caption branch commands death_date services birth_place allegiance battles birth_date rank image article_title name
a painting of mariano matamoros . revolutionary army mexican war of independence 1814 1811-1814 mexico city mexico siege of cuautla 1770 lieutenant general mariano matamoros.png mariano matamoros
 mariano matamoros
mariano matamoros

mariano matamoros y guridi -lrb- august 14 , 1770 -- february 3 , 1814 -rrb- 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 .
during the siege of cuautla from february 9 to may 2 of 1812 , morelos recognized matamoro 's ability in the battlefield and promoted him to the rank of lieutenant general , effectively becoming second on command of the army .
one night matamoros broke the siege and could join miguel bravo in aculco .
once the siege was lifted , the campaign continued in oaxaca , it was surrounded in november 25 of 1812 .
after matamoros won some battles , first in santo domingo tonalá against manuel lambrini followed by san juan coscomatepec and san agustín del palmar against the asturias battalion .
michoacán matamoros was in the battle of valladolid close to the city of valladolid in michoacán , the present day city of morelia , where the spanish army won .
after the battle , on 5 january 1814 , the army moved to puruaran , agustin de iturbide attacked the morelos army and it was a disaster , in the middle of the confusion matamoros tried to escape crossing the river -lrb- close to puruaran -rrb- but was captured by eusebio rodríguez , a soldier from the battalion of `` frontera '' , who received 200 pesos and a promotion .
allegedly morelos offered 200 spanish prisoners in exchange for matamoros , but was turned down by the spanish colonial authorities .
matamoros was removed from the priesthood and tried for treason .
he was executed by firing squad in valladolid , michoacán on february 3 , 1814 .
