Siege of Cuautla The Siege of Cuatla was a battle of the War of Mexican Independence that occurred from 9 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 Cuatla 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 . A further consequence came with the rise to the throne of Ferdinand VII of Spain , when Venegas was relieved of his command as viceroy in February 1813 . Context . On 16 September 1810 , Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rose in rebellion , rallying the town of Dolores to fight for independence from the Spanish crown . This series of events triggered the Mexican War of Independence and various cities began to fall to the rebel cause . On 28 September of the same year , the rebel forces took over Guanajuato , on 17 October and 25 respectively , the rebels captured Valladolid and Toluca . On 30 October , they routed a loyalist army at the Battle of Monte de las Cruces , and two days later they were at the gates of Mexico City where they were eventually pushed back to the area around Bajío . Loyalist soldiers under the command of Félix María Calleja defeated Hidalgo ' s army for the first time at the Battle of Aculco , splitting the insurgents into different groups . Hidalgo ' s army marched towards Valladolid where various atrocities were committed against the local Spanish population . On 19 November , Hidalgo arrived at Guadalajara , which had been re - taken the same day as the Battle of Aculco by Spanish forces under José Antonio Torres , where he again took control of the city and massacred the Spanish inhabitants . On 26 November , Calleja took Guanajuato back from the rebels , forcing the rebel forces under Ignacio José de Allende y Unzaga and Juan Aldama to retire to Guadalajuara where they again conducted purges of the Spanish population . By January 17 , 1811 , Calleja had once again defeated rebel forces at the Battle of the Puente de Calderón , after which rebel forces fled to Coahuila . On 21 March , Ignacio Elizondo , captured many of these fleeing rebels at Las Norias de Acatita de Baján . After being tried , Allende , Aldama and José Mariano Jiménez , alongside other noteworthy rebel leaders were executed on 26 June at Chihuahua . For his part , Hidalgo himself was caught and executed on 30 July . Prior to his capture and subsequent execution , Hidalgo had confirmed José María Morelos as the commander of all rebel forces in the south of Mexico . By November 1810 , Morelos had conquered most of the territory of the Guerrero . It was there that his issued the Bando del Aguacatillo , the first edict in the history of Mexico dictating individual rights . In February 1811 , Morelos failed to take the city of Acapulco . He then began a campaign throughout the center of the country , taking Izúcar in December whilst Hermenegildo Galeana took Taxco . Marching through the mountains surrounding Puebla , Morelos reached Cuautla In January 1812 . Maneuvers . 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 Cuatla 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 Cuatla 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 Cuatla 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 Cuatla 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 Cuatla , 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 Cuatla . 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 . The Battle . When the realist army advanced to a position north of Calle Real , almost reaching the Plaza of San Diego , the rebels opened fire and the battle began . Hermenegildo Galeana launched his forces at the royalist attackers . A Spanish Colonel named Sagarra , upon seeing Galeana and recognizing him as one of the rebel leaders , offered single combat . Sagarra fired his pistol at Galeana , missing his target . Galeana returned fire and killed Sagarra in one shot . Galeana ordered his nephew Pablo Galeana to continue to hold the royalist forces . After some time , the insurgent position was gradually weakened and the following cry was heard : " todo se ha perdido , han derrotado al general Galeana " ( English : " all is lost , they have routed General Galeana " ) . The rebel solduers under the command of Captain Larios , fled to the city plaza . A troop of royalist dragoons were at one point in a position to take the city center when a 12 year old boy named fired a cannon into them , dispersing them . After this period of fighting , Morelos visited each individual house that had been attacked giving money and supplies to the affected parties . It was here that Morelos realized that if he was able to decisively win this battle , it would mean that he would be free to march on Mexico City . After the failed initial attack on Cuatla , Calleja wrote to Viceroy Venegas confirming that Cuatla was defended by around 12 , 000 insurgents and that it was impossible to take the city with his current force and would instead opt to besiege the city . That night , he gathered a war council to discuss their options . The next day , Calleja contacted the Ministry of War with their decision , they would impose a siege on the city for a period of six to eight days . They further solicited reinforcements be sent so that they could effectively seal the city off ( a distance of about a league ) . On 22 February , a message was intercepted by the rebels which detailed the size of Calleja ' s force and the plans to besiege the city . After seeing this letter , Morelos decided to break out of the city but was held up by Galeana who suspected that the letter was a trick laid out by Calleja . After