Jose Maria Morelos (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was one of the main leaders of the Mexican War of Independence, leading the Mexican independence cause after Miguel Hidalgo's execution in 1811. He was the most talented military leader of the rebellion, leading three successful campaigns against Spain's forces in the early 1810s before he was himself captured and executed in 1815. He is the namesake of the Mexican state of Morelos.
Biography[]
Jose Maria Morelos was born on 30 September 1765 in Valladolid, New Spain (present-day Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico) to a family of mixed Spanish, African, and indigenous descent. Morelos was related to his San Nicolas Obispo seminary teacher Miguel Hidalgo, sharing a common ancestor with him; this man was in turn a descendant of Hernan Cortes. Morelos worked on a ranch owned by his uncle for ten years before joining the independence struggle under Hidalgo during the Mexican War of Independence in October 1810. Hidalgo was killed by the Spanish in 1811 after being captured by royalists, leaving Morelos as the new Captain-General of the Mexican Army. In nine months, he won twenty-two victories against the Spanish, and he broke the 1812 siege of Cuautla after 58 days. In September–November 1813, he called the Congress of Chilpancingo, where the rebels declared the independence of Mexico from Spain. However, in late 1813 his fourth military campaign was a series of disasters for the independence cause, and he was captured at Tezmalaca after telling his guards to save themselves. He prayed on his way to his execution, and he was executed by firing squad on 22 December 1815. His lieutenant Vicente Guerrero took over as the new leader of the revolution, and the state of Morelos would be renamed in his honor.