Pablo José Calvillo (1763 – April 6, 1816) served as a parish priest in northern

Nueva Galicia Nuevo Reino de Galicia (''New Kingdom of Galicia'', gl, Reino de Nova Galicia) or simply Nueva Galicia (''New Galicia'', ''Nova Galicia'') was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain. Nueva ...

in the early nineteenth century, and led a number of the indigenous inhabitants of the

Colotlán The municipality of Colotlán is in the northern extremity of the Mexican state of Jalisco. The municipality covers an area of approximately 505 square kilometers. Colotlán is located at . It stands at above sea level. Colotlán is bordere ...

region in open rebellion against the Spanish during 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 ...

Early life

Calvillo was born in 1763 in the Valley of Huejúcar in northern Nueva Galicia. The village of his birth later became part of the state of Aguascalientes and was renamed Calvillo, in his honor. He was educated at the Seminary of Guadalajara and ordained a priest by Bishop Don Juan Cruz Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo in 1797. He served in a number of parishes in the archdiocese of Guadalajara, including

Juchipila Juchipila (Nahuatl: ''Xochipillan'', "place of noble or beautiful flowers") is a municipality in the Mexican state of Zacatecas, located approximately southwest of the state capital Zacatecas City. Geography The municipality of Juchipila is loca ...

, Hacienda de San Jacinto, Ojocaliente, Tepechitlán and

, serving as pastor of the latter parish while inhabiting the town of Huejúcar.

Military career

For health reasons, he temporarily resided in the city of Aguascalientes, and in 1809, while residing in Jesus María, he learned of the uprising in

Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo (; in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, en, Dolores Hidalgo Birthplace of exicanNational Independence) is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state o ...

and joined in the effort. He led a group of experienced indigenous archers in Colotlán with the help of the governor of the Tlaxcala neighborhood, Marcos Escobedo. In late September 1810, the group organized in his home in Colotlán and captured Spanish government buildings in the town and captured thirty Spaniards, who were sent to Zacatecasas prisoners. He eventually recruited an army of 5,000 indigenous archers from Colotlán and surrounding indigenous towns and was granted the title of Field Marshal by

Miguel Hidalgo 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 priest, leader of the Mexican ...

. Calvillo and his troops took part in the January 17, 1811 Battle of the Bridge of Calderón, where he lost a great portion of his troops. After the most prominent leaders of the insurgency began their retreat towards the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

border, Calvillo went on fighting in the Zacatecas region. The priest of Santa Cruz, Jose Francisco Alvarez, head of the royalist forces, was ordered to pursue Calvillo and the two priests' forces faced each other on March 27, 1811, in the vicinity of Colotlán. Calvillo was victorious, forcing Alvarez to withdraw troops to

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the c ...

. Soon thereafter, Brigadier Pedro Celestino Negrete launched an attack on the Calvillo's home base of Colotlán on April 7, defeating the insurgents and taking control of the town. Calvillo and his allies organized an uprising in the town on May 11, 1811 and in August 1812 Calvillo led his troops along with those of García Ramos, Miramontes and Oropeza to take control of the cities of

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the ...

and Aguascalientes. This appears to have been the last military action of Calvillobefore he retreated into the wilderness in the Sierra de Tayahua, from where he continued to suffer ill health while attempting to obtain a pardon from civil and ecclesiastical authorities. He died in the city of Zacatecas, of natural causes and was restored to full communion with the Catholic Church on April 6, 1816.

References

*''Weekly Journal of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara''. November 21, 2010 *Secretary of Education, State of Jalisco, Mexican Independence Bicentennial Sit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvillo, Pablo 1763 births 1816 deaths People of the Mexican War of Independence Mexican people of Spanish descent People from Jalisco