HERMENEGILDO GALEANA: BIOGRAPHY - HISTORY - 2024

Hermenegildo Galeana (1762-1814) was one of the military heroes of the Mexican War of Independence. He stood out, mainly, for his participation in several of the most important battles during the first part of the war, especially during the first half of the 1810s.

Galeana belonged to the group of soldiers closest to José María Morelos, one of the main strategists and commanders of the war of independence. In fact, it was considered one of the fundamental pieces of the military movement of the insurgents by the Mexican leader.

By Anonymous (http://www.inehrm.gob.mx), via Wikimedia Commons

Galeana's death served to mark a turning point in the movements of Morelos himself, who was deeply affected by the loss of one of his most important followers.

Galeana fought in the Mexican war of independence accompanied by several family members, who also joined the patriot cause to free Mexico from Spanish control.

Biography

Early life

Hermenegildo Galeana was born in Técpan de Galeana, on April 13, 1762. His family was of Creole descent; Most of his close relatives owned ranches, although Hermenegildo was never educated at the secondary level.

Galeana grew up on the Zanjón farm. He was educated only at a basic level; He never reached secondary school or attended the San Ildefonso school. He spent most of his young life on his family's hacienda, until the pieces began to be moved to achieve independence from Mexico, shortly before 1810.

During the first stage of Galeana's life, the discontent of the Creole families in New Spain never stopped growing. The discrimination of the Spanish Crown against the Creoles was severely affecting their lifestyle; there was a clear preference for the peninsular.

This social break was reflected in the first conspiracy against the Spanish monarchy, led by Izazaga. This first insurgency occurred in Valladolid. Although this attempted revolution was discovered, it was not long before other movements began to gain momentum.

Support for the independence movement

When news of the Izazaga conspiracy reached the Galeana ranch, the Creole family considered joining the movement. When the revolution of Father Hidalgo and José María Morelos began, the Galeanas immediately joined the independence cause.

José María Morelos's army followed a previously established route. The objective of his troops was to take Acapulco to create a new control center for the insurgent army. However, to get to Acapulco, they had to first pass through the Galeana family ranch.

When Morales' army arrived at his place of residence, Hermenegildo Galeana joined the movement that sought to liberate Mexico from Spanish control. Along with him, two of his nephews also took up arms and joined the cause. They carried with them an emblematic cannon of the Army of the South, which was used in the battle front.

Promotion in the military

There was a key event whereby Hermenegildo Galeana earned Morelos's trust, causing him to become a high-ranking officer.

A Spanish officer was invading a defensive position of the pro-independence insurgents. Most of the Mexican soldiers were forced to run, fearing crushing defeat. However, Galeana took command of the area and set out to end the Spanish attack.

His bravery quickly earned him the respect of Mexican soldiers. The speed with which he changed the course of the battle was worthy of a great military leader.

His action did not bypass the high command of the insurgent army; José María Morelos appointed him lieutenant of the troops of his region and entrusted him to continue with the insurgent advance. The mission of Galeana's troops was the capture of the nearest port.

Bravo Family

During their advance in the capture of Mexican territory for the patriot army, Galeana and her troops approached the Chichihualco hacienda.

This hacienda was owned by the Bravo family, headed by Leonardo Bravo, who was a landowner very much in favor of the Mexican independence movement.

Many of the members of this family were willing to be part of the Creole resistance. His eagerness was such not to help the forces of the Crown, that the leaders of the family had to hide in order not to render their services to the Iberian forces, who did not hesitate to force the locals to do what they were told.

In 1811, Hermenegildo Galeana recruited Leonardo Bravo, his brothers and his son Nicolás Bravo to the revolutionary army.

Nicolás Bravo went on to become one of the most important figures in the Mexican army and even reached the presidency on three different occasions, after Mexico declared itself an independent nation.

Progress of the independence movement

After passing through Chichihualco, the insurgent army took three different routes. Galeana was assigned one of the commandos; his mission was to capture Taxco and all the regions that he encountered. They left in May, leaving Chichihualco, and by November Galeana's objective had been achieved.

The other royal army commands were taken by Miguel Bravo and by José María Morelos himself. These two military divisions also had the objective of advancing through the Mexican region and capturing all the territory in their path.

As the troops advanced throughout southern Mexico, the division of the independence army located in the center of the country captured Zitácuaro. The army commander, Ignacio López Rayón, established the first Government Junta headed by the insurgents in this area.

By the time Zitácuaro was taken, several of the leaders of the independence movement already had an idea of ​​how they wanted to leave Mexico after the end of the war. The first steps of this were taken precisely in that city, established the Board in order to unify the Mexican independence movement.

Conquests

The southern army, grouped in Taxco, almost immediately recognized the new Junta as the center of the Mexican government. The members of this board devised a plan so that Mexico could obtain independence and create its own system of government, but without detaching itself from Fernando VII as its king.

The Junta sent a representative to discuss their ideas with the southern army. They received them with open doors, although there were some frictions of ideals between the high command of the army and the emissary.

