Miguel Miramón y Tarelo | |
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Substitute President of Mexico by the Plan of Tacubaya |
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In office 2 February 1859 – 13 August 1860 |
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Preceded by | José Mariano Salas |
Succeeded by | José Ignacio Pavón |
Provisional President of Mexico by the Plan of Tacubaya |
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In office 15 August 1860 – 24 December 1860 |
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Preceded by | José Ignacio Pavón |
Personal details | |
Born |
Mexico DF |
29 September 1832
Died | 19 June 1867 Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro Arteaga |
(aged 34)
Nationality | Mexican |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Concepción Lombardo |
Alma mater | Heroic Military Academy (Mexico) |
Religion | Roman catholic |
Miguel Gregorio de la Luz Atenógenes Miramón y Tarelo, known as Miguel Miramón, (29 September 1832 – 19 June 1867) was a Mexican conservative general and politician. He served as anti-constitutional interim conservative President of Mexico in opposition to the constitutional president, Benito Juárez of the Liberal Party.
Miramón was born in Mexico City into a family of partial French heritage. At the age of 15, he was made prisoner during the United States assault on Chapultepec Castle in the Mexican-American War. In his late teens and early twenties he rose through the army ranks rather quickly, becoming famous for his personal charisma, his competence as a soldier and his guerrilla tactics.
He was a staunch conservative, a supporter of monarchy, aristocracy and religious privileges for the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church supported his military efforts, against the constitutional forces, with loans.
During the War of Reform he fought in the central lowlands on the side of a reactionary military junta, which had staged a coup d'état, in defiance of the Constitution of 1857. A series of presidents were appointed by the junta as factions within the junta vied for power. Miramón's faction eventually prevailed, and on 2 February 1860, not yet 30 years old, he assumed the presidency. However, neither he nor any of the other "presidents" of the junta was recognized by the constitutional forces led by President Benito Juárez, and they were not recognized by the United States, which appointed an ambassador to Juárez's government instead.
On 11 April 1859, Miramón earned the enmity of much of the populace for ordering the execution of not only the captured officers of the constitutional forces but also of the doctors who treated their wounds, and also numerous civilians who were deemed to have been too sympathetic with the constitutional armies which had just suffered a defeat in attempting to retake the capital from the junta now headed by Miramón. As a further result of the massacre, General Degollado of the constitutional army issued an order that officers of the anticonstitutional armies were to be shot upon capture.