José María Morelos

“ The brothers, Don José, and Don Antonio, Gălĕānă, who had already declared for the cause of Independence, joined him, soon afterwards, with their adherents, (November, 1810,) and increased his numbers to about a thousand men. With this force Morelos advanced upon Acapulco. He was met by the Commandant of the district, Don Francisco Paris, at the head of a numerous and well-appointed body of troops. Notwithstanding his superiority, Morelos, aware of the necessity of commencing his operations by a coup-d'éclat, determined to attack the camp of the Royalists by night. ”

“ The remainder of the year 1811 passed quietly, but early in 1812, after penetrating to within twelve miles of the capital, the insurgents retired to the town of Cuautla, where they were besieged by the royal army. Morelos, who had assumed the leadership, made vacant by the death of Hidalgo, was a man of similar qualifications to the first, and educated in the same seminary of learning, in Valladolid. He was born in the year 1765, of humble parentage, and, though studiously inclined, could not gratify his thirst for knowledge till late in life. ”

“ The next moment he fell, shot in the back; [30] passing through a traitor's death into the sphere of patriot-martyr and hero immortal.
His countrymen have placed him next to Hidalgo in the rank of patriot liberators, and justly so, for if the latter started the revolution, Morelos nobly carried on the great work, and more ably, it must be admitted. While possessing little book learning, he
had what far outweighed it genius—which, when the summons came, transformed the benign cura into the greatest and most successful military leader among the insurgents, at least till Iturbide joined them. ”

“ Morelos was taken to Mexico; the ecclesiastical tribunes covered him with ignominy, and he was handed over to the military authorities. By them he was at once sentenced to death, and on the 22d of December, 1815, he was shot in the small town San Cristobal Ecatepec, dying with the bravery of a hero.
This was the end of the dark period, called the second, of Mexican independence. Its life was in its chief, the daring, patriotic Morelos.
There is no doubt that Morelos had many of the great qualities for a successful leader of men. He was born in poverty, with no antecedents of greatness ”

“ The following year, Morelos was defeated in an engagement which took place in the environs of Tesmelaca, taken prisoner, led to Mexico, and, after a short trial, degraded from his ecclesiastical functions, and shot in the village of San Cristobal Ecatepec, seven leagues from the capital. The revolutionary party considered him as a martyr in the cause of liberty, and he is said to have died like a true hero. The appellation of Morelia, given to the city of Valladolid, keeps his name in remembrance, but her blood-stained mountain is a more lasting record of his cruelty. ”

“ Hastily gathering up their precious documents, the men fled, and Morelos and his handful of patriots, closing in behind them, held until they were beyond pursuit the pass through which they were flying. Morelos heroically stood his ground until but one man remained at his side. Then, when forced to surrender, he said calmly, "My race is run when an independent government is established in Mexico." ”

“ If the subsequent leaders of Mexican independence have not been always true to the example he gave them, of unselfish devotion to his cause, the great population has never wavered in its devotion to his memory.
In the public square of Morelos, capital of the state which also bears his name, is a marble statue of the hero, set up during the French occupation, on September 30, 1865, the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Morelos. ”

“ Morelos pointed to him as the most promising of the leaders, partly from his knowledge of military science; and he justified the praise by placing the administration of his district on an excellent footing, and forming the best organized force among the insurgents, 800 strong, with which he began to plan movements destined to bring credit to himself as well as to the cause.
Such was his position when, on November 16th, the fugitive congress marched into Tehuacan with a dilapidated remnant of followers, escorted by Guerrero. ”

“ The rainfall is light in the lower regions and irrigation is generally employed. Notwithstanding its mountainous character, Morelos is one of the most flourishing agricultural states of Mexico, producing sugar, rice, Indian corn, coffee, wheat, fruit and vegetables. Although the state is supposed to have several of the minerals found in this part of Mexico (silver, cinnabar, iron, lead, gold, petroleum and coal) , its mining industries, continue undeveloped and neglected. ”

“ The difference drawn between the kind man-killer and the cruel one is little else than conventional subterfuge. [6] Here in particular it was the exterminating system of warfare pursued which imposed upon revolutionary leaders severity and a rigorous system of death-sentences. The devotion of Morelos to the cause was unbounded, and his firmness of soul held him to whatsoever course his judgment marked out as the best. ”

“ Determined to extend the field of his operations, he left Ávila well fortified on the Veladero, and at the head of no more than 300 men marched toward Chilpancingo. With this small force Morelos entered upon a campaign which shook Spain's power in Mexico to its foundation. After a march attended with much labor and suffering, during which he overcame all resistance offered by the royalists, he entered Chilpancingo without opposition on the 24th of May, his forces being now increased to 600 men well provided with muskets and arms taken from the enemy. ”

“ There is still a doubt as to what part of the suggestions for crushing the insurgents is really his, for the royalists did not scruple to invent declarations in order to tarnish the fame of their opponents. Hence the statement is also doubtful that Morelos had proposed to abandon the revolution as hopeless, and after leaving the congress at Tehuacan to depart for abroad, preferably to Spain, and there ask pardon of the king. He is also said to have offered to persuade insurgent leaders to stay the war ”

“ In most of the states robbery, kidnapping, and murder were of daily occurrence. [15] But by the end of 1868 quiet was somewhat restored, the insurgents being defeated everywhere, without the government having resorted to ruinous taxation.
The expediency of creating new states from the large territory possessed by the old state of Mexico was generally acknowledged. On the 1st of December, 1868, congress enacted a law for the formation of the state of Morelos. [16] It required that a legislature and executive should be there installed within four months. ”

