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José María Dionisio Melo y Ortiz (October 9, 1800 – June 1, 1860) was a Colombian general and political figure who fought in the South American wars of independence, and who rose to power and briefly held the presidency of Colombia in 1854. Of Pijao ancestry, he is considered the country's first and only indigenous president. Joining the revolutionary army of
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
in 1819, Melo distinguished himself in numerous battles of the wars of independence, including the decisive
Battle of Ayacucho The Battle of Ayacucho (, ) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of belligerent South American states. In Peru it is conside ...
. During the collapse of
Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...
he was exiled to Venezuela. After participating in another failed revolution. Melo returned to Colombia in 1840 and became involved in the , reformist political groups made up of middle-class artisans. He supported the presidency of José Hilario López, the first Liberal to take power in the country. Amidst a schism in the Liberal Party and a deteriorating political situation in the capital, Melo took power in a coup d'etat in 1854. He ruled for eight months until he was overthrown by an alliance of Conservatives and rival Liberals. Once again exiled to Central America, Melo fought against the invasion of Nicaragua by American mercenary William Walker, and pledged his support to Mexican President
Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
at the outset of the
Reform War The Reform War (17 December 185711 January 1861) or War of Reform (), also known as the Three Years' War (), and the Mexican Civil War, was a complex civil conflict in Mexico fought between Mexican liberals and conservatives with regional var ...
. He was captured by conservative troops in
Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...
in 1860 and executed. Melo is a controversial figure in Colombian history. After his death, his regime was characterized as an apolitical military dictatorship, and his role in the 19th century struggle between liberals and conservatives was generally minimized or forgotten. In the late 20th century, however, historians began to reexamine his legacy.


Early life

José María Dionisio Melo y Ortiz was born to Manuel Antonio Melo and María Antonia Ortiz in
Chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...
, a small town in the Mariquita Province of the
Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...
, on October 9, 1800. He was raised in
Ibagué Ibagué () (referred to as San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas during the New Kingdom of Granada, Spanish period) is the capital of Tolima Department, Tolima, one of the 32 departments that make up the Republic of Colombia. The city ...
, the provincial capital. Melo was of indigenous Pijao ancestry, and is considered the only Colombian president with a strong claim to indigenous ancestry. Some historians have called the extent of this ancestry into question, noting that both his father and mother were listed by the census as "white nobles" who came from important families in the colonial towns of Cartago and
Buga Buga may refer to: * Buga (surname) Places * Mount Buga, an inactive volcano in Zamboanga del Sur province, the Philippines * Buga (barangay), a barangay in San Miguel Municipality, Bulacan, Philippines * Buga, Valle del Cauca, city and municipa ...
, respectively. Others have sought to distinguish Melo's ancestry from his political contemporaries, saying that unlike Bolívar and Santander, Melo was never considered part of the ''
criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish colonial system. Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South America. * Criollo cattle, a group of cattle bre ...
'' elite.


Wars of independence

Melo joined in the
patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...
army led by
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
on April 21, 1819, commissioned as a lieutenant. The liberation army had crossed into Spanish-controlled New Granada (modern-day Colombia) from Venezuela earlier that year. Melo distinguished himself as a leader in combat, participating in battles at
Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...
, and Jenoy. He also fought in the and Pichincha in 1822, securing the independence of Ecuador, as well as Junín, Mataró and
Ayacucho Ayacucho (, , derived from the words ''aya'' ("death" or "soul") and ''k'uchu'' ("corner") in honour of the battle of Ayacucho), founded in 1540 as San Juan de la Frontera de Huamanga and known simply as Huamanga (Quechua: Wamanga) until 1825, i ...
in 1824, securing the independence of Peru from the Spanish crown. Melo was also part of the army that besieged the fortress city of
Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...
in 1825, which ultimately saw the collapse of the last Spanish stronghold in South America.


