HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Battle of Monte de las Cruces was one of the pivotal battles of the early
Mexican War of Independence The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...
, in October 1810. It was fought between the insurgent troops of
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (8 May 1753  – 30 July 1811), more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican W ...
and
Ignacio Allende Ignacio José de Allende y Unzaga (, , ; January 21, 1769 – June 26, 1811), commonly known as Ignacio Allende, was a captain of the Spanish Army in New Spain who came to sympathize with the Mexican independence movement. He attended the secr ...
against the
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...
royalist troops of Lt Colonel Torcuato Trujillo, in the Sierra de las Cruces mountains between
Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city ...
and
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. The battle marks the furthest advance of the first rebel campaign, before Hidalgo decided to retreat towards
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...
, and not attack Mexico City, despite the fact that he won the battle, but at high cost. The battlefield is now located in the La Marquesa National Park, which is officially called the Miguel Hidalgo National Park in honor of the event.


Grito de Dolores and march to the Sierra de las Cruces

The battle marks the end of the first offensive in the Mexican War of Independence, which began with the
Grito de Dolores A ''grito'' or ''grito mexicano'' (, Spanish for "shout") is a common Mexican interjection, used as an expression. Characteristics This interjection is similar to the ''yahoo'' or '' yeehaw'' of the American cowboy during a hoedown, with added ...
. Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was the parish priest of Dolores, Guanajuato, involved with one of a number of conspiracies against the colonial government in the early 19th century. A particular conspiracy was called the Conspiracy of Querétaro. The plot, which was supposed to be launched in December 1810, was discovered. Fearing his arrest, Hidalgo decided to begin the insurrection early by calling upon parishioners to rise up against the colonial government. The Grito was a call to arms to better the lives of Mexicans, and it immediately attracted the support of the lower classes in the town of Dolores and the
Bajío El Bajío (the ''lowland'') is a cultural and geographical region within the central Mexican plateau which roughly spans from north-west of the Mexico City metropolitan area to the main silver mines in the northern-central part of the country. Thi ...
region. One reason for this was that Hidalgo had credibility among the lower classes, despite being an upper class Creole, due to his work to give the poor and indigenous peoples more economic opportunities. This made Hidalgo leader of the insurgent movement instead of follow conspirator Ignacio Allende, despite Allende's training as a military commander. The insurgent army was really an untrained mob with little or no discipline. This army passed through the Bajio region of what is now state of
Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...
, capturing cities such as
San Miguel el Grande San Miguel El Grande is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 4705 km². It is part of the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region The Mixteca Region is a region in the s ...
,
Celaya Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality f ...
and Irapuato with little resistance. All the while, more people joined the ranks of the insurgents, until upon leaving Celaya, Hidalgo had about 80,000 men. The response to Hidalgo's call was so quick that royal authorities could not react at first. Hidalgo's army then passed through Querétaro and into what is now the state of Mexico, heading south and east towards Mexico City, with still more volunteers joining along the way. Despite the early success, there were serious problems with the army. Many were armed only with primitive weapons such as bows and arrows but the bigger concern for Ignacio Allende was the pillaging, looting and wanton violence that followed the taking of the Bajio cities.


The battle

Only a month and a half after the Grito de Dolores, Hidalgo's army entered the
Toluca Valley The Toluca Valley is a valley in central Mexico, just west of the Valley of Mexico (Mexico City), the old name was Matlatzinco. The valley runs north–south for about , surrounded by mountains, the most imposing of which is the Nevado de Toluca Vo ...
on its way to Mexico City. The insurgents' rampage through Guanajuato terrified the elite in
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...
and even many of the lower classes of the more conservative valleys of Toluca and
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
. The city of Toluca called upon viceregal authorities for help, which came in the form of contingent of royalist forces under the command of General Torcuato Trujillo. Trujillo's royalist army took up strategic positions in the Sierra de las Cruces, which separate Toluca from Mexico City. These mountains are filled with steep valleys and thick forests. This allowed for advantages against the numerous insurgent army, such as the ability to place cannons above oncoming troops. It also allowed Trujillo to protect the road to Mexico City with troops on both sides. Command of insurgent forces was put directly under Ignacio Allende, in order to take advantage of his military capabilities. The battlefield is a site called Los Llanos de Salazar in the current municipality of Ocoyoacac, where more than 90,000 insurgent troops fought. The army was divided into three flanks. One was composed of 30,000 men who took the
Temoaya Temoaya is a municipalities of Mexico, municipality in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It's Municipal seat, municipal seat is the town of Temoaya which is the sixth largest town in the municipality. It is located from Toluca and from Mexico City. I ...
/ Jiquipilco road on the west side. Another flank approached the battlefield from the south via Mexicaltzingo and the main troops commanded by Allende and Hidalgo between the two. The strategy was to encircle Trujillo's troops. The battle began at about 8am on 30 October 1810 in a cold pine forest on rugged territory. The battle had three phases, corresponding to the three offensives of the insurgent army against royalist positions. The first two were rebuffed, but the insurgents managed to surround the royalists. Before the third try, Hidalgo sent emissaries to try to get the royalist to surrender but the head of the royalist army responded by killing the emissaries. This angered insurgent troops. The third offensive was successful and cleared the road for the advance to Mexico City. However, the insurgent army experienced heavy losses, with 2,000 troops dead and many more wounded. This was due to the lack of training of insurgent troops as well as the lack of modern weapons.