a meeting of the rebel leaders , they decided to remain in the city . On 23 February , Ciriaco del Llano entered Izúcar and managed to advance all the way to the Cerro del Calvario . From here , he mounted a series of cannon bombardments for a period of two hours directed at Cuatla . After this he sent two columns of cavalry under the command of Colonel José Antonio Andrade . The attack was repulsed by a priest , Father Sánchez and by Vicente Guerrero . The following day , the royalists attempted a new attack that was likewise repulsed . After this attack , the royalists retreated to Izúcar where they pillaged and burned the neighborhoods of Santiago and El Calvario . Thereafter they commenced a new bombardment of the city center . The same day , Llano received an order from Venegas telling him to join forces with Callega at the royalist camp outside of Cuatla . After leaving behind a sizable portion of his munitions and taking a path around the Popocatépetl Volcano , Llano entered the Tierra Caliente on 28 February . Morelos decided to delay the arrival of these reinforcements and sent a sizable force under José Antonio Galeana to occupy the Barranca de Tlayacac with orders to ambush Llano ' s army . These orders were changed at the last minute and the surprise force was placed under the command of Manuel de Ordiera . The operation became known to Calleja who decided to send a counter attack force under the command of Captain Anastasio Bustamante . Bustamante was able to surprise the rebel ambush force and routed them , allowing for Llano ' s forces ( 2 , 000 soldiers ) to pass unscathed to Calleja ' s camp on the morning of 1 March . Once Calleja ' s forces were gathered , he began his encirclement of Cuatla . The headquarters for the siege was located at the Buenavista Hacienda . The battalions from Asturias and Lovera guarded the city from the barranco de " Agua Hedionda " , named as such due to its abundance of sulfuric waters . The Spanish built a bridge that stretched two leagues through this area to head off any line of escape from the city . Morelos fortified the hacienda Buenavista and the area known as " El Platanar " , which was surrounded by Llano ' s forces . Between 1 March and 9 March , Galeana was tasked with the defense of this area . On 10 March , he was finally able to scupper the royalist forces at Zacatepec . That same day , a new bombardment of the city began and Llano was in a position to enter the city . Nicolás Bravo however was able to detain his forces and Matamoros made his escape from the city . On 13 March , Calleja wrote the following letter to the viceroy : After many months of resistance , Matamoros was able to escape from Cuatla towards Toluca where López Rayón was waiting with a variety of supplies needed to sustain the rebel defense . The rebel force was ambushed by Spanish forces and although Matamoros escaped without capture , they were unable to obtain any of the supplies for their beleaguered comrades . Calleja attempted various other assaults on the fortified city but was altogether unsuccessful . At the end of April , the situation became unsustainable and the royalist leadership asked Calleja not try to assault Cuatla again . At midday on 2 May , Calleja wrote the viceroy with his intentions to abandon the siege . That night , the insurgents decided to abandon the city . Being as the rebels were affected with a high level of disease ( over half ) , Morelos and Galeana sent an emissary to the Spanish camp who returned with news that many of the Spaniards were sleeping and others were busy guarding the supplies . They decided to abandon the city and in less than four hours , the entire rebel army had left . Both sides inevitably claimed victory in this battle although shortly after their abandonment of the city , Morelos ' army was completely routed and broken as a fighting force by the Spanish . Consequences . The insurgents abandoned the city and on the morning of 2 May , Calleja gathered his forces and occupied the city . Calleja was recalled to the capital for an interview with Venegas who offered him a temporary return to Spain to fight in the Peninsula War . Calleja refused the offer and instead decided to return to Cuernavaca which he left in December of the same year to take command of Spanish forces in Mexico City . In March 1813 , Venegas was retired as Viceroy of New Spain by members of the provisional council of government in Seville . In his place , Calleja was named as the new Viceroy . From this post , Calleja directed the forces to defeat Morelos and was relieved by Ferdinand VII of Spain in 1816 . Morelos and his fellow leaders were hunted down by the royalists . The rebel movement was forced to flee to the south of the country where they attempted to take the city of Acapulco de Juárez , the main port connecting New Spain to the Philippines and other Spanish possessions in Asia . Leonardo Bravo was captured at the hacienda of the Terrateniente , Gabriel de Yermo and was presented to Calleja who authorised his transfer to Mexico City for trial and execution . Morelos , in an attempt to free his fellow rebel , offered a deal that would liberate all Spanish prisoners from the Siege of Cuatla ( more than 200 ) in exchange for Bravo . Bravo was executed on 13 September at the Paseo de Bucareli with a garrote and Morelos ordered the execution all 200 Spanish prisoners from Cuatla by Leonardo ' s son , Nicolás Bravo . The younger Bravo decided instead to liberate the prisoners , giving rise to his nickname , the " " Caudillo Magnánimo " " .