After these meetings, Galeana left with Nicolás Bravo with the aim of taking Cuautla. During their advance, the southern troops took control of the city of Tenancingo. The hard confrontations with the Spanish forces continued after the taking of Tenancingo, as the Spanish besieged the city for little more than two months.

After escaping the city, he went to help another insurgent leader who was entrenched in a nearby city. The military action not only served to help a soldier faithful to the cause, but also managed to capture a large amount of weapons that the Spanish possessed.

Ascent

Again, Galeana's actions did not bypass Morales. His daring as a commander led to a new promotion, this time as an army marshal.

The lack of secondary education played a trick on Galeana at this time: he was not able to read, which made communication between him and Morelos very difficult.

To counter such a predicament, Morelos assigned the priest Mariano Matamoros to serve as his assistant. The triumvirate formed between Morelos, Matamoros and Galeano went on to play an extremely important role in the war of independence.

Galeano's influence was extremely important in terms of strategy, however Matamoros was also crucial for Morelos. In fact, although Galeano is generally believed to have been Morelos' second in command, the insurgent commander viewed Matamoros as a somewhat more fundamental piece.

Key Advances

By November 1812, the insurgent troops had managed to seize a large amount of Mexican territory. However, many of the large cities of New Spain were not in the control of the pro-independence. The objective, then, was the taking of Oaxaca.

When the insurgents captured Oaxaca in late November of that same year, the leaders ordered the immediate execution of all Spanish troops. Galeana had a fundamental role in the military advance towards Oaxaca and was one of those responsible for his capture.

The next movement of the insurgent army needed the military of the Galeana family to take some strategic points. Hermenegildo Galeana was assigned to attack a boat with reinforcements coming from Ecuador, while his relatives took a fort crucial to control the region.

The success of the operation was total and by the end of 1813, the entire fort was captured. The fort served as a crucial checkpoint for the capture of Acapulco.

Defeats

The last months of Galeana's life were not marked by success. Although the advance of the insurgent troops had been quite pronounced, the division of the army led by Galeana advanced towards Valladolid. The objective was to unite with the rest of the insurgent troops, to create a greater military force.

Galeana's troops and the leaders of the southern army incessantly attacked Valladolid. When they were on the brink of capture, Spanish reinforcements appeared without warning and opened fire on the insurgent troops.

One of the Spanish leaders who fought against the insurgent troops was Agustín de Iturbide. His reinforcements arrived just in time to finish off a large number of pro-independence troops and forced the rest to withdraw from Valladolid.

It should be noted that Iturbide became emperor of the First Mexican Empire a few years later, after consolidating his independence through the Plan of Iguala.

After the strong defeat of Valladolid, Galeana's troops lost their composure and fled. However, Spanish troops continued in pursuit to try to end the insurgent divisions in the area.

Key losses

The amount of troops that were lost during the failed attempt to capture Valladolid severely harmed the independence attempt. In addition, after the persecution carried out by the royalist soldiers, they managed to capture Matamoros.

Desperate, Morelos proposed an exchange to the viceroy of New Spain: the insurgents would free more than 200 royalist prisoners if he allowed the liberation of Matamoros. However, this being a key piece of the movement with Galeana, the viceroy refused.

Matamoros was tried and sentenced to death, for having betrayed Fernando VII. Matamoros was shot in February 1814, causing a very heavy loss to the commanders of the insurgent army.

The 200 royalist soldiers who had been offered as an exchange were executed by Morelos, who was furious at the death of his right hand.

Last years

The new Mexican Congress was forced to remove Morelos from his position, as a result of the heavy defeats received in recent months. Galeana, who acted under the orders of Morelos, returned to his hometown and put the independence cause aside.

However, Morelos went to Galeana to beg him to take up his side in arms again. After agreeing, Galeana made sure that the areas near his birth city were under the control of the insurgent troops.

Without realizing it, a movement of Spanish troops anticipated his arrival in one of the cities he visited. On June 27, 1814, the military forces of a royalist colonel made the capture of Hermenegildo Galeana official.

Given his high importance for Morelos and the insurgent army, Galeana was executed that same day by one of the soldiers of the Spanish army. Galeana's head was displayed in the town, until one of his followers recovered it to bury it. However, the whereabouts of her entire body were never identified.

References

1. Hermenegildo Galeana, Genealogía de México, (nd). Taken from genealogía.org.mx
2. June 27, 1814, Hermenegildo Galeana dies, Instituto Mexicano de Radio, 2016. Taken from imer.mx
3. Hermenegildo Galeana, Wikipedia in English, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org
4. Biography of Hermenegildo Galeana (1762-1814), The Biography Website, (nd). Taken from thebiography.us
5. Hermenegildo Galeana - Mexican Independentista, C. de la Oliva, E. Moreno, 1999. Taken from Buscabiografias.com
6. Hermenegildo Galeana, Spanish Wikipedia, 2018. Taken from Wikipedia.org