Tomás Mejía Camacho

General Tomás Mejía
Tomás Mejía c. 1865
Birth name	José Tomás de la Luz Mejía Camacho
Born	(1820-09-17)September 17, 1820 Pinal de Amoles, Sierra Gorda, Querétaro
Died	June 19, 1867(1867-06-19) (aged 46) Cerro de las Campanas, Querétaro City, Querétaro
Buried	Panteón de San Fernando, Mexico City
Allegiance	Mexico  Second Mexican Empire
Service/branch	Mexican Army
Years of service	1841–1867
Rank	Divisional general
Battles/wars	Mexican–American War Reform War Second French intervention
Awards	Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Guadalupe (1864) Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle (1865)

José Tomás de la Luz Mejía Camacho, better known as Tomás Mejía (September 17, 1820 – June 19, 1867), was a Mexican soldier. He was of Otomi indigenous origin and came from a humble background, studying in the local rural school. He was a loyal Catholic siding with the conservatives during the Reform War and later the Second French intervention.

Service[]

Born in Pinal de Amoles, Sierra Gorda, Querétaro, Mejía served in the Mexican Army from 1841 to 1867, fought against the Americans in the Mexican–American War where he distinguished himself at the Battle of Buena Vista. He sided with the conservatives during the Reform War in opposition to the separation of church and state during liberal reforms. After the war was lost, he fought as a cavalry general on the side of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico during the war between monarchists and republicans after the Second French intervention in 1862 and the rise of the Second Mexican Empire in 1863–1864. Overall, Mejía would wage guerilla war in the region of Sierra Gorda around eight years.

Tomás Mejía after his execution.

Eventually, the war was lost with the French, conservatives, and imperialists retreating. The general was surrounded with the emperor at Querétaro City where the months of being besieged led to a republican victory in 1867. Afterwards, he was executed by firing squad, together with General Miguel Miramón and Emperor Maximilian I, at the Cerro de las Campanas in the outskirts of Querétaro City, ending the Second Mexican Empire along with the conservative cause.

The Execution of Emperor Maximilian, Édouard Manet 1868. Tomás Mejía is on the left.

Decorations[]

Mejía was awarded Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Guadalupe in 1864 and Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle in 1865.^[1]

References[]

Sources[]

• Hamnett, Brian. "Mexican Conservatives, Clericals and Soldiers: the 'Traitor' Tomás Mejía through Reform and Empire, 1855-1867." Bulletin of Latin American Research 20, no. 2 (2001): 187–209.

External links[]

Media related to Tomás Mejía at Wikimedia Commons

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