recalled, but everyone knew it could not make it back in time. Many prominent peninsulares prepared to hastily evacuate the city. Everyone was prepared for an orgy of violence, pillage, and bloodshed.

In the insurgent army, Allende urged Hidalgo to immediately march on the capital. This was their chance. It was, unfortunately for the insurgents, the first time Hidalgo had been seen to vacillate. What was he waiting for? The hated gachupines were at his mercy. After waiting three days, Hidalgo made his decision. He ordered the insurgents to march back to Toluca.

Hidalgo told Allende that he planned to move back and finally allow him and the other creole officers to turn the disorganized mob into a disciplined army, one that could engage Calleja once he returned from the north. The officers were incredulous. Now, right on the cusp of victory, with the best chance they would have for total victory, now was when they would sit and attempt to create a real army. The professional soldiers could see the writing on the wall. This was all going to end in catastrophic failure.

Unlike the earlier ad hoc attempt, Hidalgo also tried to create a true government and outline his purpose. From Guanajuato, he would issue proclamation after proclamation, but it was too late. Desertions, from the highest creole officers to the lowest indio pikeman, were endemic. Momentum was lost. The local population was turning against the insurgents.

Insurgent Denouement

Calleja had by now arrived from the north. The viceregal government had declared that anyone found armed would be declared a rebel and executed. This only brought further reprisals from the insurgents. Spanish prisoners were taken out and executed in retaliation for Spanish atrocities. Soon hangings and throat-slittings, the favored execution methods of the Spanish, and garrotings, the favored method of the insurgents, were common, daily occurrences. Reprisal begat reprisal and hate begat hate. Men commonly changed sides and executed their former comrades. Betrayals became as common as executions.

Hidalgo and his insurgents now only had thoughts of escape. The insurgent army began moving north to escape, possibly to the United States. Throughout the march, insurgents deserted, and the size of the once enormous army shrank daily. Finally, at Baján, a former supporter of Hidalgo, Ignacio Elizondo betrayed the rebels into Spanish hands. Elizondo had wanted to be appointed a Lieutenant-General in the insurgent army and had been rebuffed. His resentment over rank led him to surrender the rebel leaders into Spanish custody. On March 21, 1811, Hidalgo and the other leaders of the insurgency were captured.

Hidalgo was turned over to an ecclesiastical court. Because he was a priest, the civil authorities could not judge him. He refused to ask for a pardon. He wrote a statement, abjuring support for his own revolution. Later, it would be said that he wrote this due to being coerced and under torture, but the truth is unknown. Since he had been defrocked and excommunicated by the church, part of his sentence included the flaying of his hands. After this, he was executed, probably by firing squad. This was carried out by the civil authorities. Some of his last words were alleged to be “Though I may die, I shall be remembered forever. You all will soon be forgotten.” After his execution, his head was removed from his body and placed on display with those of the other insurgent leaders. The first phase of the Mexican War of Independence was over.

What do you think of the start of various changes in the Mexican War of Independence? Let us know below.

Now, read about Francisco Solano Lopez, the Paraguayan president who brought his country to military catastrophe in the War of the Triple Alliance here.

The Mexican War of Independence: Chaos and Confusion - Part 1

By the latter half of the 17th century, the rule of Spain in the New World was reaching 200 years. Times were changing, both in the New World and in Europe, and the leaders of Spain knew it. Their problem was what to do about it. Spain had never had a coherent policy in its imperial rule. Since 1492, Spain was seemingly constantly at war, with an endless series of crises thrown into the mix. Solutions had to be found for the here and now, the future would take care of itself.

Erick Redington continues his look at the independence of Spanish America by looking at the Mexican War of Independence. Here he looks at the Jesuit roots of revolution and Hidalgo and Allende.

If you missed them, Erick’s article on the four viceroyalties is here, Francisco de Miranda’s early life is here, his travels in Europe and the US is here, and his later years is here. Then, you can read about the Abdications of Bayonne here.

A painting of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.

The Eve of the Revolution

New Spain on the eve of the Abdications of Bayonne in 1808 was a place of tension. The constant warfare in Europe meant that New Spain, as the wealthiest colony of Spain, was used as a source of money for Napoleon’s war machine. The Godoy government had been dedicated to extracting as much wealth as possible from the colonies. The people groaned under the financial burden.

Money was not the only cause of discontent. The example of the United States to the north was one of a free (slaves were ignored) federal republic that had thrown off their colonial masters and the king who ruled over them. Ideas from the French Revolution, such as liberty, equality, and fraternity, were highly influential on the literate classes. The economic arguments of free enterprise and the removal of colonial trade barriers were wrapped into the political language of the Enlightenment of the brotherhood of man and the liberation of the soul.

