page_title: Siege of Cuautla
section_title: Maneuvers
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Cuautla / Maneuvers
caption_attribution_description: Flag Of Morelos
context_page_description: The Siege of Cuautla was a battle of the War of Mexican Independence that occurred from 19 February through 2 May 1812 at Cuautla, Morelos. The Spanish royalist forces loyal to the Spanish, commanded by Félix María Calleja, besieged the town of Cuautla and its Mexican rebel defenders fighting for independence from the Spanish Empire. The rebels were commanded by José María Morelos y Pavón, Hermenegildo Galeana, and Mariano Matamoros. The battle results are disputed, but it is generally agreed that the battle resulted more favorably for the Spanish whose siege was ultimately successful with the Mexican withdrawal on 2 May 1812.
  The siege had many consequences to the political, military and social environment in the contemporary Viceroyalty of New Spain which was ruled since 1810 by Francisco Xavier Venegas. Calleja was turned from military commander of all central Mexico to the military commander of Mexico City after fears began of an insurgent attack on the capital. Morelos would continue gaining strength, reinforcing his army and taking new cities throughout the south of the country such as Oaxaca and Córdoba.
context_section_description: The viceroy of New Spain, Francisco Xavier Venegas, in an effort to avert an assault on Mexico City, sent Calleja at the head of 5,000 soldiers to hold Morelos and his forces in the area around Cuautla. Calleja fortified the area around Pasulco as he scrutinized the area around Cuautla for potential avenues of attack. Morelos, Galeana, Nicolás Bravo, and the larger insurgent army arrived to garrison the city on 31 January 1812. One Spanish farmer named Mateo Musitu attempted to attack the rebels with a cannon named el Matamorelos (the Morelos killer), but he was defeated by Galeana. After entering the city, Morelos promptly executed 50 royalist soldiers and gave a speech that sought to gain sympathy amongst the people with the goal of gaining supporters in his efforts to achieve a breakthrough to the capital of the viceroyalty.
  Leonardo Bravo began an extensive trench fortification network around Cuautla and ordered that loopholes be made in the convent and many of the principal buildings. Whilst Bravo was fortifying the town, Morelos went about procuring food and equipment for his troops. At this time, the rebel forces numbered around 2,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry who were commanded directly by Francisco Ayala and Colonel Cano respectively. The rebels had 16 pieces of artillery, amongst them was el Niño which was property of the Galeana brothers and was used in some of the festivals thrown at Cuautla. On the morning of 10 February, the rebels learned of Calleja's arrival to Cuautla, causing Galeana to leave the fort and to fortify the town and the Convent of San Diego. Leonardo Bravo commanded the forces from Santo Domingo and Mariano Matamoros together with Victor Bravo took command over the trenches south of the town. Morelos dedicated himself to the inspection of his troops, the transportation of provisions and the watch over the northern part of the city.
  On 18 February, Calleja began his first attack on Cuautla with around 5,000 troops. A few days later, 7,000 reinforcement loyalists troops arrived under the command of Ciriaco del Llano and José Gabriel de Armijo from Asturias, Guanajuato, Lovera, San Luis Potosí, Zamora and Tulancingo. Calleja attacked the Loma de San Diego with about 500 soldiers with the goal of creating an observation post overlooking the city. Morelos observed this from the loma of Cuautlixco, half a league away from Cuautla and made an attempt to stop the Spanish attack. Matamoros and Bravo tried to dissuade Morelos, but the general won the argument by stating that his purpose was to merely test the enemy. Calleja observed the insurgent movements and prepared two cannons to repel their attack. These cannons were destroyed by the forces of Morelos, but Calleja's observation force was able to completely rout Morelos' force who retreated to Cuautla, a great many of the rebels being taken prisoner or killed. Upon hearing this news, Galeana, together with 50 insurgent soldiers launched his own battle to rescue Morelos' beleaguered soldiers. Morelos himself was almost taken prisoner, but one of Galeana's soldiers saved him and brought him back to Cuautla.
  At around 7:00 am on 19 February, four columns of royalist soldiers left the camp of Calvario marching in the direction of the Convent of San Diego. Two of the columns dispersed, one to the left and the other to the right to form a pincer attack on the rebel position with the other two columns attacking from the front. Each column marched with one artillery piece. The columns marched with the regiments placed on the flanks and in the center, Calleja rode to battle leading his troops from a chariot. Morelos, realizing that an attack was imminent, gave the order that the rebels were not to fire upon the Spanish troops until they had reached the outskirts of the city. He placed Galeana at the vanguard of his defensive forces.
caption: Map of Morelos' overall campaign.
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