José Gabriel de Armijo

Biography

José Gabriel de Armijo was born in 1774 in San Nicolás de Tierranueva, San Luis Potosí. He first appears in the historical record on October 16, 1795, when he enlisted as a dragoon sergeant in the state militia. When the Mexican War of Independence began, he served under General Félix María Calleja del Rey, who later became Viceroy of New Spain. Armijo fought under Calleja at the battles of Aculco, Guanajuato, and Puente de Calderón.

He eventually earned his own command in the Spanish royalist army. In 1812, he returned to Calleja’s forces to lead troops during the Siege of Cuautla. On September 30, 1818, he faced future Mexican president Vicente Guerrero at the Battle of Cerro de Barrabás, which ended in a Spanish loss. In 1821, Armijo backed the Plan of Iguala and joined the Army of the Three Guarantees.

During the First Mexican Empire, he sided with Agustín de Iturbide at the Battle of Almolonga, where he defeated a rebel army led by his old foes Vicente Guerrero and Nicolás Bravo. On March 11, 1830, after Juan José Codallos Núñez proclaimed the Plan of the Fortaleza de Santiago, Armijo was ordered to fight Colonel Juan Álvarez. On August 30 of that year, he lost the Battle of Texca to Álvarez’s federalist forces. While trying to escape the field, Armijo was cornered in a gully by Álvarez’s pursuing troops and hacked to death.

Did You Know?

• In 1943, he was portrayed by Antonio Bravo in the film El rayo del sur.
• In 2010, Felipe Nájera played him in the Mexican TV show Gritos de muerte y libertad.
• He appears in the episode titled La última conjura.