Gran Colombia

Melo remained with Bolívar's army after the final defeat of the Spanish. He participated in the
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
between
Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...
(which included modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama) and Peru (which sought to Bolívar's army out of Bolivia). Melo fought in the Battle of Portete de Tarqui in 1829, which ended in stalemate between the Colombian and Peruvian forces. Though the war with Peru was resolved with the 1830
Treaty of Guayaquil The Treaty of Guayaquil, officially the Treaty of Peace Between Colombia and Peru, and also known as the Larrea–Gual Treaty after its signatories, was a peace treaty signed between Gran Colombia and Peru in 1829 that officially put an end to the ...
, the political situation in Gran Colombia was rapidly deteriorating. Venezuela and Ecuador withdrew from the union, and Bolívar resigned from the presidency of Colombia in 1830, to be replaced by the conservative Domingo Caycedo as president of the
Republic of New Granada The Republic of New Granada was a Centralism, centralist unitary republic consisting primarily of present-day Colombia and Panama with smaller portions of today's Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil that existed from 1831 to 1858. ...
. In September 1830, general
Rafael Urdaneta Rafael José Urdaneta y Farías (October 24, 1788 – August 23, 1845) was a Venezuelan General and hero of the Spanish American wars of independence. After overthrowing President Joaquín Mosquera in a 1830 military coup, he served as Pre ...
overthrew Caycedo and formally requested Bolívar's return. The attempt failed, and Caycedo returned to power. Urdaneta and his supporters, Melo included, were imprisoned in the Castillo San Fernando in Cartagena, before they were deported to Dutch Curaçao in August 1831.


First exile

Melo traveled to Venezuela, settling in Caracas; here he married Urdaneta's sister-in-law, María Teresa Vargas y París. In Caracas, Melo was introduced to a group of military officers that favored the restoration of Gran Colombia, and opposed the separatist, conservative civilian government of José María Vargas. The group also opposed the continued influence of
caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...
and former president
José Antonio Páez José Antonio Páez Herrera (; 13 June 1790 – 6 May 1873) was a Venezuelan politician and military officer who served as the president of Venezuela three times. The first as the 5th president from 1830 to 1835, the second as the 8th president ...
, who was considered a chief ideologue of Venezuela's separation from Gran Colombia. In 1835, the group, led by revolutionary hero
Santiago Mariño Santiago Mariño Carige Fitzgerald (25 July 1788 in Valle Espíritu Santo, Margarita – 4 September 1854 in La Victoria, Aragua), was a nineteenth-century Venezuelan revolutionary leader and hero in the Venezuelan War of Independence (1811– ...
, rose up in what became known as the Revolution of the Reforms, demanding the restoration of Gran Colombia as well as various political and social reforms.Ortiz Vidales, Darío 1980: ''José María Melo: la razón de un rebelde''. Tercera Edición, Editorial Producciones Géminis, Ibagué, 2002. Though they managed to depose Vargas, Páez raised an army and forced the rebels to evacuate Caracas; the surviving rebels went into exile, some to the Dutch Antilles, and others to
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
. Melo went to Europe in December 1836. He studied at the Military Academy in
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
,
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
, and became interested in socialist ideas debated in local circles. In particular, Melo was drawn to the early utopians, including
Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...
and
Henri de Saint-Simon Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon (; ; 17 October 1760 – 19 May 1825), better known as Henri de Saint-Simon (), was a French political, economic and socialist theorist and businessman whose thought had a substantial influence on po ...
, as well as the proto-anarchist ideas of
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...
and
Louis Auguste Blanqui Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French socialist, political philosopher and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism. Biography Early life, political activity and first impris ...
. Melo was also interested in the Chartist movement that emerged in England in 1838, and even the work of French socialist and suffragist
Flora Tristan Flore Célestine Thérèse Henriette Tristán y Moscoso (7 April 1803 – 14 November 1844), better known as Flora Tristan, was a French-Peruvian writer and socialist activist. She made important contributions to early feminist theory, and argue ...
.