Retreat from Mexico City

After the battle, Hidalgo's troops advanced as far as
Cuajimalpa Cuajimalpa de Morelos (; more commonly known simply as Cuajimalpa) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in the Mexico City. It is located on the west side of the city in the Sierra de las Cruces mountains which separate Mexico City from the ...
, which today is just within the Federal District of Mexico City. Meanwhile, Hidalgo also sent word that he wanted to speak to the
viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...
,
Francisco Javier Venegas Francisco Javier Venegas de Saavedra y Ramínez de Arenzana, 1st Marquess of Reunión and New Spain, KOC (1754 in Zafra, Badajoz, Spain – 1838 in Zafra, Spain) was a Spanish general in the Spanish War of Independence and later viceroy of ...
. However, at this point, Hidalgo decided not to press forward to Mexico City and instead retreat towards Guadalajara. The true reason for this decision is not known but a number of speculations have been offered. One story is that before knowing if the viceroy had received his request for a meeting, Hidalgo received word that Calleja was already en route with another army. Hidalgo's troops had sustained heavy casualties during Las Cruces and Hidalgo feared that he could not withstand another royalist assault. Another view is that Hidalgo was a priest, not a military man and the bloodshed of that battle horrified him. He did not want to see it, nor the riots of the Bajio cities repeated in Mexico City. One other explanation is that about 40,000 of Hidalgo's volunteer troops abandoned the effort after the battle with efforts to recruit more from the local area failing and there was disagreement among the ranks and leadership as to what to do next. The battle crippled the royalist army but did not completely destroy it. It was able to regroup and pursue a counteroffensive as Hidalgo retreated.


The site today

The battlefield site is located in the present day La Marquesa National Park (officially Miguel Hidalgo National Park), in the Los Llanos de Salazar area within the municipality of Ocoyoacac, Mexico state. The battlefield is marked by an
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
monument constructed in the 1960s to memorialize the event, and which also proclaims Hidalgo as the first "
caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...
" of Mexican Independence. A second monument at the battlefield has huge bronze equestrian sculptures of Hidalgo, Allende, and
José Mariano Jiménez José Mariano Jiménez (August 18, 1781 – June 26, 1811) was a Mexican engineer and rebel officer active at the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence. Mariano Jiménez was born in San Luis Potosí. He studied in the Colegio de Miner ...
on horseback. The road that the insurgents fought to clear has since been replaced by a modern highway, linking Mexico City and
Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city ...
. The remains of the original road are hardly noticeable from the highway. Los Llanos de Salazar is filled with food stands and recreational facilities, including in the battlefield area. The businesses crowd around the monuments, and graffiti mars them. Cuajimalpa, where Hidalgo's troops turned around, also has monuments to the insurgent army. There is a bust of Hidalgo in the community of San Lorenzo Acopilco, which marks the point of the insurgent army's farthest advance. Local legend states that a priest blessed the waters of a spring near here.


References

{{Coord, 19, 19, 46, N, 99, 18, 59, W, region:MX_type:event_source:kolossus-huwiki, display=title Monte De Las Cruces Conflicts in 1810 1810 in New Spain Monte de las Cruces Monte de las Cruces History of the State of Mexico October 1810 events