The Battle of El Veladero was a battle of the War of Mexican Independence that occurred from 1810 through 30 April 1811 at Cerro El Veladero, Acapulco de Juárez. The battle was fought between royalist forces, loyal to the Spanish crown, commanded by Juan Antonio Fuentes, and Mexican rebels, commanded by

José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...

and Rafael Valdovinos, fighting for independence from 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 ...

. The rebels won.

Context

In 1811,

arrived with his army to the area around

Carácuaro Carácuaro is a Municipalities of Mexico, municipality in the Mexico, Mexican state of Michoacán, located south of the state capital of Morelia. Geography The municipality of Carácuaro is located in the Tierra Caliente (Mexico), Tierra Caliente ...

, Michoacán de Ocampo and began to issue notices to the local population about the popular uprising initiated 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 ...

, a movement Morelos himself had joined at Indaparapeo when he had previously met with Hidalgo. Hidalgo had named Morelos a lieutenant and commissioned him to operate in the south of the country where the important port city of Acapulco was situated. Upon his return to

, Morelos raised his own army and traveled to the state of

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

to conduct his first military campaign which took place between October 1810 through August 1811.

The battle

With his stated intent to capture the strategic city of Acapulco de Juárez, Morelos decided that it was vital to take the high ground at the Cerro del Veladero as this mountain surrounded the entire port city. Morelos sent 700 men, under the command of Captain Rafael Valdovinos, to take the mountain. Valdovinos was unable to initially take the mountain and was dislodged by royalist forces, losing his position on the mountain. Whilst these actions were taking place, the Guerrero brothers, Bravo and Vicente, arrived at the battle and bolstered the rebel forces with their own soldiers. The two sides took up strategic positions around El Valedero and Acapulco, with skirmishes occurring frequently between the two sides, until 30 April 1811 when the forces commanded by Morelos were able to overrun the mountaintop and force the Spanish forces to retreat.

References

* The information on this page was translated from its Spanish equivalent. El Veladero El Veladero History of Guerrero El Veladero El Veladero 1811 in New Spain April 1811 events {{Spain-battle-stub