Pablo José Calvillo

Early life

Calvillo was born in 1763 in the Valley of Huejúcar in northern Nueva Galicia; the village later became part of Aguascalientes and was renamed Calvillo in his honor. He studied at the Seminary of Guadalajara and was ordained a priest in 1797 by Bishop Don Juan Cruz Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo. He served in several parishes in the archdiocese of Guadalajara, including Juchipila, Hacienda de San Jacinto, Ojocaliente, Tepechitlán, and Colotlán, while residing in Huejúcar.

Military career

For health reasons Calvillo temporarily lived in Aguascalientes, and in 1809, while in Jesus María, he learned of the uprising in Dolores Hidalgo and joined the effort. With the help of Marcos Escobedo, governor of the Tlaxcala neighborhood, he led a group of experienced indigenous archers in Colotlán. In late September 1810, the group organized in his home in Colotlán, captured Spanish government buildings, and took thirty Spaniards as prisoners, sending them to Zacatecas.

He eventually recruited an army of 5,000 indigenous archers and was granted the title of Field Marshal by Miguel Hidalgo. Calvillo and his troops fought at the Battle of the Bridge of Calderón on January 17, 1811, where he lost a great portion of his troops. After the prominent insurgent leaders retreated toward the U.S. border, Calvillo continued fighting in the Zacatecas region. On March 27, 1811, he faced the royalist forces of priest Jose Francisco Alvarez near Colotlán and was victorious, forcing Alvarez to withdraw to Jerez.

Brigadier Pedro Celestino Negrete then attacked Colotlán on April 7, defeating the insurgents and taking control. Calvillo and allies organized an uprising in the town on May 11, 1811, and in August 1812 he led troops with García Ramos, Miramontes, and Oropeza to take Hermosillo and Aguascalientes. This appears to have been his last military action before retreating into the Sierra de Tayahua, where he suffered ill health while seeking a pardon. He died of natural causes in Zacatecas, restored to full communion with the Catholic Church on April 6, 1816.