Ignacio Elizondo

Personal life

Elizondo was born in the village of Salinas (now Salinas Victoria, Nuevo León) to José Marcos de Elizondo and María Josefa de Villarreal, of Spanish and Basque ancestry. He spent his childhood in Pesquería Grande (present-day Garcia, Nuevo León), where his father owned several agricultural estates. In 1787, at age twenty-one, he married María Gertrudis, who died on March 6, 1797, while giving birth to their son, José Rafael Eusebio. His military career began in 1798 when he was appointed Lieutenant of Pesquería's provincial militia company.

Two years later he became Captain of the Punta de Lampazos provincial dragoons, one of the largest units in the New Kingdom of León. He later returned to his former position at Pesquería. In 1806, the governor of Nuevo León appointed him to command the Eighth Dragoons in Texas against Apache attacks. Elizondo requested an exemption from command due to serious financial problems and debts to the Roman Catholic church, but the governor declined, causing friction.

He then married Maria Romana Carrasco, and in 1806 the couple moved to the Hacienda of San Juan de Canoas in Coahuila, where he also administered the Hacienda of Alamo near Monclova.

Capturing Hidalgo

When the Mexican War of Independence began with Miguel Hidalgo's grito on September 16, 1810, Elizondo was stationed in Texas and initially sided with the rebels in the Casas Revolt. He was asked to continue feigning rebel support to gather intelligence on the plans of Hidalgo and Allende, who were fleeing toward the United States after defeat at the Battle of Calderon Bridge. In March 1811, the rebel leaders and about 1,000 men were in Saltillo, 160 km south of Monclova.

Royalist sympathizers in Monclova included a group of large landowners led by José Melchor Sánchez Navarro. Deceived into believing Monclova was safe, the rebel leaders departed Saltillo. On March 21, 1811, Elizondo waited at the Wells of Baján with 150 men. When the rebel leaders arrived in carriages, he greeted them with an honor guard and led them behind a hill out of sight of the rest of the convoy.

There his men demanded surrender. Hidalgo drew a pistol but was restrained; Allende, in the fifth carriage, opened fire, and in the return fire Allende's son and several rebels were killed.

The royalists tied the leaders and their escorts and took them to a makeshift prison camp. Throughout the day, as each new element of the rebel army arrived, they were captured. By day's end, the royalists had 893 prisoners and had killed about 40 rebels who resisted; only the rear guard escaped.

Royalist soldier

After capturing the rebel leaders, Elizondo was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the royalist army, though his reward and honors were modest given the importance of the capture. On March 29, 1813, the royalist army in Texas lost the Battle of Rosillo Creek, and on April 1 rebels occupied San Antonio. General José Joaquín de Arredondo ordered Elizondo to reconnoiter but not engage the rebel forces of José Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara. With 1,050 men, Elizondo crossed the Rio Grande on June 12 and, against orders, camped near San Antonio de Béxar and demanded Gutiérrez's surrender.

On June 20, Gutiérrez's 1,500 men surprised Elizondo at the Battle of Alazán Creek, soundly defeating him and forcing a retreat to the Rio Grande. Arredondo then ordered Elizondo to join him in retaking Texas. With 1,830 men, they advanced from Mexico toward San Antonio. On August 18, 1813, at the Battle of Medina, Elizondo led a cavalry division that defeated the 1,400-man rebel Republican Army of the North, crushing the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition and the Texas insurrection.

His last service was commanding 500 cavalrymen dispatched to chase survivors after Medina. He marched along the Camino Real toward eastern Texas, capturing and executing many rebels at the Spanish hacienda of Trinidad de Salcedo on the Trinity River, which he depopulated and burned. He pursued rebels as far as Nacogdoches, executing 71 and taking more than 100 prisoners.

Death

Ignacio Elizondo, a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish cavalry, died from wounds suffered in a surprise attack while he slept. On September 3, 1813, Lieutenant Miguel or Manuel Serrano critically wounded him at his camp near the Brazos River.

Elizondo passed away a few days later as he was being transported on a litter toward the capital. Historians think he was first buried along the San Marcos River in Texas, but if so, his body was later moved. On October 9, 1815, his burial was recorded at San Fernando cathedral in San Antonio as entry No. 715, noting he was married to Romana Carrasco and died from wounds received during the attack.