A further cause of resentment was the social caste system in place in New Spain. Slavery existed in Mexico, but it was not exclusively African slavery, as in the United States. Many of the natives, or indios, descendants of the Aztecs, Maya, and others, were enslaved, either in law or custom, through the encomienda system. This system, in place since the conquests by Cortes, bound the indios to labor to a man granted the right to own that labor, an encomendero. There were African slaves as well, just not in the numbers seen to the north. Above the slaves were mestizos, or mixed Spanish and indio, but they faced many legal and cultural barriers to success. Above them were the criollos. These were people who did not have any Native or African ancestry, but because they were born in New Spain, they faced certain legal disabilities, and in practice were second-class citizens. At the top of the pyramid were the peninsulares, people who were born in Spain. Not only did the peninsulares have more legal rights than everyone else, but they also owned and controlled a disproportionate amount of the wealth in New Spain. This added a large degree of economic resentment to the existing racial resentment.

Choices to be Made

In 1808, the news of the installation of Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain hit New Spain like a thunderbolt. Although there had been tensions between France and Spain, no one had expected something like this to happen. To whom was loyalty owed, to Spain? To the king? Who was the king, Carlos, or Joseph, or maybe it was the Infante, Ferdinand? These questions had to be answered. The person who had the responsibility for all decisions in New Spain was supposed to be the viceroy, José de Iturrigaray.

Iturrigaray had been viceroy in New Spain since 1803. He claimed to be a loyal servant of Carlos IV. The problem for him was, he was the viceroy for Carlos, and was Carlos still the king after the mess of Bayonne? What about Ferdinand, the heir and future king, was he legitimate? He was not appointed by Joseph Bonaparte, but many within the Spanish civil service did recognize Joseph and welcomed the Napoleonic reforms being enacted, including the ending of the Inquisition. Further, Iturrigaray was an appointee of Godoy, the ridiculously corrupt Spanish Prime Minister who was hated by nearly everyone in the Spanish domains. He knew that the Juntas would never accept him, as they were revolting against the existing Spanish government as much as against the French and King Joseph.

Thrown into the mix were those who saw this as a golden opportunity to attain, if not independence from Spain, then at least significant local autonomy. This group was primarily led by criollos who resented the privileges of the peninsulares and identified their country as New Spain. Many in this group believed that New Spain could remain loyal to the Spanish crown but be independent of Spain and the Spanish government. The situation was further complicated by the creation of the revolutionary Juntas in Spain in response to the invasion. The leaders in Spain were attempting to extend their authority over the colonies as well. If the Spanish leaders were able to solidify the loyalty of the colonies, that would eliminate any chance of New Spain achieving autonomy or independence.

When official delegations from two different Juntas, one from Oviedo, and one from Seville, arrived in the colony, it was the perfect excuse for Iturrigaray to delay. He announced that he would make no final decision on whom to support until September. In the interim, he had agreed to the formation of a Congress for the colony, ostensibly to learn the desires of the people.

Some were worried that Iturrigaray was thinking about declaring himself the leader of an independent New Spain, perhaps even as its king. To prevent this from occurring, a group of elites from New Spain organized and plotted to overthrow the viceroy. On September 15, 1808, just four months after the abdications of Bayonne, the conspirators removed Iturrigaray. Although the removal of the viceroy had been the action of a broad spectrum of elites, it seemed no one was happy with the situation. The new viceroy, Pedro de Garibay, was named by the Audencia, not for his ability or charisma, but because he was the highest-ranking officer in New Spain at the time. The pro-independence group wanted a definite break with Spain. The conservatives did not like how the coup played out, as the king was the only person who had the authority to appoint a new viceroy.

The overthrow of the viceroy was a watershed moment for one more reason that would only become clearer in the future. The revolutionary history of what would become Mexico started with a conspiracy overthrowing the legitimate government of the country. The lesson was not lost on those groups who would later compete for power: if you are not happy with the current government, just overthrow it. The English colonists revolted against taxes that barely impacted them. The peoples of Colombia and La Plata would revolt at far less provocation. Yet, the people of Mexico did nothing in the face of, what was essentially, a coup d’état. There was no mass uprising, nor did the independence-minded Creoles raise a voice. The prestige of the government of the colony suffered a blow that it would not recover from. This lesson learned in the cradle would be the curse of Mexico for generations.

The Jesuit Roots of Revolution

It would be odd to expect the main impetus for revolution to come from members of the clergy. Yet, in New Spain, the initial driving force for revolution came from priests. In an era with little formalized education, especially in far-flung reaches of the empire, families, especially creole families, which had a child who showed intellectual promise would send that child to receive an education with the church. It was within the lower orders of the church in New Spain that many of the enlightenment ideals from Europe found a receptive audience. These men were literate yet surrounded by illiteracy and what they saw as backwardness caused by oppression.

Many of the schools in New Spain by the mid-18th century were run by members of the Jesuit order. To the people of their areas, these priests offered spiritual comfort as well as education. Usually, the most learned people in their areas, the Jesuits would set up schools to spread their religion, but also to support and uplift the people, as they saw it. To the Spanish authorities, they were an organization with loyalties to the Pope, not to the king. In the era of the Bourbon reforms, when the Spanish government was attempting to centralize and gain a firmer grip on the empire, having this group of priests teaching the lower classes who knows what, as well as controlling a large amount of wealth and land in the empire, the Jesuits represented an existential threat (or a convenient scapegoat and source of wealth). In 1767, King Carlos III ordered the expulsion of the Jesuit order from the Spanish Empire.

