Manuel Peláez Gorrochotegui (1885–1959) was a Mexican military officer, noteworthy for his participation in the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

of 1910 to 1920. Manuel Peláez was born in 1885 in the

Huasteca La Huasteca is a geographical and cultural region located partially along the Gulf of Mexico and including parts of the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro and Guanajuato. It is roughly d ...

region of the state of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, in the coastal area roughly between

Tampico, Tamaulipas Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

, and the port of

. He is primarily known in the

as an independent general who kept the Carrancista forces at bay between 1915 and 1920. He fought to uphold the local political and economic autonomy of the region, and opposed the central government of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Initial involvement in the oil business

In 1901, oil was discovered in the

, and several foreign oil companies came into the region of buy or lease subsoil right from the local ranchers. The Peláez family was one of the first families to deal with the oil companies, and Manuel Peláez quickly emerged as a respected and influential broker between the local families and the oil companies. His experiences led him to become a successful businessman, labor contractor, and labor mediator.

Mexican Revolution and aftermath

The 1910 Revolution brought uncertainty to the region, for both the oil companies and the local ranchers. The ranchers decided to join the

Francisco Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and Public figure, statesman, who served as the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in Ten Tragic ...

revolution hoping to keep economic and political control of the Huasteca away from the central government of

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

. In late 1910, Peláez organized a small local group to fight for Madero. In October 1911, after Díaz was deposed, Peláez was elected mayor of the municipality of Álamo as a supporter of Madero. He soon became disenchanted with Madero, however, when Madero began demobilizing the local paramilitary forces, and began restricting the operations of the foreign oil companies. He also became disillusioned with Madero because the new government seemed incapable of quelling the banditry and social unrest that followed the revolution. In October 1912, he joined the revolt of conservative Félix Díaz, nephew of

. When that revolt was failed, he fled to the United States.

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 23 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican general, politician, engineer and dictator who was the 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of ...

deposed Madero in February 1913, and Peláez returned to the Huasteca in April of the same year. But he found that the area had become inundated with marauding bands calling themselves Constitutionalists. Some time after June 1913, Peláez went to Mexico City and conferred with the Huerta government, asking for assistance in quelling the marauders. The War Department commissioned Peláez a Major in the Home Guard and gave him funds to arm about 500 men. Peláez took to the field again to battle men claiming to support

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920), known as Venustiano Carranza, was a Mexican land owner and politician who served as President of Mexico from 1917 until his assassination in 1920, during the Mexican Re ...

. In October 1913,

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa ( , , ; born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula; 5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923) was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced ...

won a major battle over seasoned federal troops and took the city of

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Coahuila. The city's population is 720,848 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the state of Coahuila. Also Torreón is par ...

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

. Congress then began to question Huerta's ability to bring peace to the land. Huerta responded by closing congress and arresting 84 congressmen. This caused Peláez to become disillusioned with Huerta, and he decided to follow an independent course, following neither Huerta nor the Carranza revolutionaries. In late April 1914, U.S. forces took the city of

, and then in May, Constitutional forces took the city of

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...

. Peláez seeing that the Huerta government would collapse, and fearing he would be taken by the victorious revolutionary forces, fled to the United States. In July of the same year, Huerta fled Mexico when his government collapsed. Peláez returned to Mexico in October 1914, but found the victorious revolutionaries split into two opposing factions: those who supported the continued leadership of Carranza, and those who supported the new government called the Government of the convention. Greatly disliking Carranza and his followers, he decided to support the Government of the Convention ostensibly headed up by President

Eulalio Gutiérrez Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz (February 2, 1881 – August 12, 1939) was a general in the Mexican Revolution from state of Coahuila. He is most notable for his election as provisional president of Mexico during the Aguascalientes Convention and le ...

, but actually controlled by

and

Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; 8 August 1879 – 10 April 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the insp ...

. When

suffered a major defeated by Carranza's General

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 19 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) was a Mexican general, inventor and politician who served as the 46th President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. Obregón was re-elected to the presidency in 1928 but was assassinated b ...

in the spring of 1915, the Convention Government collapsed, and Carranza declared himself in control of the Mexico.

