José María Arteaga

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Benemérito de la Patria
José María Arteaga
Jose Maria.png
Governor of Querétaro
In office
July 1, 1857 – January 29, 1858
PresidentBenito Juárez
Preceded by
Succeeded by
In office
December 1, 1860 – January 10, 1862
Preceded by
Succeeded bySilvestre Méndez
In office
September 30, 1862 – February 2, 1863
Preceded by
Succeeded byJosé Linares
Governor of Jalisco
In office
June 20, 1863 – July 24, 1864
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Personal details
Born
José María Cayetano Arteaga Magallanes

(1827-08-07)August 7, 1827
Mexico City, Mexico
DiedOctober 21, 1865(1865-10-21) (aged 38)
Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico
Military service
Allegiance Mexico
Branch Mexican Army
Years of service1846 – 1865
RankGeneral
Battles/warsMexican–American War
Reform War
Second French intervention in Mexico

José María Cayetano Arteaga Magallanes was a prominent Mexican politician and general who had served in the Mexican–American War, Reform War and the Second French intervention in Mexico.

Biography[]

Early life[]

José was born on August 7, 1827, as the son his father, Don Manuel Arteaga and his mother, Doña María Polonia Magallanes. Being originally from Mexico City, his family moved to Hidalgo soon after.[1][2] He studied primary school, graduating from the public schools of that same city and later dedicated himself to the tailoring trade.[3] As a result of the Mexican–American War he left the tailor shop to become a soldier at the age of 20.[4] In 1852 he entered the arms race, starting as first sergeant of the Aguascalientes active battalion in 1854.[3] He already had the position of captain of the third light infantry belonging to the brigade under the orders of the conservative Félix Zuloaga, fighting against the Plan of Ayutla in the state of Guerrero.[3] However, his liberal convictions led him at one point to join the ranks of Don Juan Álvarez after the Battle of Nusco.[3]

In April 1855, Arteaga was part of the light brigade in the liberal ranks of General Álvarez which were made available to Ignacio Comonfort, and due to his military actions, was promoted to colonel with the position of major in May. For the rest of the year, he would fight in the Reform War in Jalisco and Colima.[3]

Reform War[]

Later, Arteaga was elected Governor of Querétaro for the first time during the second semester of 1857.[5] He took on the task of putting the 1857 Constitution into force in the state.[5] Querétaro was then pressured by the conservative Tomás Mejía who had seized several cities in the state and even attacked the city of Querétaro on November 2, 1857.[6] Arteaga had only three hundred soldiers and could only defend the Government Palace and the Convent of San Francisco, where he placed his headquarters. Arteaga was wounded and managed to save himself only thanks to the help of a friar who hid him in his cell. Several federal officers were taken prisoner, leaving the city in the hands of Mejía, whose troops sacked the city and a library recently founded by Arteaga was burnt to the ground. Mejía appointed Manuel Montes Navarrete as governor, which lasted a week until the proximity of Manuel Doblado's army, Mejía had to leave the city and Arteaga was restored to the government. To defend the 1857 Constitution against the Plan of Tacubaya, Arteaga organized a coalition of states with Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, and Querétaro which lasted until January 1858.[2]

During the Reform War, Artega participated in Michoacán supporting the activity of Governor General , promoting the manufacture of ammunition, cannons and military equipment. Due to his outstanding participation due to a decree of September 22, 1859, he was granted citizenship of this State. From December 1860 to January 1862 he again was the Governor of Querétaro, highlighting that he restored the local congress.[7] General José María Arteaga was then the Chief of the Second Brigade of the Southern Division, on the instructions of General , and lived on his farm in Huetamo from where he watched the region of both states. Beginning in May 1860, General Álvarez asked him to evict Colonel Juan Vélez from Cutzamala de Pinzón, who had become a Conservative in Ajuchitlán and took refuge with his people in what was called in the Colony "El pueblo españolizado de Tierra Caliente". Cutzamala had been appointed Head of the Mina District to replace Ajuchitlán since 1850. When Colonel Juan Vélez arrived in Cutzamala, he placed men in the nave of the monumental church and in its tower, keeping tortilla chips and salted meat in the annexed former convent. General José María Arteaga arrived in Cutzamala on May 7 at 8 in the morning, coming from Tlacotepec and Tlalchapa with two thousand infantry and he arrived on the way to the El Barco neighborhood being attacked by a column from Vélez, but the Conservatives returned to the town.[8] General José María Arteaga laid siege to Cutzamala in the afternoon of that day, but since the church was an authentic fortress on top of a large hill, he could not dislodge it and waited for many days. It took such an extent that on June 1, 1860, the First Brigade commanded by Governor General and the 3rd Brigade of the Southern Division with General Diego Álvarez arrived in Cutzamala to support him, making a total of 4,500 Liberal infantry. After 45 days of bitter fighting, on the afternoon of June 21, and during a strong storm, Colonel Juan Vélez left the church at full gallop and headed north, accompanied by his officers, to cross the swollen Cutzamala River where several died but Colonel Vélez managed to arrive at . The three Brigades that were besieging Cutzamala entered the town, capturing the church and taking 186 men prisoner, some sent to the Acapulco fort and others shot behind the church. General José María Arteaga then entered the church "with his hat and boots on, insulting the families who had taken refuge there." That site was so important that President Benito Juárez was on the lookout according to three letters found in his archive, and the victory marked the triumph of Liberalism in the South of the country.

