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
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
priest, leader of the
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 ...
and recognized as the
Father of the Nation
The Father of the Nation is an honorific title given to a person considered the driving force behind the establishment of a country, state, or nation. (plural ), also seen as , was a Roman honorific meaning the "Father of the Fatherland", b ...
.
A professor at the
Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo in
Valladolid
Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peo ...
, Hidalgo was influenced by
Enlightenment
Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to:
Age of Enlightenment
* Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...
ideas, which contributed to his ouster in 1792. He served in a church in
Colima and then in
Dolores. After his arrival, he was shocked by the rich soil he had found. He tried to help the poor by showing them how to grow olives and grapes, but 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 ...
(modern Mexico) growing these crops was discouraged or prohibited by colonial authorities to prevent competition with imports from Spain. On 16 September 1810 he gave the
Cry of Dolores
The Cry of Dolores ( es, Grito de Dolores, links=no, region=MX) occurred in Dolores, Mexico, on 16 September 1810, when Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang his church bell and gave the call to arms that triggered the Mexican War ...
, a speech calling upon the people to protect the interest of their King
Ferdinand VII, held captive during the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...
, by revolting against the European-born Spaniards who had overthrown the Spanish Viceroy
José de Iturrigaray
José Joaquín Vicente de Iturrigaray y Aróstegui, KOS (27 June 1742, Cádiz, Spain – 22 August 1815, Madrid) was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Spain, from 4 January 1803 to 16 September 1808, during Napoleon's invasion ...
.
He marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90,000 poor farmers and Mexican civilians who attacked Spanish
Peninsular and
Criollo elites. Hidalgo's troops lacked training and were poorly armed. These troops ran into an army of well-trained and armed Spanish troops in the
Battle of Calderón Bridge
The Battle of Calderón Bridge ( es, Batalla del Puente de Calderón) was a decisive battle in the Mexican War of Independence. It was fought in January 1811 on the banks of the Calderón River east of Guadalajara in present-day Zapotlanejo ...
and were defeated. After the battle, Hidalgo and his remaining troops fled north, but Hidalgo was betrayed, captured and executed.
Early years
Hidalgo was the second-born child of Cristóbal Hidalgo y Costilla Espinoza de los Monteros and Ana María Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor, both
criollos.
On his maternal side, he was of
Basque ancestry. His most recent identifiable Spanish ancestor was his maternal great-grandfather, who was from
Durango, Biscay
Durango is a town and municipality of the historical territory and province of Biscay, located in the Basque Country, Spain. It is the main town of Durangaldea, one of the ''comarcas'' of Biscay. Because of its economical activities and populatio ...
. On his paternal side, he descended from criollo families native to
Tejupilco
Tejupilco de Hidalgo is the seat of Tejupilco Municipality in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It is located approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of the state capital Toluca, along Federal Highway 34. The name Tejupilco comes from N ...
, which were well-respected within the criollo community. Hidalgo's father was an
hacienda
An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...
manager in
Valladolid
Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peo ...
,
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
, where Hidalgo spent the majority of his life. Eight days after his birth, Hidalgo was baptized into the Catholic faith in the parish church of Cuitzeo de los Naranjos. Hidalgo's parents had three other sons; José Joaquín, Manuel Mariano, and José María,
before their mother died when Hildalgo was nine years old. A step brother named Mariano was born later.
In 1759,
Charles III of Spain
it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Philip V of Spain
, mother = Elisabeth Farnese
, birth_date = 20 January 1716
, birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain
, death_d ...
ascended to the throne of Spain; he soon sent out a visitor-general with the power to investigate and reform all parts of colonial government. During this period, Cristóbal was determined that Miguel and his younger brother Joaquín should both enter the priesthood and hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Being of significant means he paid for all of his sons to receive the best education the region had to offer. After receiving private instruction, likely from the priest of the neighboring parish, Hidalgo was ready for further education.
