Salamanca, Gto.- Although the state of Guanajuato is considered the Cradle of Mexican Independence, Salamanca played a fundamental role in the insurgent struggle, with more than 25 thousand people from Salamanca, among whom four people stand out who fought and guided the army commanded by Miguel Hidalgo, considered the Father of the Country, until reaching the path of victory that was achieved on September 27, 1821.
▶️ Salamancans to the war cry
Salamanca hosted the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla for two nights, in what three decades ago became a museum that now bears his name in his honor. From the balcony of that residence located at the intersection of Albino García and Benito Juárez streets, in the downtown area of the city, Miguel Hidalgo encouraged the people of Salamanca to join the fight for independence on the morning of September 25, 1810; it is estimated that more than 25 thousand people joined the insurgent movement at that time.
This historic place was initially opened as a gallery in 1985 and officially began operating as a museum in 1994. Since then, it has become an attraction for people visiting Salamanca, where, as in other exhibition halls throughout the country, objects that witnessed the War of Independence that began in 1810 are preserved. In these spaces, history is breathed in as you observe details of the struggle led by the national heroes, those characters who have transcended time and who, particularly in September, feed the pride of the Mexican people.
People from Salamanca shouting war
Of these thousands of brave men and women, there were four characters who played a transcendental role in the history of Mexico becoming an independent country: Andrés Delgado “El Giro”, Albino García Ramos “El Manco”, María Tomasa Esteves y Salas, as well as Father Rafael Garcilita, insurgents from Salamanca who led the independence movement throughout the Bajío.
Maria Tomasa Esteves
She was born on the street that bears her name today on February 27, 1778 and came from a middle-class family. It is known that her real work was to gather information from the Spanish royalist army and to join the first insurgent front in Salamanca. After a battle in the community of Valtierrilla, where she emerged victorious, she was arrested during her return to the Villa de Salamanca, where she waited for her sentence for four days and it was through Agustín de Iturbide that she received the order to be shot; the sentence was carried out on August 9, 1814, on the corner formed by the streets now named Andador Revolución and Río Lerma; as a warning, her head was placed in the Plaza de Salamanca.
Andres Delgado “The Turn”
A man who had courage, conviction, who served and fought for the people to assert the rights of Mexicans, a companion of Francisco Javier Mina, in the memorable battle of “Hacienda la Caja”, where “El Giro” took part with 150 men.
In one of many battles, despite being faced by several soldiers, “El Giro” put up tenacious resistance, killing three and wounding several more, until overwhelmed by fatigue and the number of his attackers, he succumbed to stoning at the hands of the royalist soldiers, who decapitated him on July 3, 1819; his head was placed in the Plaza de Armas, today the Garden of the Constitution, to serve as a warning.
Albino Garcia Ramos “The One-Armed One”
A very intelligent and idealistic character, he used his nobility to serve his country, learning from his defeats to enhance his combat strategies, despite having an injured arm, which led him to obtain the support of “El Manco”. He was shot on June 8, 1812 in Celaya; the body was dismembered, the head was placed on the street currently known as La Cabecita and it is said that one hand was sent to the hill of San Miguel and the other to Salamanca.
Father Rafael Garcia
He participated in the attack on Valladolid in July 1811, where together with other members of the movement they gathered almost 10 thousand men and 40 cannons around present-day Morelia, sparsely defended by 700 soldiers and volunteer citizens led by Torcuato Trujillo.
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In August 1815 he was pursued by Higinio Juárez, defeated and apprehended in Rancho Redondo and transferred to San Luis Potosí, where, on August 22, the death sentence against “Father Garcilita” was carried out.
