Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla

Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mandarte y Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo (Spanish: [miˈɣel iˈðalɣo]), was a Mexican Catholic priest and prominent leader of the Mexican War of Independence, who is recognized as the Father of the Nation.

A professor at the Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo in Valladolid, Hidalgo was influenced by Enlightenment ideas, which contributed to his ouster in 1792. He served in a church in Colima and then in Dolores. After his arrival, he was shocked by the rich soil he had found. He tried to help the poor by showing them how to grow olives and grapes, but in New Spain (modern Mexico) growing these crops was discouraged or prohibited by colonial authorities to prevent competition with imports from Spain. On 16 September 1810, he gave the Cry of Dolores, a speech calling upon the people to protect the interest of King Ferdinand VII, held captive as part of the Peninsular War, by revolting against the peninsulares who had overthrown Viceroy José de Iturrigaray.

Hidalgo marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90,000 irregulars who attacked peninsular and criollo elites. Hidalgo's insurgent army accumulated initial victories on its way to Mexico City, but his troops ultimately lacked training and were poorly armed. These troops ran into an army of well-trained and armed Spanish troops in the Battle of Calderón Bridge and were defeated. After the battle, Hidalgo and his remaining troops fled north, but Hidalgo was betrayed, captured and executed.