Education, ordination, and early career
At the age of fifteen Hidalgo was sent to Valladolid (now
Morelia),
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
, to study at the Colegio de San Francisco Javier with the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, along with his brothers.
When the Jesuits
were expelled from Mexico in 1767, he entered the
Colegio de San Nicolás,
where he studied for the priesthood.
He completed his preparatory education in 1770. After this, he went to the
Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico in Mexico City for further study, earning his degree in philosophy and theology in 1773.
His education for the priesthood was traditional, with subjects in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
,
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...
and
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premis ...
. Like many priests in Mexico, he studied indigenous languages,
such as
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...
,
Otomi, and
Purépecha. He also studied Italian and French, which were not commonly studied in Mexico at this time.
He earned the nickname "''El Zorro''" ("The Fox") for his reputation for cleverness at school.
Hidalgo's study of French allowed him to read and study works of
the Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
current in Europe
but, at the same time, forbidden by the Catholic church in Mexico.
Hidalgo was ordained as a priest in 1778 when he was 25 years old.
From 1779 to 1792, he dedicated himself to teaching at the Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo in Valladolid (now
Morelia); it was "one of the most important educational centers of the viceroyalty." He was a professor of Latin grammar and arts, as well as a theology professor. Beginning in 1787, he was named treasurer, vice-rector and secretary,
becoming dean of the school in 1790 when he was 39.
As
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
, Hidalgo continued studying the
liberal ideas that were coming from France and other parts of Europe. Authorities ousted him in 1792 for revising traditional teaching methods there, but also for "irregular handling of some funds."
[Guedea, "Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla", p. 641.] The Church sent him to work at the parishes of
Colima and
San Felipe Torres Mochas until he became the parish priest in Dolores, Guanajuato,
succeeding his brother José Joaquín a few weeks after his death on 19 September 1802.
Although Hidalgo had a traditional education for the priesthood, as an educator at the Colegio de San Nicolás he had innovated in teaching methods and curriculum. In his personal life, he did not advocate or live the way expected of 18th-century Mexican priests. Instead, his studies of Enlightenment-era ideas caused him to challenge traditional political and religious views. He questioned the absolute authority of the Spanish king and challenged numerous ideas presented by the Church, including the power of the popes,
the virgin birth, and clerical
celibacy
Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...
. As a secular cleric, he was not bound by a vow of poverty, so he, like many other secular priests, pursued business activities, including owning three haciendas; but contrary to his vow of chastity, he formed liaisons with women. One was with Manuela Ramos Pichardo, with whom he had two children, as well as a child with Bibiana Lucero.
He later lived with a woman named María Manuela Herrera,
fathering two daughters out of wedlock with her, and later fathered three other children with a woman named Josefa Quintana.
These actions resulted in his appearance before the Court of the
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
, although the court did not find him guilty.
Hidalgo was egalitarian. As parish priest in both San Felipe and Dolores, he opened his house to natives and
mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...
s as well as criollos.
Background to the War of Independence
The conspiracy of Querétaro
Meanwhile, in
Querétaro City a conspiracy was brewing, organized by the mayor
Miguel Domínguez and his wife
Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez; members of the military, such as
Ignacio Allende,
Juan Aldama and
Mariano Abasolo, also participated. Allende was in charge of convincing Hidalgo to join his movement, since the priest of Dolores had very influential friends from all over 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. T ...
and even New Spain, such as Juan Antonio Riaño, mayor of
Guanajuato, and
Manuel Abad y Queipo, Bishop of
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
.
Napoleonic Wars
In 1807, Spain and France invaded and occupied
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
, an ally of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The Spanish people were upset by the presence of French troops in Iberia. After a
revolt by Spanish troops and
an uprising in Madrid,
Napoleon forced King Charles IV and
Prince Ferdinand to abdicate and installed his brother,
Joseph Bonaparte
it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte
, house = Bonaparte
, father = Carlo Buonaparte
, mother = Letizia Ramolino
, birth_date = 7 January 1768
, birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic ...
