Luis de Quintanar

Who was Luis de Quintanar?

José Luis de Quintanar Soto y Ruiz was a Royalist military officer in colonial New Spain, and a politician after the 1821 independence of Mexico.

Quintanar began his military carrier in 1801 as a lieutenant the Provincial Regiment of Dragoons of Querétaro. His entire royalist military career was with this unit, where he reached the rank of brigadier. He fought the insurgents until 1821, when he joined the Plan de Iguala. He was promoted to general of division.

After Mexican independence he supported the coronation of Augustín de Iturbide as emperor of Mexico, and Iturbide made him political chief of Jalisco.

In 1822 he was elected deputy from San Juan del Río to the constituent congress. He resigned the position in late 1823, and soon was elected governor of Jalisco. General Anastasio Bustamante, Quintanar's friend, was named military commander of the state.

Later he was dismissed as military commander of Nueva Galicia, for suspicion of plotting an Iturbista reaction. The command was given to General José Joaquín de Herrera. In Guadalajara, the provincial delegation declared the Intendencia of Nueva Galicia the sovereign state of Jalisco.