Murguía, Francisco
He was poor as a child. He responded to Madero's Plan de San
Luis Potosí. He was part of the "Carabineros de Coahuila."
Murguía joined
Venustiano Carranza and his Constitutionalist Army when he revolted against
Victoriano Huerta for having had Francisco I. Madero and Jesús María Pino
Suárez killed. His military career went well as he won victories against the
huertista forces. When Carranza's forces took Mexico City, General Murguía was
appointed governor and military commander if the state of Mexico. In Congress,
he opposed attempts to depose Carranza. In Mexico state, he raised an army of
ten thousand men and marched to Michoacán on November 24, 1914, to join forces
with General Manuel M. Diéguez. The two armies reconquered Guadalajara from
Pancho Villa's army on January 18, 1915. Murguía fought in battles in
Celaya, Trinidad, and León and became known as the "Hero of León."
He was decisive in the battle in which Alvaro Obregón lost his arm; his bravery
and success earned him the loyalty of Obregón . As commander of the
Second Division of the Northwest, he became the general most feared by the
villistas. In 1920, when Obregón and other generals rebelled against
Carranza for trying to impose Ignacio Bonillas as president, forcing Carranza to
flee towards Veracruz, Murguía defended the presidential convoys. He was caught
and imprisoned in Santiago Tlalteloco. He escaped to the United States and tried
to organize an army to avenge the death of Carranza. When he met little success,
he crossed the Río Grande with as few men in hopes of recruiting an army.
He had to flee to Tepehuanes, Durango and hide in a church. He was caught and
executed in 1922.
His fame rests as much on his ideas of social justice as
anything else. When Constitutionalist armies took Toluca in August, 1914, Murguía
redistributed some haciendas to the peasants (campesinos) and the land on which
their houses set to the workers.
Based on Juan López de Escalera, Diccionario Biográfico y de Historia de
México. México, Editorial del Magisterio, 1964. pp.751-2
Don Mabry
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