, as King of Spain. This was followed by further revolts across Spain. In August 1808, a British army landed in Portugal. Britain and France then went to war against each other in Portugal and Spain. The war and instability in Spain affected Mexico and other parts 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 Am ...
.
Parish priest in Dolores
In 1803, aged 50, he arrived in Dolores accompanied by his family that included a younger brother, a cousin, two half sisters, as well as María and their two children.
He obtained this parish in spite of his hearing before the Inquisition, which did not stop his secular practices.
After Hidalgo settled in Dolores, he turned over most of the clerical duties to one of his vicars, Francisco Iglesias, and devoted himself almost exclusively to commerce, intellectual pursuits and humanitarian activities.
He spent much of his time studying literature, scientific works,
grape cultivation, and the raising of
silkworms.
He used the knowledge that he gained to promote economic activities for the poor and rural people in his area. He established factories to make bricks and pottery and trained indigenous people in the making of leather.
He promoted
beekeeping.
He was interested in promoting activities of commercial value to use the natural resources of the area to help the poor.
His goal was to make the indigenous and mestizos more self-reliant. However, these activities violated
mercantilist policies designed to protect agriculture and industry in Spain, and Hidalgo was ordered to stop them. These policies as well as exploitation of mixed race
castas fostered animosity in Hidalgo towards the Peninsular-born Spaniards in Mexico.
In addition to restricting economic activities in New Spain, Spanish mercantile practices caused misery for native peoples. A drought in 1807–1808 caused a famine in the Dolores area, and rather than releasing stored grain to market, Spanish merchants blocked its release, speculating on price increases. Hidalgo lobbied against these practices but was not successful.
Cry of Dolores
Fearing his arrest,
Hidalgo commanded his brother Mauricio, as well as
Ignacio Allende and
Mariano Abasolo, to go with a number of other armed men to make the sheriff release prison inmates in Dolores on the night of 15 September 1810, setting eighty free. On the morning of 16 September 1810, Hidalgo celebrated
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...
, which was attended by about 300 people, including hacienda owners, local politicians, and Spaniards. There he gave what is now known as the ''
Grito de Dolores'' (Cry of Dolores),
calling the people of his parish to leave their homes and join with him in a rebellion against the current government, in the name of their King,
Ferdinand VII.
Hidalgo's ''Grito'' did not condemn the notion of monarchy or criticize the current social order in detail, but his opposition to the events in Spain and the current viceregal government was clearly expressed in his reference to bad government. The ''Grito'' also emphasized loyalty to the Catholic religion, a sentiment with which both Creoles and Peninsulares could sympathize.
Hidalgo's army – from Celaya to Monte de las Cruces
Hidalgo was met with an outpouring of support. Intellectuals, liberal priests and many poor people followed Hidalgo with enthusiasm.
His movement was joined by mestizos and the indigenous in such numbers that the original motives of the Querétaro group were obscured.
Ignacio Allende, Hidalgo's main co-conspirator in Querétaro, remained more loyal to the Querétaro group's original, criollo centered objectives. However, Hidalgo's actions and the people's response meant he would lead and not Allende. Allende had acquired military training when New Spain established a colonial militia whereas Hidalgo had none. The insurgents who followed Hidalgo also had no military training, experience or equipment. Many of these people were poor who were angry after many years of hunger and oppression. Consequently, Hidalgo was the leader of undisciplined rebels.
Hidalgo's leadership gave the insurgent movement a supernatural aspect. Many villagers that joined the insurgent army came to believe that Fernando VII himself commanded their loyalty to Hidalgo and the monarch was in New Spain personally directing the rebellion against the Viceroyalty. Historian Eric Van Young believes that such ideas gave the movement supernatural and religious legitimacy that went as far as messianic expectation.
Hidalgo and Allende left Dolores with about 800 men, half of whom were on horseback.
They marched through 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. T ...
area, through
Atotonilco, San Miguel el Grande (present-day
San Miguel de Allende), Chamucuero,
Celaya,
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Her ...