“ Tut! Business was no excuse, considering that Don Alonzo was of Spanish parentage, while the other had been nothing but a Cuban for two centuries. To forget this breach or try to bridge it, to presume on the tolerance of an occasional employer, unless one were a slave or a servant and used to indulgence—that was not to be forgiven. A rumor that travelled more quietly was that Morelos himself was a revolutionary and had caused this arrest as a blind, or in order to silence a tongue that might speak damage. ”

“ Prior to his departure from Chilapa for Cuautla and Izúcar in the latter end of 1811, Morelos directed his active lieutenant, Trujano, to spread the insurrection throughout the Miztec country, and parties wore accordingly despatched in all directions, appropriating to their own uses the grain, live-stock, and every other available thing belonging to the Spaniards or to those of royalist proclivities. One of those parties, commanded by Colonel Figueroa, paid a visit to Tehuacan, a rich city and the commercial centre of the provinces of Puebla, Oajaca, and Vera Cruz. ”

“ By this procedure he obtained possession of fifty additional muskets, and as many lances. His forces were also increased by more than 100 men. Henceforward the progress of Morelos was rapid; and on his march to Acapulco followers
daily flocked to his standard. Passing through Tecpan, Zanjon, and Coyuca, he arrived at Aguacatillo, his forces now numbering 3,000, all well armed with muskets, swords, and lances. Unlike Hidalgo, Morelos would not permit the rabble to follow him; he would not have an army of undisciplined and refractory men; he confined himself to a small but efficient force. ”

“ Many prefer to manifest their revolutionary sympathies in contributions and intrigues.
Hidalgo sets out with a mere rabble, imposing in number, but easily vanquished. Morelos seeks to remedy the defeat by discipline and the organization of an army; and the result is a success which gains for the revolution control of all the vast south, and assists to dispute the royalist sway in the central provinces, reducing the enemy to narrow straits. ”

“ He was confined in the inquisition building until the viceroy arranged with the ecclesiastical authorities for his surrender to the military courts. Meanwhile two judges from both jurisdictions proceeded to try him as a rebel and a traitor, mainly on the charges that he had ignored the king, promoted revolution, disregarded episcopal decrees, cruelly ravaged the country, and executed loyal subjects. Morelos replied that no king existed in Spain during the earlier period of the war; his subsequent restoration was either doubted or ascribed to a Napoleonic compact prejudicial to Spain. ”

“ It has a singular effect, after travelling for some days through a wild country, seeing nothing but a solitary hacienda, or an Indian hut, to enter a fine city like Morelia, which seems to have started up as by magic in the midst of the wilderness, yet bearing all the traces of a venerable old age. By moonlight, it looked like a panorama of Mexico; with a fine square, portales, cathedral, broad streets, and good houses. ”

“ Morelos had made his preparations to evacuate the town. His influence over his followers was unbounded, and whithersoever he went, or to whatever fate, they were ready to accompany him and die for him. That night the troops were silently marshalled in the plaza of San Diego, and at two o'clock on the morning of the 2d the march began, the lights being left burning on the ramparts. ”

“ The courier charged with the Viceroy's dispatches having fallen into the hands of an Insurgent party, Morelos was perfectly aware of the increase of force, which Calleja was about to receive; but he felt, likewise, that the eyes of all Mexico were turned upon the contest at Cūāūtlă, and that a retreat would defeat the hopes, which the repulse of the Royalists, in their first attack, had excited. He determined, therefore, to defend himself to the last, in a place where, according to the rules of war, defence was impossible ”

“ An old soldier of the Revolution is not likely to be very punctual about his time of eating.”
“That is no reason at all,” rejoined the hostess. “We have here, for instance, the good presbitero, Don Lucas de Alacuesta, who was an insurgent officer through the whole campaign of the illustrious Morelos, and yet he is to-day a very model of regularity in his habits.”
“What! an officer of Morelos, was he?”
“Certainly; all the world knows that.”
“Do you chance to know another old officer of Morelos, who is said to live here in Tepic, Don Cornelio Lantejas?” ”

“ It is singular, that the great leaders of the independence should have been ecclesiastics; the Curate Hidalgo its prime mover, the Curates Morelos and Matamoros the principal chiefs. Hidalgo, it is said, had no plan, published no manifesto, declared no opinions; but rushed from city to city at the head of his men, displaying on his colours an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and inciting his troops to massacre the Spaniards. Morelos was an Indian, uneducated, but brave and enterprising, and considered the mildest and most merciful of these soldier priests! ”

“ But what I desired was a more personal and intimate knowledge of this remarkable man, who from being the humble curate of an obscure village in Oajaca, became in a few short months the victorious leader of a well-appointed army, and master of all the southern provinces of New Spain.
“Can you give me any information regarding Morelos?” I asked of Captain Castaños, as we were journeying along the route between Tepic and Guadalaxara.
“Ah! Morelos? he was a great soldier,” replied the ex-captain of guerilleros. ”

“ Morelos was victorious in several other actions in the same and succeeding months, and pushed his advanced guards into the valley of Mexico, where he occupied Chalco and San Agustin de las Cuevas, about twelve miles from the metropolis. Morelos finally resolved to make his stand at Cuautla, in the tierra caliente, on the other side of the mountain ranges which hem in the valley; and, to this place the viceroy Venegas despatched Calleja, who was summoned from the north and west, where, as may readily be imagined, so fiery a spirit had not been idle or innocent since the defeat of Hidalgo. ”

“ Meanwhile the first Mexican Congress, like many another, was not harmonious; divisions arose between its deputies and its general. The patriot was learning that it is harder to keep a government well in hand than it is to seize it by force.
In 1815 this Congress decided it would like to move to Tehuacan, and assigned to Morelos the task of escorting it thither with all the troops he held at his disposition. This strange march set forth in mystery and concealment on the 29th of September; but in spite of the stratagems of Morelos, the royalist forces discovered its route, and intercepted it. ”