Manuel Mondragón (1859–1922) was a Mexican military officer who played a prominent role in the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

. 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 a type of rifle that fires a single round each time the Trigger (firearms), trigger is pulled while automatically loading the next Cartridge (firearms), cartridge. These rifles were developed Pre-World War II, and w ...

, 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, where he specialised in

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

. Upon finishing his studies, he worked developing military

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

. 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 howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

(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 An organic law is a law, or system of laws, that form the foundation of a government, corporation or any other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law. By country France Under Article 46 of the Constitutio ...

, 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 Ocean, Pacific coast of the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the state's fourth-largest city and is the municipal seat of the Municipalities of Oaxaca, municipality of the sa ...

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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and Puerto México on the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

are due to his efforts. As a military officer during the Porfiriato, 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''.

Mexican Revolution

At the side of General Bernardo Reyes and General Félix Díaz, Mondragón assisted in the start of the coup, known as the

Ten Tragic Days The Ten Tragic Days () is the name given to the multi-day coup d'état during the Mexican Revolution in Mexico City. It was staged by opponents of Francisco I. Madero, the democratically elected president of Mexico, between 9–19 February 191 ...

, against democratically-elected President of Mexico Francisco I. Madero in February 1913. He allied with General

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 23 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican general, politician, engineer and dictator who was the 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of ...

. When Huerta seized the 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 blaming him for the advance of revolutionary forces opposed to Huerta's regime due to his incompetence and poor planning in the campaign against them. Following these accusations, Huerta expelled Mondragón from Mexico, based on the rumor of Mondragón's involvement in a plot to overthrow him. Mondragón left for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, where the government of France awarded him the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. He died in exile in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

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 Secretaries of defense of Mexico People from Ixtlahuaca de Rayón People of the Mexican Revolution