,
Irapuato and
Silao, to
Guanajuato. From Guanajuato, Hidalgo directed his troops to
Valladolid, Michoacán. They remained here for a while and eventually marched towards Mexico City.
From Valladolid, they marched through the
State of Mexico
The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...
, through the cities of Maravatio, Ixtlahuaca, Toluca coming as close to Mexico City as the Monte de las Cruces, between the
Valley of Toluca and the
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...
.
Through numbers, Hidalgo's army had some early victories.
Hidalgo first went through the economically important and densely populated province of Guanajuato.
One of the first stops was at the Sanctuary of
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed ...
in
Atotonilco, where Hidalgo affixed an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe to a lance to adopt it as his banner.
He inscribed the following slogans to his troops’ flags: ''"Long live religion! Long live our most Holy Mother of Guadalupe! Long live America and death to bad government!"''
For the insurgents as a whole, the Virgin represented an intense and highly localized religious sensibility, invoked more to identify allies rather than create ideological alliances or a sense of nationalism.
The extent and the intensity of the movement took colonial authorities by surprise.
San Miguel and
Celaya were captured with little resistance. On 21 September 1810, Hidalgo was proclaimed general and supreme commander after arriving to Celaya. At this point, Hidalgo's army numbered about 5,000.
However, because of the lack of discipline, the insurgents soon fell into robbing, looting, ransacking towns and executing prisoners.
This caused friction between Allende and Hidalgo as early as the capture of San Miguel in late September 1810. When rioting ran through the city, Allende tried to break up violence by striking insurgents with the flat of his sword, which brought him a rebuke from Hidalgo.
On
28 September 1810, Hidalgo arrived at the city of
Guanajuato with rebels who were mostly armed with sticks, stones, and machetes. The town's peninsular and criollo populations took refuge in the fortified
Alhóndiga de Granaditas commanded by Juan Antonio de Riaño.
The insurgents overwhelmed the defenses after two days and killed an estimated 400 - 600 people. Allende strongly protested these events and while Hidalgo agreed that they were heinous, he also stated that he understood the historical patterns that shaped such responses. The attacks prompted criollos and peninsulares to ally against the insurgents and caused Hidalgo to lose support from liberal criollos.
From Guanajuato, Hidalgo set off for Valladolid on 10 October 1810 with 15,000 men.
When he arrived at
Acámbaro, he was promoted to
generalissimo
''Generalissimo'' ( ) is a military rank of the highest degree, superior to field marshal and other five-star ranks in the states where they are used.
Usage
The word (), an Italian term, is the absolute superlative of ('general') thus m ...
and given the title of His Most Serene Highness, with power to legislate. With his new rank he had a blue uniform with a
clerical collar and red lapels embroidered with silver and gold. His uniform also included a black
baldric also embroidered with gold. There was also a large image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in gold on his chest.
Hidalgo and his forces took Valladolid with little opposition on 17 October 1810.
There, Hidalgo issued proclamations against the peninsulares, whom he accused of arrogance and despotism, as well as enslaving those in the Americas for almost 300 years. Hidalgo argued that the objective of the war was "to send the
''gachupines'' back to the motherland", accusing their greed and tyranny as leading to the temporal and spiritual degradation of Mexicans.
Hidalgo forced the Bishop-elect of Michoacan,
Manuel Abad y Queipo, to rescind the
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
order he had circulated against him on 24 September 1810.
Later, the Inquisition issued an excommunication edict on 13 October 1810 condemning Hidalgo as a seditionary,
apostate
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that i ...
, and
heretic.
The insurgents stayed in the city preparing to march to the capital of New Spain,
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 of ...
.
The
canon of the cathedral met Hidalgo and made him promise that the atrocities of San Miguel, Celaya and Guanajuato would not be repeated in Valladolid. Wholesale destruction of the city was not repeated. However, Hidalgo was furious when he found the cathedral locked to him, which led him to jail Spaniards, replace city officials with his own and looting the city treasury before marching off toward Mexico City.
