His head, together with that of Allende and those of other insurgents, was exhibited in the Granaditas market in Guanajuato to teach people a lesson. After the establishment of the Mexican Republic in , Hidalgo was recognized as the first insurgent and a founding father of Mexico. In his honor, one of Mexico's states and the city of Dolores were named after him. Mexico's independence day is celebrated on September 16, the day he proclaimed the insurgency.
He was eventually stripped of his priesthood, found guilty, and executed on July After decades of abusing Creoles and poor Mexicans, there was a vast well of resentment and hatred that Hidalgo was able to tap into: even he seemed surprised by the level of anger released on the Spaniards by his mob.
He provided the catalyst for Mexico's poor to vent their anger on the hated "gachipines" or Spaniards, but his "army" was more like a swarm of locusts, and about as impossible to control. His questionable leadership also contributed to his downfall. Historians can only wonder what might have happened had Hidalgo pushed into Mexico City in November history certainly would be different.
In this, Hidalgo was too proud or stubborn to listen to the sound military advice offered by Allende and others and press his advantage. Finally, Hidalgo's approval of the violent sacking and looting by his forces alienated the group most vital to any independence movement: middle-class and wealthy Creoles like himself.
Poor peasants and Indigenous peoples only had the power to burn, pillage, and destroy: They could not create a new identity for Mexico, one that would allow Mexicans to psychologically break from Spain and craft a national conscience for themselves.
Still, Hidalgo became a great leader: After his death. His timely martyrdom allowed others to pick up the fallen banner of freedom and independence. Today, Hidalgo's remains lie in a Mexico City monument known as "the Angel of Independence" along with other Revolutionary heroes.
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Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Christopher Minster. Professor of History and Literature. Mine owners lugged in heavy bars of silver, then hastily buried costly heirlooms, family jewels and silver service deep in the golden grain of the bins. Citizens boarded up windows and barred their doors, locking themselves inside to pray for deliverance.
Above the town, the mines lay idle and abandoned. Mine workers watched from the hilltops. Repelled by a withering volley from the barricades, they broke down the doors of nearby homes whose flat rooftops overlooked the granary.
A rooftop sharpshooter cut him down with a single bullet to the brain. Those in the forefront who tried to escape by turning back were driven forward by pressure from those behind. Rebel trod on rebel, dead or alive, but there were thousands more to replace those who fell. A group of Indians, farther away, released a blizzard of stones with slingshots, driving defenders on the granary roof inside. Hidalgo, having commandeered Royalist barracks, sipped hot chocolate while the battle raged.
The few defenders who survived the ensuing bloodbath were stripped and paraded through the streets. At nightfall the sack of the city began, a drunken orgy of rape and looting, lasting well into the next day. Some women escaped by fleeing from rooftop to rooftop, many with infants in their arms. Mines and costly mining machinery were systematically wrecked, some so extensively that they remained inoperable for years. Horrified by the chaos, Allende denounced Hidalgo publicly for indulging his unruly, rampaging Indian rebels.
Hidalgo retorted in front of his men—a slight Allende would not forget. He had had to swallow the grief and bitterness of abandoning his trusted friend to his fate, then set himself to the daunting task of building a military machine capable of destroying Hidalgo. Meanwhile, flushed with victory, Hidalgo led his Indian horde toward Mexico City, many dressed in fine silks and velvets and lugging stolen carpets, wrought-iron window rejas barred grillwork and doors.
Near the end of October, Allende positioned his small army in the mountain pass of Las Cruces, 30 miles west of the city. Magnificent stone mansions and public buildings, shops, the mint, the viceregal palace, 2, coaches and hundreds of richly adorned churches, monasteries, convents and libraries were all waiting to be plundered.
With a horde of 80, at the city gates and only 2, troops to defend them, the people of Mexico City were in a state of panic. At Las Cruces, the Royalist defenders of the city fought furiously. In two days and nights of savage combat, the carnage on both sides was horrible. Of the 2, Royalists, a mere survivors straggled back to the capital to await the invasion. Then, for some reason which neither Hidalgo nor Allende ever explained to anyone, no invasion followed.
Some believe Hidalgo panicked, thinking Calleja—whom he greatly feared and whose whereabouts were unknown—might catch up to him unexpectedly. Valladolid was the cathedral city of Bishop-elect Abad y Quiepo. An increasingly exasperated Allende panicked, and tried to assassinate Hidalgo by poisoning his wine, but the wily priest made his suspicions of Allende known by employing a taster.
The rebels moved on to Guadalajara, with Calleja in hot pursuit. The position was impregnable except by open attack across a grassy plain separating the armies. Spies informed Calleja that the rebels had 6, cavalry, but only muskets, and 5, infantry-archers. Calleja divided his forces into three groups. Calleja positioned himself in the center, poised to support either wing. At that moment, Royalist artillery fire struck a loaded rebel ammunition wagon.
It went up in a stupendous explosion, igniting the dry winter grass of the plain. Panic-stricken Indians scattered in a universal rout. Seizing the fortunes of battle, Calleja stormed the cliffs behind the rebel entrenchment, driving the enemy from the field. With his sense of military honor outraged, Allende paused long enough in flight to strip Hidalgo of command, and the priest traveled on as his prisoner.
The new commander hurried north to cross into the United States, convinced he could get financial aid, arms and diplomatic recognition from President James Madison, and bring 30, Yankee mercenaries back with him to Mexico. But there were rebel officers who bore professional grudges against Allende, believing he had denied them deserved promotions. One former Royalist regimental, a double turncoat, betrayed him.
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