Aureliano Blanquet

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Blanquet and the second or maternal family name is Torres.
Aureliano Blanquet
Blanquet in 1913
Secretary of War and Navy
In office
13 June 1913 – 1 July 1914
PresidentVictoriano Huerta
Preceded byManuel Mondragón
Succeeded byJosé Refugio Velasco
Personal details
Born(1848-12-31)December 31, 1848
Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
DiedApril 7, 1919(1919-04-07) (aged 69)
Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico
Alma materSan Nicolás University
Military service
RankGeneral
CommandsFederal Army
Battles/wars

Aureliano Blanquet Torres (31 December 1848 – 7 April 1919) was a Mexican general who served as secretary of war and navy from 1913 to 1914 during the presidency of Victoriano Huerta. Blanquet served in the Federal Army during the Mexican Revolution and was a key participant in the coup d'état during the Ten Tragic Days.[1] One historian has identified Blanquet as "one of the major villains of the Mexican Revolution".[2]

Biography

Personal life

Blanquet was born on 31 December 1848 in Morelia, in the state of Michoacán.[3][4] He was the son of Antonio D. Blanquet and María Torres.[4] Blanquet studied at the Colegio San Nicolás in Morelia, though he did not receive a degree.[3][4] Blanquet's son, also named Aureliano, served as an alternate federal deputy for Hidalgo from 1914 to 1915.[3]

Eary military career

In 1863, during the second French intervention in Mexico, Blanquet joined the Republican forces as a private.[4] By 1866, he had become a second sergeant.[4][5] Later, as a brigadier sergeant, he participated in the siege of Querétaro, which resulted in the capture of Maximilian von Habsburg. Afterwards, Maximilian was under Blanquet's custody.[4][5] On 19 July 1867,[6] Blanquet was a member of the firing squad which executed Maximilian,[3][5] as well as former president Miguel Miramón and General Tomás Mejía.[7] Reportedly, Blanquet may have been the one who gave Maximilian the coup de grâce by shooting him in the heart.[4][5]

On 4 February 1877, Blanquet enlisted in the regular Federal Army as a second lieutenant.[3] Under Porfirio Díaz he made steady but unspectacular advancement. While holding the rank of captain he was involved in the suppression of a Maya rising in Yucatán during the 1890s.

In 1891, Blanquet became a second captain. The same year, he fought against an uprising led by Catarino Garza.[4]

During the Mexican Revolution

In July 1911 Blanquet commanded federal troops stationed in Puebla.[2] On July 12 a group of armed men fired shots at the rival Maderistas and fled into the federal army barracks.[2] The incident erupted into an all-out battle in which Blanquet defeated the Maderistas. 46 were killed, including women and children.[2][8] On the next day Madero publicly hugged Blanquet and cleared him of any wrongdoing; he ordered radical Maderistas to surrender arms to Blanquet's Federales and go home.[9] The Puebla Incident also created international tension after the fleeing Maderistas killed German and Spanish expatriates who stood in their way.[9]

During May 1912 Blanquet served under General Victoriano Huerta, leading the 29th Infantry Battalion in the successful suppression of the Orozquista revolt against the Madero government.[10]

On 13 June 1913, General Manuel Mondragón resigned as Secretary of War and the Navy, and Huerta replaced him with Blanquet.[11][12][13][14] He held the post until 1 July 1914. He was succeeded by José Refugio Velasco.[15]

In October 1913 Huerta dissolved the Federal Congress and prepared for a rigged referendum to legitimize himself as the President, with Blanquet named as vice-president.[16]

In July 1914, when the Huerta government collapsed, Blanquet resigned as vice president, and departed from Mexico with Huerta.[17][18]

On August 19, 1914, General Blanquet, having returned from overseas, intervened in the disbandment process of Huerta's defeated Federal army. He led the 29th Battalion of 400 men, which he had formerly commanded, plus other remnants of Federal troops dissatisfied with their redundancy payments,[19] against Carrancistas in Puebla. Blanquet captured the city and learned that two Carrancistas agents, brothers Ramon and Raphael Cabrera, were on their way to Puebla to assert the authority of the new government. Blanquet's federals captured the Cabreras and shot them on Blanquet's order. The two surviving Cabrera brothers, Luiz and Alfonso, avenged the dead with a campaign of terror, killing over sixty Federal prisoners.[19] Blanquet escaped and resumed his exile, in Cuba.

Death

On 24 March 1919, Blanquet returned from exile in Cuba, disembarking at the port of Veracruz, to support the Félix Díaz rebellion against Venustiano Carranza.[20] With only about six followers he moved inland from the Gulf Coast in an attempt to join up with Díaz. On April 7, 1919, Blanquet was killed when his horse fell down a ravine after a skirmish with government troops near La Barranca de Chavaxtla, in Huatusco, Veracruz.[21] The Constitutionalist commander General Guadalupe Sánchez had Blanquet's head taken to Veracruz for display and photographing.

Notes

  1. ^ "Blanquet Led Coup D'etat. But Diaz's Attitude and Strong Position Caused Madero's Downfall". The New York Times. 20 February 1913. ProQuest 97438136. Retrieved 6 March 2010. Although Gen. Felix Diaz knew nothing of the arrest of Francisco I. Madero until General Victoriano Huerta and Gen. Aureliano Blanquet had captured the Mexican President in his quarters in the National Palace yesterday morning, it was the rebel leader, nevertheless, who brought about the downfall of the Madero Government.
  2. ^ a b c d Henderson, p. 65.
  3. ^ a b c d e Camp 1991, p. 27
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Galeana 2013, p. 139
  5. ^ a b c d "Quién fue el soldado que fusiló a un emperador y traicionó a un presidente de México". Infobae (in Spanish). 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  6. ^ Villalpando & Rosas 2009, p. 168.
  7. ^ Villalpando & Rosas 2009, p. 165.
  8. ^ David LaFrance, “The Mexican Revolution in Puebla” 1989, p115
  9. ^ a b Henderson, p. 66.
  10. ^ De La Pedraja, Rene (16 November 2015). Wars of Latin America 1899-1941. McFarland. p. 171. ISBN 9780786482573.
  11. ^ Serrano Álvarez 2011, pp. 167–168.
  12. ^ "Changes in Huerta Cabinet". The New York Times. New York City. 14 June 1913. p. 1. ProQuest 97524790.
  13. ^ Galeana 2013, p. 140
  14. ^ Peter Henderson, “Felix Díaz” 1981, p101
  15. ^ Quijano Torres 2012, p. 217.
  16. ^ LaFrance, p. 7.
  17. ^ John Eisenhower, “Intervention!” 1993, p149
  18. ^ Michael Meyer, “Huerta” 1972, p208
  19. ^ a b LaFrance, p. 49.
  20. ^ Aguilar Casas & Serrano Álvarez 2012, p. 36
  21. ^ Peter Henderson, “Felix Díaz” 1981, p141

References

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