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. 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.
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 17 January 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 he 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.
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.
When the royalist 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).