On 19 October, Hidalgo left Valladolid for Mexico City after taking 400,000 pesos from the cathedral to pay expenses.
Hidalgo and his troops left the state of
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
and marched through the towns of Maravatio, Ixtlahuaca, and Toluca before stopping in the forested mountain area of Monte de las Cruces.
Here, insurgent forces engaged Torcuato Trujillo's royalist forces. Hidalgo's troops led the royalist troops to retreat, but the insurgents suffered heavy casualties, as they had when they engaged royalist soldiers in Guanajuato.
Retreat from Mexico City
After the
Battle of Monte de las Cruces on 30 October 1810, Hidalgo had some 100,000 insurgents and was in a strategic position to attack Mexico City.
Numerically, his forces outnumbered royalist forces.
The royalist government in Mexico City, under the leadership of
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 "k ...
Francisco Venegas, prepared psychological and military defenses. An intensive propaganda campaign had advertised insurgent violence in the Bajío region and stressed the insurgents' threat against social stability. Hidalgo's insurgency also faced opposition from sedentary natives and castes of the Valley of Mexico.
Hidalgo's forces came as close as what is now the
Cuajimalpa borough of Mexico City.
Allende wanted to press forward and attack the capital, but Hidalgo disagreed.
Hidalgo's reasoning for this decision is unclear and has been debated by historians.
One explanation is that Hidalgo's forces were undisciplined and had suffered heavy losses whenever they encountered trained troops. As the capital was guarded by some of the most trained soldiers in New Spain,
Hidalgo decided to turn away from Mexico City and move to the north
through Toluca and Ixtlahuaca
with a destination of
Guadalajara.
After turning back, many insurgents deserted. By the time he got to Aculco, just north of Toluca, his army had shrunk to 40,000 men. New Spain General
Felix Calleja attacked Hidalgo's forces, defeating them on 7 November 1810. Allende decided to take the troops under his command to Guanajuato, instead of Guadalajara.
Hidalgo arrived in Guadalajara on 26 November with more than 7,000 poorly armed troops.
He initially occupied the city with lower-class support because Hidalgo promised to
end slavery, tribute payment and taxes on alcohol and tobacco.
Hidalgo established an alternative government in Guadalajara with himself at the head and appointed two ministers.
On 6 December 1810, Hidalgo issued a decree abolishing slavery, threatening those who did not comply with death. He abolished tribute payments that indigenous peoples had to pay to criollo and peninsular lords. He ordered the publication of a newspaper called ''Despertador Americano'' (''American Wake Up Call'').
He named Pascacio Ortiz de Letona as representative of the insurgent government and sent him to the United States to seek support, but Ortiz de Letona was apprehended by the Spanish army and executed.
During this time, insurgent violence mounted in
Guadalajara. Citizens loyal to the viceregal government were seized and executed. While indiscriminate looting was avoided, insurgents targeted properties of criollos and Spaniards, regardless of political affiliation.
In the meantime, the royalist army had retaken Guanajuato, forcing Allende to flee to Guadalajara.
After he arrived at the city, Allende again objected to Hidalgo concerning the insurgent violence. However, Hidalgo knew the royalist army was on its way to Guadalajara and wanted to stay on good terms with his own army.
After Guanajuato had been retaken by royalist forces, Bishop Manuel Abad y Queipo excommunicated Hidalgo and those following or helping him on 24 December 1810. Abad y Queipo had formerly been a friend of Hidalgo, but he was adamantly opposed to Hidalgo's tactics and the resultant disruptions, alleged "sacrileges" and purported ill-treatment of priests. The Inquisition pronounced an edict against Hidalgo, charging him with denying that God punishes sins in this world, doubting the authenticity of the Bible, denouncing the popes and Church government, allowing Jews not to convert to Christianity, denying the perpetual virginity of Mary, preaching that there was no hell, and adopting
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
doctrine with regard to the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was institu ...
