Siege of Huajuapan de León El Siege of Huajuapan de León was a battle of the Mexican War of Independence that was fought from 5 April to 23 July 1812 at Huajuapan de León , in the Mexican state of Oaxaca . The battle was fought between the royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown , and the Mexican rebels fighting for independence from the Spanish Empire . This Spanish siege of the town , lasting 111 days , was the longest of the entire war . The battle resulted in a victory for the Mexican insurgents . The siege was defended against by a group of local insurgents commanded by Colonel . This siege is considered one of the most important battles of the second phase of the Mexican War for Independence . Context . The insurgent forces commanded by and had joined together with those of the priest , Father Mendoza at the beginning of March 1812 at Tamazulapan , Oaxaca . Their goal was to defeat the royalist General José María de Régules Villasante who had fortified himself at Yanhuitlán At the beginning of the insurgent attacks , Régules Villasante decided to occupy only the town square and the buildings in its immediate vicinity . The insurgent attackers , who initially believed their assault to be a complete success , were turned back and obliged to retreat once they reached the fierce Spanish resistance in the city center . Miguel Bravo marched from there with his forces to Cuautla to aid Generalissimo José María Morelos y Pavón who was there besieged by royalist forces . Trujano , for his part , marched with his own troops to Huajuapan where he fortified the city and recovered from the defeat at Yanhuitlán . The Siege . A royalist commander named Bemardino Bonavia who controlled one royalist division , began the siege against the town in an effort to regain Spanish control . He was quickly aided by more royalist troops under the command of José María de Régules Villasante on 5 April 1812 beginning the siege . The Spanish forces numbered about 1 , 500 men with 14 pieces of artillery . Five days after their arrival at Huajuapan , the royalist troops opened fire on the city , unleashing all their firepower on the rebel defenses . , who had no artillery of his own with which to defend the city , was unable to return fire until the fabrication of new artillery pieces made from the town ' s church bells . Royalist attacks on the town were almost constant , however , they were continually repulsed by the insurgent defenders . On 17 May , a messenger , José Remigio Sarabia , an Indian from the town of , managed to get through the blockaded city and get word to General José María Morelos , who was in Chilapa at the time . He informed the General that the Spanish were besieging the city . Morelos decided to come to Trujano ' s aid and ordered Miguel Bravo ' s forces to march to Huajuapan de León to lift the siege where Morelos himself would follow a short time later . On 23 July , the rebel forces managed to break the siege around four o clock in the afternoon . The Mexican relief army consisted of a few thousand men and included such people as Vicente Guerrero , the Galeana brothers and the Bravo brothers . The division under the control of Morelos was split into four columns that formed four fronts of attack . These attacks were successful in breaking the Spanish siege positions . The Spanish royalists decided to withdraw from the battle , leaving behind 30 cannons , over 1 , 000 muskets , horses , various supplies and over 400 dead . Celebration at Huajuapan . Upon liberating the city , Morelos , being an extremely devoted Catholic , ordered a public holiday in the Catholic tradition to honor the " Señor de los Corazones " to acknowledge his help in the resistance to the siege . The novena concluded exactly on 23 July and coincided with the breaking of the siege . Since then , Huajuapan observes a public holiday on this day to commemorate its date . From 14 July through 24 July , the novena is celebrated with daily masses and processions through the different parishes of the city to the cathedral , where the image of the " Señor de los Corazones " can be found . Much of these festivities are organized by the brotherhood of the Señor de los Corazones . At the conclusion of the religious observances , various cultural , artistic and recreational activities take place throughout the town as well as a fireworks show . On the night of 23 July , the bishop of the town together with the bulk of the clergy from the diocese , celebrates a mass in the atrium of the central cathedral to give thanks for the heroic defense of the city . On 24 July , the streets of the city are decorated with different chalk drawings as supplementary decoration for the largest procession which occurs in conjunction with religious songs , mariachi music and flowers and follows the main streets of the city .