Second French Intervention in Mexico[]

He then again faced , who was in charge of the head of the State of Mexico between 1858 and 1859 and switched to the conservative side, a fact that earned him exile by the liberal government of the Federal District. He went to Tehuacán to start talks with the high command of the French Army; however, his objective could not be achieved because the foreign minister, Manuel Doblado, warned General Ignacio Zaragoza by telegraph of this fact, who in turn ordered that he be captured. On March 19, 1862, General José María Arteaga took prisoner and brought him before General Zaragoza in , Puebla, leaving him on guard at the house of , who was in charge of the Plaza's garrison headquarters.

On April 28, 1862, the French Commander, General Charles de Lorencez, ordered the occupation of the to provide security for the rest of the invading army.[8] As reported by General Zaragoza, General José María Arteaga was wounded, he was decorated by President Juárez in Puebla as Hero of Acultzingo.[5] The timely arrival of General Porfirio Díaz prevented the defeat from turning into a disaster.

As a politician, his service, now in the West, he was governor of the State of Jalisco from 1863 to 1864.[9] Highlighting his action, it is recalled that on July 3, 1863, Arteaga prohibited official agents from applying the death penalty, unless there was a sentence from the judicial authority. This brought sympathy, gratitude and popularity to the Governor and Commander General of Jalisco. As a soldier, as a result of the actions in which he participated, he was given promotions and in Jalisco, he was given the sash of Division General and was named General-in-Chief of the Army of the United Force Center based on Generals Vicente Riva Palacio and Carlos Salazar Ruiz.

Execution[]

In the days of October 1865 they were operating in Michoacán on the 5th, General Arteaga passed Revista. On the 9th before the proximity of General Méndez and the French troops in Uruapan the faction of General Arteaga went to Tancítaro and Méndez on the 10th to catch up. On the 13th at 11 in the morning, General Arteaga arrived with his subordinates to the town of and encountered Méndez's army before being captured by the French, taking around 400 soldiers and 100 officers prisoner.[4][10]

When they learned that they were going to be executed in a letter to his mother, in some of his words he stated:

I have been taken prisoner by the imperial troops and tomorrow I will be executed; I beg you, mother, to forgive me for the long time that against your will I have followed the arms race. The scaffold, my mother, does not infame, does not infame the soldier who does his duty and with his country. Mom, she left nothing but my name unstained, I respect that I have taken nothing from others and I have faith that God will forgive me my sins and receive me in his glory. In this supreme hour, it is my consolation to bequeath to my family a name without blemish. My only crime is having fought for the independence of my country.[10]

General Arteaga along with his companions General Salazar, Colonels Jesús Díaz and Trinidad Villagómez, and Captain Juan González were shot on October 21, 1865, in Uruapan, Michoacán following the Black Decree by Maximilian issued on October 3.[5][4][10][3]

Legacy[]

Statue of Jose Maria Arteaga in Querétaro

Once the republic was restored, he was recognized as the Martyr of Uruapan.[10] His surname was added to the name of Querétaro by a decree of the State Legislature of July 23, 1867, being known as Querétaro de Arteaga until 2008, the year in which the legislature repealed the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro and the State took back the name of Querétaro.[5][11][1] The name of Querétaro de Arteaga was proposed by the governor and military commander Colonel ; in the recitals of the decree it was established:

General José María Arteaga devoted his entire life to the service of the Nation, being a brave supporter of its freedom and its reform laws and fighting firmly and constantly for independence, without compromising for a single moment with the enemies of Mexico; that during the time he was governor of the State of Querétaro, he took great care that it progressed, promoting primary and secondary education and the progress of the press, reforming scientific and literary establishments, creating new ones and seeking all kinds of material improvements, saving many times to the capital of the invasions of the mountains.

Currently the name of the official newspaper of Querétaro was named after General José María Arteaga.[12] On July 17, 1869, the bodies of Arteaga and Salazar were taken with honors to the San Fernando pantheon in Mexico City, where their remains were deposited. Finally, in 1872 the Congress of the Union declared him Benemérito de la Patria.[5]

His two sons, Emiliano and Fernando met him and settled in Hidalgo, where the Arteaga Family continues to live.[10]

Referneces[]

  1. ^ a b "Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México Querétaro". e-local.gob.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Época prehispánica. (1)". queretaro.gob.mx. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "21 de octubre de 1865.- El general juarista, José María Arteaga es fusilado en Uruapan, Michoacán". redescolar.ilce.edu.mx. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Tras la consumación de la independencia de México, los vascos se integraron al nuevo país durante su turbulento siglo XIX". euskonews (in Spanish). 22 June 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Panteón de los queretanos ilustres". blogdelbicentenario.wordpress (in Spanish). 15 November 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  6. ^ "General Tomás Mejía (1820?-1867)". geocities.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  7. ^ "Personajes Ilustres de Querétaro". queretaro.gob.mx. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  8. ^ a b http://www.sedena.gob.mx/imagenes/historia/defensa/doc_hist/abr/parte_paloeg.jpg[bare URL image file]
  9. ^ "Listado cronológico de los gobernadores de Jalisco (1824 - 2007)". arandas.jalisco.gob.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Preparan protestas durante el acto luctuoso a los Mártires de Uruapan". cambiodemichoacan.com.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.
  11. ^ "Hechos Históricos Relevantes de Querétaro". webqueretaro.com (in Spanish). Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  12. ^ ""La Sombra de Arteaga" 140 años de historia. Carta de Víctor Hugo a Juárez". revistatrilogia.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 1, 2022.

Bibliography[]

  • Hurtado Mendoza, Francisco. Cronista oficial de la ciudad de Uruapan del Progreso, Michoacán. CXXXVII Aniversario luctuoso de los Mártires de Uruapan, un homenaje y un recuerdo en el tiempo. Ayuntamiento de Uruapan, octubre de 2002.
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