Return to Colombia


The Democratic Societies

Melo returned to Colombia in 1841, after an amnesty offered by President José Ignacio de Márquez during the War of the Supremes. Despite his military training in Germany, he did not rejoin the army and instead settled in Ibagué, where he engaged in several commercial ventures and even taught classes at the . He eventually became a regional political leader. After returning to Colombia, Melo participated in the foundation of the "Democratic Societies," political clubs that organized artisan workers and liberal intellectuals. The groups drew from the ideas of Saint-Simon, Fourier, and French socialist politician
Louis Blanc Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc ( ; ; 29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882) was a French Socialism, socialist politician, journalist and historian. He called for the creation of cooperatives in order to job guarantee, guarantee employment for t ...
. They also organized readings of the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
in Spanish, with radical interpretations reminiscent of 20th century liberation theology. The artisans also demanded
tariffs A tariff or import tax is a duty imposed by a national government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods or raw materials and is ...
on imports from industrialized countries like England and the United States, which they argued were detrimental to the development of national industry. They rejected the
Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty The Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty (also known as the Bidlack Treaty and Treaty of New Granada) was a treaty signed between New Granada (today Colombia and Panama) and the United States, on December 12, 1846.Kellogg Institute at the University of Notr ...
signed by the administration of
Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera Tomás Cipriano Ignacio Maria de Mosquera y Figueroa Arboleda Salazar, Prieto de Tovar, Vergara, Silva, Hurtado de Mendoza, Urrutia y Guzmán (September 26, 1798 – October 7, 1878) was a Colombian general, political figure, and slaveholder ...
, which allowed the U.S. to intervene in Panama, which at the time was a Colombian province, to protect their economic interests.


Liberal government and party schism

Melo and the Democratic Societies supported the Liberal General José Hilario López in the presidential elections of 1849, which the Liberals managed to win. López's platform encompassed many of the demands of the Democratic Societies, including the abolition of slavery and the
separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...
; he also pursued issues like land reform and
decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...
.Arismendi Posada, Ignacio; ''Gobernantes Colombianos''; trans. Colombian Presidents; Inter print Editors Ltd.; Italgraf; Segunda Edición; pg. 51; Bogotá, Colombia; 1983 In June 1849, President López appointed Melo, who had rejoined the military in 1847, the commander of the Hussars Cavalry Corps, garrisoned in Bogotá. In this capacity, Melo fought against the insurrection of 1851, where slaveowners and conservatives led by
Julio Arboleda Pombo Julio Arboleda Pombo (9 July 1817, Barbacoas, Nariño, Barbacoas, Viceroyalty of New Granada – 1862) was a Colombian poet, journalist, and politician. He was also a prominent Slavery in Colombia, slave owner and led a Colombian Civil War of ...
took arms against the López government in protest of the abolition of slavery. He was promoted to the rank of general, and managed to raise a militia of 3,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion in Cundinamarca, which was being led by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez. Melo managed to defeat the rebels at
Guasca Guasca is a Colombian town and municipality in the Guavio Province, part of the Cundinamarca Department located approximately 55 km from Bogotá passing through the town of La Calera, Cundinamarca or 65 km passing through Sopó. Guasca ...
, and after the rebellion was suppressed in the rest of the country, was named commander of military forces in Cundinamarca in June 1852. However, Melo broke with López on the issue of the "resguardos", or indigenous reservations. Melo and the Democratic Societies felt that dissolving the resguardo system, as López proposed, would allow landowners to exploit indigenous as cheap labor for their plantations. The break was part of a larger schism within the Liberal Party between two factions. The ascendant faction were the ''Gólgotas'', or Golgotha liberals, who espoused a form of
bourgeois socialism Bourgeois socialism or conservative socialism was a term used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in various pieces, including in ''The Communist Manifesto''. ''Conservative socialism'' was used as a rebuke by Marx for certain strains of socialis ...
while holding
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...
principles; they included figures like José María Samper and Manuel Murillo Toro. Opposed to them were the ''Draconianos'', or Draconian liberals; this group believed that the republican project could be safeguarded only with a centralized state and a protectionist economy. After the civil war of 1851, Melo and the Democratic Societies began to drift increasingly towards the Draconian camp, particularly due to the artisans' strong opposition to free trade. In August 1850, the artisans demanded protection and the creation of a national workshop supported by the government. Melo founded a newspaper, ''El Orden'', in 1852. Though its intended readers were military officers (and it railed against the Golgothas' proposals to reduce garrisons in urban centers), it became closely associated with both the Draconian Liberals and the artisans of the Democratic Societies. The publication attacked both the Conservatives and the Golgothas, accusing them of planning to sell Panama to the United States, and of scheming to exile prominent Draconians like
José María Obando José María Ramón Obando del Campo (August 8, 1795 – April 29, 1861) was a Neogranadine General and politician who twice served as President of Colombia. As a General, he initially fought for the Royalist Army during the Independence Wars o ...
. Obando, representing the Draconians, was elected president in 1853. He promulgated the Constitution of 1853, which was unprecedented in Latin America at the time; it established a federal system, formalized the abolition of slavery, extended near-universal male suffrage, and provided for national elections decided by direct popular vote. Despite the constitution's progressive nature, Obando and the Draconians were not entirely satisfied, aware that the document had been drafted by the Golgothas.


