Aldama y González, Juan de (1774–1811)

Juan de Aldama y González (b. 3 January 1774; d. 26 June 1811), Mexican independence leader and corevolutionary of Father Miguel Hidalgo. A Mexican creole hacendado anxious for recognition and social improvement, Aldama joined the Regimiento de Dragones Provinciales de la Reina, based in San Miguel el Grande, during the 1795 reorganization of the army of New Spain. Beginning service as a lieutenant, he had been promoted to the rank of militia captain by 1808. Involved in the Querétaro conspiracy (1810), Aldama traveled to the town of Dolores to inform Father Hidalgo and Captain Ignacio Allende that the plot had been exposed. He was present during the first moments of the Hidalgo revolt, when prisoners were liberated from the Dolores jail and the district subdelegate was arrested.

From the beginning, Aldama attempted to maintain moderation among the rebels and opposed excesses such as property destruction and violence against Spaniards. Following the rebel capture of Guanajuato and the occupation of Valladolid, Morelia, he was promoted to lieutenant general. After the rebel defeat at Puente de Calderón (17 January 1811), Aldama retreated north with other principal rebel leaders. He was captured on 21 March 1811 and tried by royalist court-martial at Chihuahua. Despite his claims that he was a minor participant, Aldama was condemned to death and executed by firing squad.

See alsoMexico, Wars and Revolutions: War of Independence .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lucas Alamán, Historia de México desde los primeros movimientos que prepararon su independencia en el año de 1808 hasta la época presente, 5 vols. (1849–1852; repr. 1942).

Hugh M. Hamill, The Hidalgo Revolt: Prelude to Mexican Independence (1966).

Brian R. Hamnett, Roots of Insurgency: Mexican Regions, 1750–1824 (1986).

Additional Bibliography

Márquez Terrazas, Zacarías. Proceso que se le instruyó a don Juan de Aldama en Chihuahua el mes de mayo de 1811. Chihuahua: Gobierno del Estado de Chihuahua, 2000.

                                      Christon I. Archer