CHAPTER IX

INDEPENDence achieved

THE capture of Hidalgo and his valiant companions had not put an end to the movement for independence. Ignacio López Rayón, who had been named captain-general by the great chiefs of the Revolution, continued the war against the royalists. He defeated Ochoa and Zambrano and entered Zacatecas, which he soon left on the approach of the enemy; was routed by Emparan and routed him in his turn, attacked Valladolid unsuccessfully and, at Zitácuaro, in Michoacan, established on August 19, 1811, a supreme national junta, composed of himself, Liceaga, and the cura Verduzco. The junta was a form of government, and although not recognized by all the insurgents, it gave an appearance of legality to the Revolution.

While Rayón was continuing to some extent the work of Hidalgo, there arose in the south another leader, far abler than he, to take the place of the heroic cura of Dolores. José Maria Morelos was born, on September 30, 1765, at the rancho Tahuejo el Chico, near Apatzingan, and not at Valladolid, which, in 1828, was named Morelia in his honor. His father, Manuel Morelos, was a carpenter, and his mother, Juana Pavón, was the daughter of a schoolmaster at Valladolid. His parents were poor, and, at the death of his father, he entered the service of his uncle Philip, who had a mule train, and did business between Mexico

and Acapulco. At the age of twenty-five he succeeded in entering the college of San Nicolás, as a capense or sizar, and studied philosophy under Hidalgo. After completing his college course he became a priest and realized an ambition which he had had for many years. He was appointed ad interim to the curato of Churumuco and Huacana, and then to that of Carácuaro and Nucupétaro, which position. he was occupying when the Revolution broke out at Dolores in September, 1810. In October Morelos met Hidalgo at the town of Charo and offered him his services, which were accepted. He was sent to the southern coast of the Pacific with instructions to endeavor to take possession of the port of Acapulco.

Morelos started from Carácuaro on his momentous career with twenty-five followers. He went to Zacatula, where his force was increased, then to Tecpán, where he was joined by three brothers who became important officers: Juan José, Antonio, and Hermenegildo Galeana. At Aguacatillo the forces of the insurgents numbered three thousand men and formed an army and not a rabble, as were often Hidalgo's troops. At Veladero an engagement took place, and Morelos won the field only because his men stopped fleeing sooner than the royalists. After several minor combats Avila, a lieutenant of Morelos, defeated Francisco París, and the insurgent chief marched on Acapulco. He was deceived by an officer named Gago, who had agreed to surrender the fort for a sum of money, and was forced to retire before the advance of Cosío, the royalist commander in the South. His career was now interrupted for some time by sickness, and his lieutenants, Hermenegildo Galeana and Avila, resisted successfully attacks from Cosío, and Fuentes, the latter's successor. On the return of Morelos he succeeded in entering the town of Chilpancingo, at the head of six hundred well-armed men, and there four distinguished patriots joined his cause. They were the brothers Leonardo, Miguel, and Victor Bravo, and Nicolás, the son of Leonardo. The insurgent chief made then a vigorous