Quiroz affair

In 1853 and 1854, Liberal Bogotá became fractured between the artisans and the merchant class, especially after a tariff bill failed in the Golgotha-controlled Colombian Senate. The city was facing a severe food shortage, exacerbated by the tax law of 1853. Violent street battles occurred between the two groups, and a coup d'etat against Obando was discussed as a real possibility. This was the backdrop for the Quiroz affair in March 1854, where various political enemies of Melo accused the general of being responsible for the death of a corporal under his command, Pedro Ramón Quiroz, who was fatally wounded in a street brawl in January. Melo was said to have struck the corporal with his sword after he resisted arrest. In court, Melo produced evidence proving he was at regimental headquarters at the time, and also the deathbed testimony of Quiroz himself, to exonerate himself. However, both the case's judge, , and the Mayor of Bogota, Lorenzo González, were political opponents of Melo and sought to discredit this testimony. As the trial went on in April 1854, the situation in Bogotá continued to deteriorate. Golgothas fought with Draconians in the streets, and armed artisans rallied to the slogan ''pan, trabajo, o muerte'' (bread and work, or death). Vice President Obaldía, himself a Golgotha, recommended to President Obando that Melo be discharged from the Army immediately in the name of preventing an insurrection, though Obando declined.


Eight-month presidency

On April 17, 1854, mobs of artisans stormed the houses of prominent senators in Bogotá and placed them under arrest. The revolt origins are unclear, but some historians have concluded that it was masterminded by Miguel León, a prominent local blacksmith and president of the local Democratic Society club. Whatever the case, Melo arrived with the artisans at the presidential palace at 7 a.m., urging Obando to dissolve Congress and form an emergency provisional government. Obando refused, and he was placed under arrest. Melo proclaimed that his government was a rejection of the 1853 constitution and the Golgotha-controlled Congress, which sought to impugn the Army, "illustrious body of armed citizens that gave the people independence." He also declared that "liberty shall not perish as long as I exist." Similar artisans' revolts broke out in
Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...
and
Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...
. Though the Golgothas and Conservatives, who had fled to Ibagué and formed a provisional government, accused the artisans of forming a "audacious military dictatorship" headed by Melo, the "uncouth soldier", his government enjoyed the strong support of the artisans. One artisan newspaper declared of the new government: "We are free, we are democrats, and we did not abandon our workshops, our homes, and our families, only to give away our sovereignty to one man; we will not, for any price, exchange our title of citizens for that of subjects." Despite this support, Melo's ''regeneradores'' were outnumbered and outmatched by the ''constitucionalistas'', which had united Golgothas like
Tomás de Herrera Tomás José Ramón del Carmen de Herrera y Pérez Dávila (21 December 1804 – 5 December 1854) was a Neogranadine statesman and general who in 1840 became Head of State of the Free State of the Isthmus, a short lived independent state ...
with Conservatives like Julio Arboleda and Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera. Despite victories at Tíquiza and Zipaquirá, Melo's effective control of the country was limited to Bogotá, especially after Cali fell to the constitutionalists without resistance. In a climactic battle south of the capital, San Diego y Las Nieves, Melo's army was decisively defeated and Miguel León, one of the regime's chief ideologues, was killed. After Melo was militarily defeated, his soldiers and artisans were severely repressed. The only military survivors of the Artisans Revolution were 200 participants, banished on foot to Panama after their property was confiscated.Vargas Martínez, Gustavo 1972: ''Colombia 1854: Melo, los Artesanos y el Socialismo''. Editorial Oveja Negra. Bogotá. Conservatives in particular regarded the punishment as "an excellent method of purging Bogotá of the democratic pest," in the words of José Manuel Restrepo Vélez.


