Manuel Mondragón (1859–1922) was a Mexican military officer who played a prominent role in the Mexican Revolution. He graduated from the Mexican Military Academy as an artillery officer in 1880. He designed the world’s first gas-operated

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-a ...

, the M1908 rifle, and a 75mm howitzer. General Mondragón was the father of a model, artist and poet Carmen Mondragón, better known as Nahui Ollin.

Porfiriato

As an adolescent Mondragón entered the Military Academy of

Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...

, where he specialised in

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

. Upon finishing his studies, he worked developing military

materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specif ...

. He modified the French 75mm howitzer, earning a name for himself among Porfirist military circles. He perfected a repeating rifle and a 75mm howitzer (the '' Saint-Chamond-Mondragón''), both of which still bear his name. In 1904 he wrote a manual ''Description and employment of the instruments for preparing and executing fires'', and in 1910 ''Description of rapid-fire 75mm materiel''. In 1907 he was named Director of the Department of Artillery. He initiated a project on military organic law, based on mandatory military service, and as professor of the Military Academy released a work in 1910 entitled ''Defense of the Coasts''. The artillery at the ports of

Salina Cruz Salina Cruz is a major seaport on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the state's third-largest city and is the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the ...

on the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and Puerto México on the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...

are due to his efforts. As a military officer during the Porfirato, he worked against the Maderista movement. In September 1911, he took leave from the Federal Army, but in 1913 returned, reincorporated in the army to support Gregorio Ruiz in the anti-Maderista rebellion of the ''

Decena trágica The Ten Tragic Days ( es, La Decena Trágica) during the Mexican Revolution is the name now given to a multi-day coup d'etat in Mexico City by opponents of Francisco I. Madero, the democratically elected president of Mexico, between 9 - 19 Feb ...

''.

Mexican Revolution

At the side of General

Bernardo Reyes Bernardo Doroteo Reyes Ogazón (30 August 1850 – 9 February 1913) was a Mexican general and politician, with aspirations to be President of Mexico. He died in a coup d'état against President Francisco I. Madero. Born in a prominent libera ...

and General Félix Díaz, Mondragón assisted in the start of the coup, known as the

Ten Tragic Days The Ten Tragic Days ( es, La Decena Trágica) during the Mexican Revolution is the name now given to a multi-day coup d'etat in Mexico City by opponents of Francisco I. Madero, the democratically elected president of Mexico, between 9 - 19 Fe ...

, against democratically-elected President of Mexico

Francisco I. Madero Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...

in February 1913. He allied with General

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 22 December 1854 – 13 January 1916) was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero wit ...

. When Huerta seized presidency, Mondragón was named Secretary of War and the Navy. He served in this position only a short time, resigning in June amid accusations from prominent Huertist politicians and public opinion of his culpability in the advance of revolutionary forces opposed Huerta's regime, due to his incompetence and poor planning in the campaign against them.

Exile

Following these accusations,

expelled Mondragón from Mexico, heeding the rumor of a plot to overthrow him. Mondragón left for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where the government of France awarded him the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. General Manuel Mondragón died in exile in San Sebastián in 1922.

Bibliography

* Francisco Naranjo. ''Diccionario biográfico Revolucionario''. Imprenta Editorial "Cosmos", Mexico, 1935. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Mondragon, Manuel 1859 births 1922 deaths Firearm designers Mexican generals Mexican inventors Mexican Secretaries of Defense People from Ixtlahuaca de Rayón People of the Mexican Revolution Porfiriato