Mariano Matamoros

Biography

Mariano Matamoros entered the world in Mexico City during 1770. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1786 and followed that with a theology degree in 1789.

In 1796, he was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest and went on to serve at various churches in and around the capital. Over time, he began to lean toward the rebel cause, and not long after the conflict erupted, Spanish colonial authorities locked him up. He managed to slip out of prison and, on December 16, 1811, linked up with the revolutionary army led by José María Morelos.

The day before the battle at Izúcar, Morelos gave Matamoros the rank of colonel and told him to raise his own troops. Drawing on the people of Jantetelco, Matamoros put together two cavalry regiments, two infantry battalions, and one artillery unit, bringing his total force to 2,000 men. During the Spanish siege of Cuautla, which ran from February 9 to May 2, 1812, Morelos saw Matamoros’s skill on the battlefield and bumped him up to lieutenant general, making him second-in-command of the whole army.

One night, Matamoros punched through the siege lines and reached Miguel Bravo in Aculco. After the siege ended, the campaign pushed into Oaxaca, which was surrounded on November 25, 1812. Matamoros then racked up more victories: first at Santo Domingo Tonalá against Manuel Lambrini, then at San Juan Coscomatepec and San Agustín del Palmar against the Asturias battalion.

Even before the war officially started, while he was serving as the parish priest of Jantetelco, Matamoros was reported to Spanish authorities for supposedly backing Creole ideas in favor of independence. He got away and joined the insurgent ranks of the priest José María Morelos y Pavón in Izúcar on December 16, 1811.

Did You Know?

• In 1823, Matamoros was honored as 'Benemérito de la Patria'.
• His remains now rest in the Independence Column of Mexico City.
• The Cuernavaca International Airport in Cuernavaca, Morelos, is named after him.