Final exile and death

Melo was put on trial and was ultimately expelled from the country for a period of eight years. There were some agitating for his execution, but this was avoided thanks to the intervention of certain Golgothas who pushed for clemency, including Manuel Murillo Toro, who paid his bail. He sailed for Costa Rica on October 23, 1855. Though his whereabouts immediately after his exile are unclear, historians believe that he participated in the Central American resistance against the American filibuster William Walker, who sought to create a slave republic in
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
. After the victory over Walker, Melo worked as an instructor of troops in El Salvador. He briefly moved to Guatemala before falling out with the country's dictator,
Rafael Carrera José Rafael Carrera y Turcios (24 October 1814 – 14 April 1865) was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed President for life in 1854. He ruled during the establishment of ne ...
. Melo crossed the Mexican border on October 10, 1859. At the time, Mexico was engulfed in the
War of the Reform The Reform War (17 December 185711 January 1861) or War of Reform (), also known as the Three Years' War (), and the Mexican Civil War, was a complex civil conflict in Mexico fought between Mexican liberals and conservatives with regional var ...
, another conflict between liberals (led by
Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
) and conservatives. Melo sought to offer his services to Juárez directly, but was unable to reach the Liberal seat of government in
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 ...
due to Conservative activity in
Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
; instead he was sworn into the Liberal army by the Governor of
Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...
,
Ángel Albino Corzo Ángel Albino Corzo is a municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. It covers an area of 1748.81 km2. Its municipal seat is the town of Jaltenango de la Paz. As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 26 ...
. Melo was named chief cavalry officer of the Military Department of
Comitán Comitán (; formally: Comitán de Domínguez, for Belisario DomínguezComitán de D ...
, which operated on the Mexico-Guatemala border; he sought out to train his men, most of them Tojolabal Indians, in the art of cavalry warfare. On June 1, 1860, Melo's cavalry troops, encamped at the Juncaná hacienda in La Trinitaria, were ambushed by the Conservative forces of General Juan Antonio Ortega. After several hours of fighting, the Juarista defense collapsed and the wounded Melo was captured by rebel forces. Ortega ordered Melo to be put to death, and the Colombian general was
summarily executed In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...
by firing squad. Melo's position in the Liberal army was taken by José Pantaleón Domínguez, who managed to suppress the Conservative uprising in Chiapas. He was survived by his son, Máximo Melo Granados, who married the daughter of the governor of Chiapas,
Ángel Albino Corzo Ángel Albino Corzo is a municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. It covers an area of 1748.81 km2. Its municipal seat is the town of Jaltenango de la Paz. As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 26 ...
, and remained in Mexico.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melo, Jose Maria 1800 births 1860 deaths People from Chaparral, Tolima Indigenous people of the Andes Colombian Liberal Party politicians Presidents of Colombia Colombian generals Mexican generals Colombian independence activists People of the Spanish American wars of independence Indigenous military personnel of the Americas 19th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas Executed Colombian people Executed military personnel 19th-century executions by Mexico Viceroyalty of New Granada people