Manuel Arzú y Delgado y Nájera (1775 – 15 February 1835) was a Mexican and Nicaraguan military officer who held the position of interim governor of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

in 1825.

Biography

Manuel Arzú y Delgado y Nájera was born in 1775 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 Am ...

. He served for 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 ...

as a military officer. In 1822, while serving for the

First Mexican Empire The Mexican Empire ( es, Imperio Mexicano, ) was a constitutional monarchy, the first independent government of Mexico and the only former colony of the Spanish Empire to establish a monarchy after independence. It is one of the few modern-era, ...

, Arzú was placed in charge of a military force and was tasked with suppressing Salvadoran resistance to Mexican annexation. His forces captured

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

on 5 April 1822 and forced its defenders to abandon the city. In 1824, while serving for the

Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...

, Arzú commanded federal soldiers to crush a rebellion in

led by

José Anacleto Ordóñez José Anacleto Ordóñez Bermúdez (1778–1839), also known as Cleto Ordóñez, and nicknamed "''El tuerto Ordóñez''" by his detractors was a liberal Nicaraguan soldier, politician and prominent Central American unionist who served as ''de ...

. After he crushed the rebellion, he was named as Nicaragua's interim governor from 4 January 1825 until 2 April 1825, when he was replaced with Manuel Antonio de la Cerda. He established

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

's first military academy.

References

{{reflist 1775 births 1835 deaths