Jose Maria Yanez

Encyclopedia : J : JO : JOS : Jose Maria Yanez

General José María Yáñez (* 1803 in Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato – August 10 1880, Mexico City) was a Mexican hero of the war of independence from Spain and the invasions by France and the United States.

He was born to peasants and ran way from home as a child to see other lands and customs of the people. At the age of 18, he joined the Ejército Trigarante to fight for the Independence of Mexico where he was promoted, and had his best performance in the defense of Tampico against an expedition eight years after the independence was consummated.

In 1838, he contributed to the successful defense of Veracruz against French invaders when they attack during the Pastry War. On May 20 1846, he revolted against President Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga, who was a conservative and was trying to turn the republic into a monarchy. As a general in Jalisco commanding an army of 500 men and six items of artillery, he attacked the invading American army who had arrived through the San Blas port, forcing them to retreat. In 1852, he was designated governor of Jalisco, by the conservatives who supported with José María Blancarte the Hospice Plan.

One of the most notable military facts about Yáñez, was the defense of Guaymas. He was designated governor of Sonora on April 19 1854 and, on July 13 of the same year, he defended the state against an army under the command of count Gaston Raousset-Boulbon. In that month, the state of Sonora was invaded by 400 filibusters from France, Germany and Chile, under the command of Boulbon who was trying to obtain the Mexican state and to found an independent country. Count Boulbon had tried to convince Yáñez of giving up the site without resistance and, after his refusal, attacked the port on July 13. Neighbors joined the army commanded by Yañez and Boulbon was arrested and executed on August 13. President Santa Anna criticized Yáñez out of apparently jealousy for his courage but, after his administration ended, Yáñez was declared "Benefactor (Benemérito) of Sonora and Jalisco". He was later designated governor of Sinaloa and as such he accepted the Tacubaya Plan. He held office during the monarchy of Maximilian I of Mexico and the republic thereafter. He died as a Minister of War and the Navy in Mexico City.

Trivia

Guaymas Airport is named after him.

External links

[Biography] at Mexico-Tenoch.
(es) [Report] about the fillibuster invasion of 1854 at the Mexican Army website.
(es) [Historic dates] of Sonora.
(es) [Historic dates] of Sinaloa.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.