. Hidalgo responded that he had never departed from Church doctrine in the slightest degree.
Royalist forces marched to Guadalajara, arriving in January 1811 with nearly 6,000 men.
Allende and Abasolo wanted to concentrate their forces in the city and plan an escape route should they be defeated, but Hidalgo rejected this, deciding to make a stand at the
Calderón Bridge
Calderón () is a Spanish and Sefardi occupational surname. It is derived from the Vulgar Latin "''caldaria''" ("cauldron") and refers to the occupation of tinker.
Calderón, or Calderon, may refer to:
* Alberto Calderón, Argentine mathematician ...
(''Puente de Calderón'') just outside the city. Hidalgo had between 80,000 and 100,000 men and 95 cannons, but the better trained royalists decisively defeated the insurgent army, forcing Hidalgo to flee towards Aguascalientes.
At Hacienda de Pabellón, on 25 January 1811, near
Aguascalientes City, Allende and other insurgent leaders took military command away from Hidalgo, blaming him for their defeats.
Hidalgo remained as head politically but with military command going to Allende.
The insurgent Army
[Garrett & Chabot. "Summary of the Events in Texas for the Year 1811: The Las Casas & Sambrano Revolutions", ''Texas Letters in Yanaguana Society Publication'', Vol. VI. 1941. ''Op. cit.'' McKeehan, Wallace]
Nueva España. Las Casas Insurrection
; retrieved 23 March 2010. moved north towards
Zacatecas
, image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg
, map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico
, coordinates =
, coor_pinpoint =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type ...
and
Saltillo with the goal of making connections in the United States for support.
Hidalgo reached Saltillo, where he publicly resigned his military post and rejected a pardon offered by General José de la Cruz in the name of Venegas in return for Hidalgo's surrender.
A short time later, they were betrayed and captured by royalist
Ignacio Elizondo at the
Wells of Baján
Wells of Baján ( es, Norias de Baján) are water wells located between Saltillo and Monclova in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. The small community near the wells is called Acatita de Baján. In the first phase of the Mexican War of ...
(''Norias de Baján'') on 21 March 1811 and taken to
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
.
Execution
Hidalgo was turned over to Durango, where Bishop Francisco Gabriel de Olivares had him officially
defrocked and excommunicated on 27 July 1811. He was subsequently declared guilty of treason by a military court. He was tortured through the
flaying of his hands, symbolically removing the chrism placed upon them at his priestly ordination and executed. There are many theories about how he was killed, the most popular that he was killed by
firing squad
Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...
in the morning of 30 July.
Before his execution, he thanked his jailers, two soldiers, Ortega and Melchor, for their humane treatment. At his execution, Hidalgo
stated "Though I may die, I shall be remembered forever; you all will soon be forgotten."
His body and the bodies of Allende, Aldama and
José Mariano Jiménez were decapitated, and the heads were put on display in the four corners of the
Alhóndiga de Granaditas in
Guanajuato.
The heads remained there for ten years until the end of the
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 ...
to demoralize insurgents.
Hidalgo's headless body was first displayed outside the prison and then buried in the
Church of St Francis in
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
. The remains were transferred to Mexico City in 1824.
Hidalgo's death resulted in a political vacuum on the insurgent side until 1812. The royalist military commander, General
Félix Calleja
Felix may refer to:
* Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name
Places
* Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen
* Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, S ...
, continued to pursue rebel troops. Insurgent fighting evolved into guerrilla warfare,
and eventually the next major insurgent leader,
José María Morelos Pérez y Pavón, who had led rebel movements with Hidalgo, became head of the insurgents, until Morelos himself was captured and executed in 1815.
Legacy
"Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla had the unique distinction of being a father in three senses of the word: a priestly father in the Roman Catholic Church, a biological father who produced illegitimate children in violation of his clerical vows, and the father of his country." He has been hailed as the ''
Father of the Nation
The Father of the Nation is an honorific title given to a person considered the driving force behind the establishment of a country, state, or nation. (plural ), also seen as , was a Roman honorific meaning the "Father of the Fatherland", b ...