Role as "General"

Peláez could not abide Carranza or his plans to bring the oil industry under control of his central government, so he reorganized his irregular forces and took to the field again. Calling himself a General, he imposes taxes on the local oil companies to support a small loyal and well armed rebel force. Between 1915 and 1920, General Peláez and his forces held off several attempts by the Carranza government to control the Huasteca. In January 1915, two months after Peláez began his rebellion, one of the major oil wells in the Huasteca caught fire, and burned spectacularly for three months. It was unclear what caused the fire, and both sides claimed the fire was due to malicious actions of the other. The prevailing opinion for many years was that Peláez and his forces started the fire when the oil companies refused to pay him money he demanded. Current scholarship now says the oil fire was started by lightning, but exacerbated because the local Carranza commander had closed a water pumping station in retaliation for the oil company not paying a levied fine. Peláez was a successful strategist who kept Carranza's armies on the defensive for five years. His loosely coordinated but well-paid guerrilla forces never numbered more than 3,000. While he never occupied a major city, his control of the countryside was seldom challenged. The heavily thicketed terrain, the extensive waterways, his access to weapons and ammunitions, and the support of the local population worked to his advantage in launching random surprise attacks on Carranza garrisons, payroll trains, and pipelines. His soldiers intimidated, killed, stole, and set fire to Carrancista garrisons and oil company properties at will, while leaving the Huasteca natives for the most part unharmed. Five Carrancista campaigns between 1917 and 1918 failed to subdue him. In 1916 and 1917, Félix Díaz attempted to overthrow the government. Both times Peláez offered him financial and moral support, but in 1918, he formally withdrew support from Diaz when it became apparent that Díaz had neither the ability nor the capacity to succeed. Peláez also entered into negotiations with the Zapata movement during 1918 and 1919, but the two sides had only their hatred of Carranza in common, and never reached an agreement. In October 1919, Peláez had American consular agent

William O. Jenkins William Oscar Jenkins (1878–1963) was an American businessman who made great wealth in Mexico. He was born May 18, 1878, in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He was originally a mechanic who moved to Mexico. He served during the Mexican Revolution as a ...

from

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

‘arrested’ to embarrass the Carranza government; demonstrating to the U.S. government that Carranza was unable to police the major cities. Jenkins was released unharmed later the same month, but was immediately arrested by Carranza's police for conspiring to embarrass the government. On September 9, 1919, Peláez, Félix Díaz and Gildardo Magaña, Zapata's successor, issued a joint communiqué to

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Wilson urging his recognition of their belligerencies, in the hope that the United States would somehow internee on their behalf and oppose Carranza, but nothing came of this. By 1919, Carranza was proving to be ineffective and unpopular. The population favored the accession of

for the 1920 election, but Carranza did everything in his power to prevent Obregón's election. In the spring of 1920, Obregón's Sonoran supporters initiated the Agua Prieta Revolt and removed Carranza from power. Peláez agreed to support Obregón's revolt, and when Carranza was attempting to flee to Veracruz, one of Peláez's subordinates caught up to him and killed him. For his support, Obregón rewarded Peláez by having his rank of General confirmed, and he was named Chief of Military Operations in the Huasteca.

Exile

However, in this capacity, he lost his freedom to operate independently, and became accountable to Obregón's military command. Never really seeing eye-to-eye with Obregón, Peláez fell out of favor in the Obregón government, and so he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in April 1921. His lieutenants attempted to renew hostilities against the central government but they proved no match for the central government's machinations, and they were all disarmed by the end of 1921.

Return to Mexico, retirement and death

Peláez returned to Mexico in 1923 with intentions of joining the

Adolfo de la Huerta Felipe Adolfo de la Huerta Marcor (; 26 May 1881 – 9 July 1955) was a Mexican politician, the 45th President of Mexico from 1 June to 30 November 1920, following the overthrow of Mexican president Venustiano Carranza, with Sonoran generals ...

rebellion, but he was arrested before he could participate. A few months after the rebellion was crushed, he was released and retired to his Tierra Amarilly ranch, where he lived peacefully until his death in 1959. His family still retains extensive holding in the Huasteca.

Legacy

Peláez is often dismissed as just a tool of the foreign oil companies, but his life is more complex than that. He enjoyed a large measure of genuine local popular support. While the civil war raged on in Mexico, bringing destruction, poverty, and hunger to most parts of the country; the oil-producing Huasteca region remained an enclave of prosperity. Oil operations were constantly expanding, and the oil companies provided their workers with regular pay and supplies of food and other goods, which were easily imported. Oil workers saw themselves as better than the revolutionary bandits, and saw Peláez as a defender of their interests.The Life and Times of Pancho Villa, Friedrich Katz, 1998 pg 452

References

Bibliography

* Brown, Jonathan: OIL and REVOLUTION in Mexico, 1993 * Katz, Friedrich: The Life and Times of Pancho Villa, 1998 * Womack, John: ZAPATA: and the Mexican Revolution, 1969 * Henderson, Peter: FÉLIX DÍAZ, The Porfirians and the Mexican Revolution, 1981 * Salamini, Heather Fowler: ‘Caciquismo and the Mexican Revolution: The case of Manuel Pelaez.’ * Chapter 11 of ‘Intellectuals and Power in Mexico’ Papers presented at the VI Conference of Mexican and United States Historians, 1981 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelaez, Manuel Mexican generals People of the Mexican Revolution 1885 births 1959 deaths Mexican people of Basque descent