Ramón Corona

Biography

Ramón Corona was born on 18 October 1837 in Tuxcueca, Jalisco. He worked as a merchant in his hometown but was forced to leave because of persecution by Manuel Lozada, a caudillo who had become an independent ruler in the Tepic territory. Corona joined the liberals, entered the army, and quickly rose to the rank of general. He fought against Maximilian's army, especially in the western states, and French troops never gained control of that region.

In 1866, Corona organized the Army of the West, 8,000 strong, and marched across the country, defeating the French in many encounters. He reached Querétaro, took part in the 1867 siege, and after the final Mexican victory, Maximilian surrendered to him on 15 May. With the republic reinstated, President Benito Juárez gave Corona a high military office with residence in Guadalajara. Lozada, aiming to subjugate the whole nation, raised an army of 16,000 men and told his troops to expect no pay except what they could take from vanquished towns.

On 28 January 1872 at daybreak, a bloody battle began at Mojonera, near Zapopan, between Lozada's forces and about 1,400 men under Corona. Lozada was routed, leaving over 3,000 dead on the field, while the rest of his troops scattered. The next day Corona entered Guadalajara in triumph, having saved the city from the army of plunderers, and was given the title 'Hero of Mojonera.'

President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada appointed Corona minister to Spain, where he remained for twelve years. He returned to Mexico in 1884 and was put in command of the federal army at Jalisco.

In 1886, he was elected governor of Jalisco. On 10 November 1889, while walking from the Government Palace to see a play at Guadalajara's Teatro Principal, he was stabbed multiple times by a man named Primitivo Ron Salcedo, who had previously murdered a local police official. Corona died of his wounds the following day.