''
even though it was
Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide (; 27 September 178319 July 1824), full name Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu and also known as Agustín of Mexico, was a Mexican army general and politician. During the Mexican War of Independence, he built ...
and not Hidalgo who became the first
head of state of Mexico in 1821.
Shortly after gaining independence, the day to celebrate it varied between 16 September, the day of Hidalgo's Grito de Dolores, and 27 September, when Iturbide's forces captured Mexico City, ending the war.
Later, political movements would favor the more liberal Hidalgo over the conservative Iturbide, and 16 September 1810 became officially recognized as the day of Mexican independence.
The reason for this is that Hidalgo is considered to be "precursor and creator of the rest of the heroes of the (Mexican War of) Independence."
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
painted Hidalgo's image in half a dozen murals.
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro ...
depicted him with a flaming torch of liberty and considered the painting among his best work.
David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
was commissioned by San Nicolas McGinty University in Morelia to paint a mural for a celebration commemorating the 200th anniversary of Hidalgo's birth.
The town of his parish was renamed Dolores Hidalgo in his honor and the state of
Hidalgo was created in 1869.
Every year on the night of 15–16 September, the president of Mexico re-enacts the Grito from the balcony of the
National Palace. This scene is repeated by the heads of cities and towns all over Mexico.
He is the namesake of
Hidalgo County, Texas
Hidalgo County (; ) is located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat is Edinburg and the largest city is McAllen. The county is named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the priest who raised the call for Mexico's independence from Spain. ...
.
The remains of Hidalgo lie in the column of the
Angel of Independence in Mexico City. Next to it is a lamp lit to represent the sacrifice of those who gave their lives for Mexican Independence.
His birthday is a civic holiday in Mexico.
File:Angel de la Independencia Mexico City.jpg, Hidalgo was laid to rest at the base of the Angel of Independence, Mexico City
File:Orozco Hidalgo mural.jpg, Painting of Hidalgo, by José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro ...
, Jalisco Governmental Palace, Guadalajara
File:Miguel Hidalgo (2) by Claudio Linati 1828.jpeg, Romantic portrait, by Claudio Linati (1828)
File:PlazaMiguelHidalgoMeoquiChihuahua.jpg, Don Miguel Hidalgo Square and Freedom Route
File:Mexico.DF.Coyoacan.MiguelHidalgo.Statue.01.jpg, Statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
at Plaza
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. R ...
Hidalgo, Coyoacán
Coyoacán ( , ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic ...
File:Hidalgo aboliendo la esclavitud.JPG, Statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
in Guadalajara, Jalisco
File:Maxico 10 Pesos 1955 Crown Size Silver Coin EF.jpg, Commemorative silver coin Mexico 10 Pesos 1955
File:PlazaMiguelHidalgoMeoquiChihuahua.jpg, Plaza Don Miguel Hidalgo,Chihuahua
See also
* Minor planet
944 Hidalgo, named after Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
* ''
Hidalgo: La historia jamás contada'' (''2010 film'')
*
Statue of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (disambiguation) The statue of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla may refer to:
* Statue of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Cholula
The statue of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla is installed in Cholula, Puebla's Plaza de la Concordia
The Plaza de la Concordia, or Zócalo, is a la ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hidalgo Y Costilla, Miguel
1753 births
1811 deaths
People from Pénjamo
Mexican Roman Catholic priests
Mexican people of Spanish descent
Colonial Mexico
Mexican nationalists
Mexican independence activists
Mexican rebels
People excommunicated by the Catholic Church
Executed Roman Catholic priests
Military history of Mexico
Executed Mexican people
People executed by New Spain
19th century in Mexico
Generalissimos
People executed by Spain by firing squad
Mexican revolutionaries
Armed priests
19th-century Mexican military personnel
People of the Latin American wars of independence