José Mariano Jiménez (revolutionary)

Statue of José Mariano Jiménez at the Hidalgo Monument in Chihuahua

José Mariano Jiménez , sometimes just Mariano Jiménez (born August 18, 1781 in San Luis Potosí , † June 26, 1811 in Chihuahua ) was a leading member of the insurgents ( Insurgentes ) in the Mexican War of Independence .

life and death

After completing his schooling, Mariano Jiménez moved to Mexico City, where he graduated as a mining engineer in 1804. Then he went to Guanajuato , where he found work in his profession. Here, shortly after the Grito de Dolores of September 16, 1810, he came into contact with the group of rebels ( Insurgentes ) around the priest Miguel Hidalgo ; he was appointed lieutenant colonel in the insurgent army. After several minor military successes, Hidalgo sent him to the capital as a negotiator in order to achieve its surrender, but after a few days he returned to Guanajuato without success. On the run from the government troops under General Félix María Calleja del Rey , he turned with his small army to Zacatecas and shortly afterwards to Guadalajara , which had been designated as the provisional seat of government by Miguel Hidalgo.

Ignacio Allende commissioned Jiménez to go to San Luis Potosi to promote the ideas of the Insurgentes there and in other cities . The governor of the Nuevo Reino de León , which was partially independent of the viceroyalty of New Spain , Manuel Santa María , sided with the rebels and joined their army. On March 15, 1811, the leaders of the insurgents, including Mariano Jiménez, decided to move further north in order to obtain political and military support in the form of weapons for Mexico's struggle for independence in the USA , but on March 21 they reached the village Acatita de Bajan captured by pro-government forces who later transferred to Chihuahua, because of high treason sentenced to death , and on June 26, 1811 shot .

His severed head and that of his co-conspirators were displayed for ten years in small metal cages in the corners of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato and only removed and buried after independence (1821).

Honors

A few years later, the remains of the Insurgentes were transferred to the Cathedral of Mexico City , where they remained for more than 100 years. After completion of the independence monument commissioned by Porfirio Díaz , they were moved to a mausoleum in the base of the column. On May 30, 2010, they were brought to the Museo Nacional de Historia in Chapultepec Castle , where they are to be examined, identified and preserved.

The city of Real Presidio de Santa Maria de las Caldas del Valle de Huejoquilla in today's state of Chihuahua was renamed Ciudad Jiménez (now officially José Mariano Jiménez ) in 1826 .

literature

• Alejandro Villaseñor y Villaseñor: Don Mariano Jiménez. In: Biografías de los heroes y caudillos de la independencia. El Tiempo de Victoriano Agüeros, Ciudad de México (Mexico City) 1910, pp. 81-86.