MANUELA MEDINA: BIOGRAPHY, DEATH AND LEGACY - ARTE - 2025

Manuela Medina (1780-1822) was a Mexican fighter during the Mexican War of Independence fought against the Spanish empire between 1810 and 1821. Provided with great tenacity and courage, she is considered a heroine who overcame gender or race stereotypes of the time to achieve the freedom of his nation.

Medina was a faithful follower of the independence leader José María Morelos whom she admired from a distance, but who later got to know to fight by his side in key battles of the Mexican emancipatory struggle.

Manuel Medina. Source: mexiconovedadesyrealidades.blogspot.com

With the rank of Captain, a distinction that also served as her nickname, she participated in at least seven battles, led troops and ignored royal pardons, provided with the aim of her surrendering her weapons.

Biography

The details about the life of Manuela Medina are not as clear as those of other prominent figures in the history of Mexico. Most biographers agree that she was born in 1780 and, although the exact date is not known, they point to the town of Taxco in the state of Guerrero as her place of birth.

He came from an indigenous tribe, possibly the Tlapaneca. There are doubts about her surname, since throughout history references to Manuela have been found under the surname Medina, but also with the surname Molina. Some even put the name María before that of Manuela.

Testimonies of the time describe her as a tall, strong woman with long black braids and olive-colored eyes. The name of her parents is not known, or if she had siblings or descendants. What is known about her is exclusively linked to her participation in the War of Independence, in which Manuela participated actively for at least nine years.

His union with the Mexican insurgent movement

It is estimated that Medina joined the insurgent forces after the so-called “Grito de Dolores”, an act considered to be the beginning of the War of Independence that occurred in 1810 when the priest Miguel Hidalgo de Costilla, in the company of captains Ignacio Allende and Juan Aldana, called on the population of Dolores (today Dolores Hidalgo) to rise up against the Spanish Empire.

Medina, who was already 30 years old by then, left his home to set the goal of fighting for a greater good that would bring freedom to his people.

Her courage and performance in battle earned her so that in 1813 she was named captain by the Supreme Board of Zitácuaro, state of Michoacán. With gallons, from that moment on, she formed a battalion that commanded various actions against the royalist army. From then on she would begin to be called "the Captain" by those who knew, followed and admired her.

Manuela Medina joined the ranks of the military and insurgent priest José María Morelos y Pavón (1765-1815) after traveling 500 kilometers on foot to meet him and place himself under his orders.

She only knew about Morelos what was said about her exploits on the battlefield, but she admired him so much that after her encounter with him she assured that she could already die content with that taste, even if a grenade would tear her apart.

Hero of the battlefield

Medina had an active participation in seven important battles. Historians particularly highlight its presence in the occupation of the port of Acapulco, which occurred on April 13, 1813.

And although some people state that after this confrontation Manuela Medina was never seen again, others place her in the surrender of the Castillo de San Diego, which took place on August 20 of that same year.

Specific data on Medina can be confirmed in the record kept by the secretary of Morelos, Juan Nepomuceno Rosains, who in the days before the capture of the port of Acapulco wrote in his war diary:

Medina even continued to fight after the death of Morelos, who was executed before a firing squad in 1815.

Historians affirm that the battalion of Medina had the Spanish army withdrawn in combat on more than one occasion and that his name does not appear on the list of pardons offered in 1816 by the viceroy of New Spain, Juan Ruiz de Apodaca. This fact could indicate that their participation in the war continued even after that year.

End of the Mexican War of Independence

After 1815 no other information is known about Medina on the battlefield. His name also does not appear among those who supported the movement led by Agustín de Iturbide (1783-1824).

Iturbide was a Mexican who at the beginning of the conflagration defended the Spanish crown fighting alongside the royalist army against the insurgents, but who later made a pact with the rebels, making a series of agreements and proclamations that gave Mexico independence in 1821.

It is thought that Manuela Medina's absence from these events clearly indicates her disagreement with the way the events unfolded, even if it achieved the goal of freedom for which she fought so hard.

Death and legacy

Historians insist that her contribution to the emancipatory movement of her country is undoubted and especially emphasize the fact that she occupied an unusual role for a woman at that time.

Manuela Medina died on March 2, 1822 in the town of Tapaneca, today the city of Texcoco, state of Mexico. She was 42 years old and had been bedridden for over a year, the product of two spear wounds obtained in battle. From that place, in an environment of poverty, she learned of the end of the War of Independence that occurred a year earlier.

References

1. José Luis Duarte. (2017). Manuela Medina "La Capitana". Taken from mexiconovedadesyrealidades.blogspot.com
2. Erika Cervantes. (2002). Manuela Medina La Capitana. Taken from Cimacnoticias.com
3. Arturo Ríos. (2015). Manuela Medina, fought alongside Morelos. Taken from mexiconuevaera.com
4. Luis Alberto Vasquez Álvarez. (2018). Women of Independence. María Manuela Medina "The Captain". Taken from elsiglodetorreon.com.mx
5. Juan José Caballero. (2017). Manuela Medina "La Capitana". Warrior of the Independence of Mexico. Taken from ngradio.com
6. Héctor Jaime Treviño Villareal. (2016). The insurgent María Manuela Medina "La Capitana". Taken from dominiomedios.com