Mariano Matamoros

Who was Mariano Matamoros?

Mariano Matamoros y Guridi was a Mexican Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary rebel soldier of the Mexican War of Independence, who fought for independence against Spain in the early 19th century.

Matamoros was born in Mexico City in 1770, where he studied art and theology during his youth. He finished his studies in art in 1786, was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1796 and served in several churches around the city. During this time, he started to sympathize with rebellious issues and for this reason, he was jailed by the Spanish colonial authorities shortly after the war started. He managed to escape from prison and eventually joined the revolutionary army of José María Morelos in December 16 of 1811.

One day before the Izucar battle Morelos named him colonel and ordered to create his own forces, with the population of Jantetelco, Matamoros create 2 regiments of cavalry, 2 battalions of infantry and 1 of artillery, in total his forces were composed by 2000 men.