Juan Aldama

Juan José Marcos Gaspar Antonio de Aldama y González (San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, January 3, 1764-Chihuahua, Mexico, June 26, 1811) He was a Mexican insurgent who participated in the Mexican Independence process.

He was born in San Miguel el Grande, now San Miguel de Allende. He was the brother of Ignacio Aldama, as well as the uncle of Mariano and Antonio, also insurgents. At the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence, he was a captain in the Milicias de la Reina cavalry regiment and although he lived in San Miguel el Grande, he attended the meetings that the conspirators had in Querétaro.

When the conspiracy was discovered, Aldama left San Miguel to go to Dolores to meet Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende with the purpose of informing them of what was happening; Thus, at dawn on September 16, he participated in the cry of insurrection.

In Celaya he was appointed marshal and with the rank of lieutenant colonel he took part in the Battle of Monte de las Cruces. With the victory, and like Ignacio Allende, he thought it convenient to advance with his troops towards the capital. He accompanied Ignacio Allende in the Battle of Guanajuato and participated in the Battle of Calderón Bridge. He marched along with the other insurgents to the north of the country, proposing to go to the United States in order to send war items.

Aldama remained with Allende throughout the campaign until he was taken prisoner in Acatita de Baján along with the other insurgents. He was one of those excepted by the viceroy's pardon, who had put a price on his head. Taken to Chihuahua, he was tried and sentenced to death, being shot in the company of Allende, Mariano Jiménez and Manuel de Santa María.

His head, as well as that of the first two who accompanied him to his death and that of Hidalgo himself, were taken to Guanajuato and placed in iron cages at each corner of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, from where they were found. They withdrew in 1824 to bury them together with their bodies under the altar of the Kings in the Cathedral of Mexico City. His remains rested in the Column of Independence in Mexico City until May 30, 2010, when they were transferred to the National Museum of History for analysis and authentication.