Hidalgo

One such young man who received his early education from the Jesuits was Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Hidalgo came from a wealthy family in Michoacán that sent him to the Colegio de San Francisco Javier. It was here that first learned of the philosophers of the enlightenment. When the Jesuits were expelled from the empire, he transferred to the Colegio de San Nicolás, later moving on to the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, earning his degree and entering the priesthood. While conducting his studies, he also learned philosophy and French, allowing him to read the Enlightenment philosophers in the original language.

After becoming a priest, he became a teacher himself. Hidalgo, however, could not just ignore his beliefs in the enlightenment and against some of, what he saw, as the more obscuritan elements of Catholic theology. As a member of the faculty of the Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo, he was also the school’s treasurer. The church leaders did not want to bring attention to his heretical and liberal teachings, so in removing him, they cited financial irregularities and shipped him off to several small parishes. It was while ministering to these small, rural parishes that Hidalgo’s resentments toward the church hierarchy and the corrupt viceregal government in Mexico City bloomed.

Finally settling in the small town of Dolores, Hidalgo began the work of educating the people of the region. Unlike many in the leadership of the colony, Hidalgo did not care about social caste and would take everyone equally, including indios, who up until that time, were kept uneducated as a matter of policy. Hidalgo, always a believer in self-improvement, attempted to teach the native how to improve their lot. Instead of being subsistence farmers, Hidalgo believed that they should grow cash crops, earning more money. He attempted to teach the indios how to grow olives and grapes for wine. By improving their crops and their methods, the indios could be lifted out of poverty, and with the education and literacy he gave them, they could become prosperous.

It was not to be. Spanish law and the colonial authorities forbade the growing of certain crops to prevent competition from arising for Spanish producers. The local authorities came and cut down the groves that Hidalgo had directed to be planted. Knowing the stupidity of this action, Hidalgo’s resentment would only grow.

The Conspiracy Forms

In Querétaro at the same time, a group surrounding Ignacio Allende began forming. Allende was a captain in the royal army but had been mistreated by the viceregal government due to his New Spanish birth. Creoles were looked down on by their peninsulares comrades and had a very difficult (but not impossible) time rising to higher ranks. It proved very easy for Allende to recruit fellow members of the royal army into his conspiracy.

This conspiracy did not start with the goal of independence.  On the contrary, their goal was a New Spain under the crown of Ferdinand VII, just run by creoles. Allende wanted a bloodless coup, just like the one that unseated Iturrigaray. This required more than just lower-ranking officers, though. He knew he needed to reach out to all segments of creole society to gain a broader base of support. Allende just assumed that if he could recruit creole leaders, he would have the support of the mestizos and indios, as they would naturally follow the lead of their creole betters.

This is where Allende and Hidalgo come together. Both men resented what they saw as peninsulares corruption and fecklessness. Hidalgo, however, did not agree with Allende that a revolution should be led by a small clique of creole army officers. He wanted this to be a broad-based movement in which all elements of society had a place and would actively participate.

Any broad-based movement can be difficult to control. With more people brought into the conspiracy, word began to leak out that something was happening in Querétaro. The latest of Spanish governments, now a regency acting in the name of Ferdinand VII on the island of León, dispatched a new viceroy to New Spain, Francisco Venegas. Before he even arrived, however, the government in Mexico City wanted to consolidate its power. The conspiracy had to be broken up.

The Conspiracy Unfolds

The corregidor of Querétaro, Miguel Domínguez, was given the order to arrest Allende, Hidalgo, and the rest of the conspiracy. The problem was that Domínguez was part of the conspiracy. He was also a very indecisive man. With one foot in each camp, Domínguez needed to commit himself, but instead, he panicked. He even locked in the house his own wife, as she was also a member of the conspiracy.

Domínguez’s wife, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, would be one of the heroes of this first act of the war of independence. On September 15, 1810, Josefa figured out a way to contact her fellow conspirators and sent a message to Allende, informing him of the arrest order. Allende immediately went to Dolores to inform Hidalgo and formulate a plan.

At 2:00 AM on September 16, Allende arrived at Hidalgo’s house in a panic. He wanted to go underground with his fellow conspirators. Hidalgo, the local parish priest, exiled to a backwater due to being seen as dangerous, saw that the moment had come. His decisiveness instantly gave him leadership in this revolution. Allende’s plan for a bloodless coup was gone. A simple political change of regime would give way to mass social revolution. Hidalgo put on his boots and walked to the church, ordering the bell to be rung. The revolution was on.

What do you think of the start of the Mexican War of Independence? Let us know below.

Now, read about Francisco Solano Lopez, the Paraguayan president who brought his country to military catastrophe in the War of the Triple Alliance here.