Qualla: Siege of Cuautla https://qualla.com/siege-of-cuautla en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:09 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/g/3/e/siege-of-cuautla-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Siege of Cuautla https://qualla.com/siege-of-cuautla Siege of Cuautla: Introduction https://qualla.com/siege-of-cuautla/ Photo credit Thierrý Frèeres, Public domain. When the royalist dragoons broke through the rebel defenses and bore down on the plaza of Cuautla, a 12-year-old boy named Narciso Mendoza fired a cannon into them. The blast scattered the cavalry and saved the city center. It was February 19, 1812, the first day of what would become a 72-day siege -- one of the defining episodes of Mexico's War of Independence and a story of endurance that would cost both sides dearly before it ended.

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Image: Thierrý Frèeres | Public domain

]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/g/3/e/siege-of-cuautla-wp/9g3e-siege-of-cuautla-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Siege of Cuautla: How the Rebels Reached Cuautla https://qualla.com/siege-of-cuautla/ Photo credit (unknown), Public domain. By early 1812, Mexico's independence movement was in crisis. The rebellion's original leader, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, had been captured and executed the previous July. His designated successor in the south, Jose Maria Morelos, was building a different kind of insurgency -- mor...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/g/3/e/siege-of-cuautla-wp/9g3e-siege-of-cuautla-how-the-rebels-reached-cuautla.mp3 0:06 2 full Siege of Cuautla: The Day the Siege Began https://qualla.com/siege-of-cuautla/ Photo credit Thierrý Frèeres, Public domain. Calleja's army advanced from the north along Calle Real toward the Plaza of San Diego. The rebels opened fire. Galeana led the counterattack, and a Spanish colonel named Sagarra challenged him to single combat. Sagarra fired first and missed. Galeana shot him dead. But as fightin...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/g/3/e/siege-of-cuautla-wp/9g3e-siege-of-cuautla-the-day-the-siege-began.mp3 0:06 3 full Siege of Cuautla: Seventy-Two Days Behind the Lines https://qualla.com/siege-of-cuautla/ Photo credit Thierrý Frèeres, Public domain. What Calleja planned as a siege of six to eight days stretched into months. The rebels dug wells when the water supply was cut. They survived on the maize stockpiled inside the city. Calleja's own letter to the viceroy on March 13 captured his frustration: the enemy endured like ...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/g/3/e/siege-of-cuautla-wp/9g3e-siege-of-cuautla-seventy-two-days-behind-the-lines.mp3 0:06 4 full Siege of Cuautla: The Night They Walked Out https://qualla.com/siege-of-cuautla/ Photo credit Thierrý Frèeres, Public domain. On the afternoon of May 2, Calleja wrote the viceroy that he intended to abandon the siege. That same night, the rebels made their own decision to leave. Morelos and Galeana sent scouts to the Spanish camp, who returned with news that many royalists were sleeping and others were ...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/g/3/e/siege-of-cuautla-wp/9g3e-siege-of-cuautla-the-night-they-walked-out.mp3 0:06 5 full Siege of Cuautla: What Cuautla Remembers https://qualla.com/siege-of-cuautla/ Photo credit Thierrý Frèeres, Public domain. The siege did not end Mexico's war for independence -- that would take another nine years. Morelos continued campaigning, relieving the siege of Huajuapan and taking Oaxaca before his own capture and execution in 1815. The state where Cuautla sits carries his name: Morelos. The l...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/g/3/e/siege-of-cuautla-wp/9g3e-siege-of-cuautla-what-cuautla-remembers.mp3 0:06 6 full