Background
Miguel Hidalgo was born on May 8, 1753 in Corralejos, near Guanajuato.
Miguel Hidalgo was born on May 8, 1753 in Corralejos, near Guanajuato.
He was educated in Valladolid and Mexico City.
He was ordained in 1778.
He improved the culture of the vine, established pottery and brick works, and is said to have reintroduced the silkworm into Mexico.
This displeased the Spanish authorities, who discouraged the emancipation of the natives, and the vines were destroyed.
But Spanish defeats at the hands of Napoleon in 1808 aroused widespread agitation for independence in Mexico, and revolutionary societies in the provinces made preparations for a revolt.
Hidalgo, however, escaped arrest and, arousing his parishioners at Dolores to revolt, he seized the prison and arrested the Spanish male population.
Following the capture of Guanajuato, Valladolid, and several small towns, Hidalgo was proclaimed generalissimo and advanced with 80, 000 men against Mexico City in October.
But here the superior government forces under FélixFelix Calleja obliged him to retreat and he suffered a critical defeat at Aculco.
His army was again routed on January 17, 1811, at the bridge of Calderón, Calderon, near Guadalajara.
The leaders of the insurgents then decided to seek aid in the United States, but on the way Hidalgo was captured and taken to Chihuahua, where he was degraded from the priesthood and executed July 31 or August 1, 1811.
He marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90, 000 poor farmers and Mexican civilians who attacked and killed both Spanish Peninsulares and Criollo elites, even though Hidalgo's troops lacked training and were poorly armed. These troops ran into an army of 6, 000 well-trained and armed Spanish troops; most of Hidalgo's troops fled or were killed at the Battle of Calderón Bridge.
He has been hailed as the Father of the Nation even though it was Agustin de Iturbide and not Hidalgo who achieved Mexican Independence in 1821.
The remains of Hidalgo y Costilla lie in the column of the Angel of Independence in Mexico City. Next to it is a lamp lit to represent the sacrifice of those who gave their lives for Mexican Independence.
