The Capture of Orizaba was a battle of the

War of Mexican 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 ...

that occurred on 28 October 1812 at

Orizaba Orizaba () is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a 2005 census ...

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. The battle was fought between the royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown, commanded by General José Antonio Andrade, and the Mexican rebels fighting for independence from the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

, commanded by

José María Morelos y Pavón José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

. The battle resulted in a victory for the Mexican rebels.

Context

José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...

had by this time in the war, made it his goal to conquer the mountainous region of south east

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. This was made difficult because such a conquest also involved taking the more heavily defended Spanish cities of

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

and

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. To accomplish his objectives, he moved to cut off communications between

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 ...

and the port at

. To accomplish this, Morelos had to occupy the city of

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

as both these cities fell between these objectives. While based in

Tehuacán "By faith and hope" , , image_map = , mapsize = 300 px , map_caption = Location of Tehuacán within the state of Puebla. , image_map1 = Puebla en México.svg , mapsize1 = 300 px , ma ...

, Morelos reviewed the defenses at Orizaba and decided that its capture would be the most strategically viable of the two. He decided on Orizaba also in part because of the large sums of money and property in the city belonging to the

Viceroyalty of 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 Amer ...

. Morelos marched from Tehuacán on 25 October with his army which was made up of around 10,000 soldiers. The column reached Orizaba on 28 October 1812. The city was defended by a garrison of around 600 Spanish loyalists commanded by Colonel José Antonio Andrade. In an effort to avoid a battle with such lopsided odds, Morelos sent a representative to discuss terms of surrender with the defending Spanish garrison who promptly refused his offer.Zárate, 1880; 324-325

The battle

After the rejection of his offer of surrender, the insurgent forces advanced upon the city until arriving at the city

Bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from the ...

where Colonel Andrande had made his defensive stand. The rebel forces were there met with a strong barrage of artillery and musket fire causing relatively high casualties. Morelos retreated from his initial attack and again gathered his forces together while he waited for his soldiers from Santa Catarina and San Cristóbal to get into their strategic positions of attack. Morelos ordered General

Hermenegildo Galeana Hermenegildo Galeana (13 April 1762 – 27 June 1814) was a hero of the Mexican War of Independence, one of six brothers who fought in the insurgency. Galeana was considered the right-hand man of secular priest and leader of independence, José M ...

to commence a frontal attack on the city. Morelos took direct command of the Santa Catarina column with which he was able to successfully take the Cerro del Borrego, one of the high ground areas surrounding the city. From this cerro, he commenced an artillery barrage of the city plaza. The loyalist colonel, José Antonio Andrade, caught in the crossfire between Galeana and Morelos, retreated from the city around 11:00 am when Morelos was finally able to enter in the wake of the Spanish.

References

Bibliography

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017

Conflicts in 1812 History of Veracruz

1812 in New Spain October 1812 events