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Aureliano Blanquet

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In this article, the surname is Blanquet and the second or maternal family name is Torres.
Aureliano Blanquet
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 16, 1919(1919-04-16) (aged 69)
Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico
Spouse
María de Jesús Olivo
​
​
(m. 1876)​
Children2
EducationSan Nicolás University
Military service
RankGeneral
CommandsFederal Army
Battles/wars

Aureliano Blanquet Torres (31 December 1848 – 16 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.

Blanquet was born in Morelia, Michoacán, and joined the Republican forces during the second French intervention in Mexico. During the Porfiriato, Blanquet rose through the ranks of the Federal Army, participating in the suppression of uprisings including the Garza Revolution and the Caste War of Yucatán. During the latter conflict, he became an ally of fellow general Victoriano Huerta. At the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, Blanquet remained loyal to President Porfirio Díaz, and following the victory of revolutionary Francisco I. Madero in 1911, he retained his post. In 1913, Huerta and Blanquet led a coup against Madero known as the Ten Tragic Days, with Huerta becoming president and Blanquet secretary of war and the navy. He held the role until he went into exile in 1914.

He returned to Mexico in 1919 to support an uprising by Félix Díaz, but was killed and decapitated in Veracruz while retreating. In the historiography of Mexico, Blanquet is remembered as a traitor due to his role in the overthrow of Madero and is considered to be one of the primary villains of the revolution.

Early life

Personal life

Aureliano Blanquet Torres[a] was born on 31 December 1848 in Morelia, in the state of Michoacán.[2][3][4] He was the son of Antonio D. Blanquet and María Torres.[3][4] Blanquet's father provided him with education for a career in commerce, but when Blanquet was twelve, his father died. Afterwards, his mother sent him to the Colegio San Nicolás in Morelia.[3] He did not receive a degree,[2] as three years into his studies he joined the army.[3] On 10 September 1876, Blanquet married María de Jesús Olivo, who came from a prominent Morelia family.[5] Their son, also named Aureliano, served as an alternate federal deputy for Hidalgo from 1914 to 1915.[2] They also had a daughter, Esperanza.[5]

Early 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][6] 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][6] On 19 July 1867,[7] Blanquet was a member of the firing squad which executed Maximilian,[2][6] as well as former president Miguel Miramón and General Tomás Mejía.[8] Reportedly, Blanquet may have been the one who gave Maximilian the coup de grâce by shooting him in the heart.[4][6]

On 4 February 1877, Blanquet enlisted in the regular Federal Army as a second lieutenant.[2] Under Porfirio Díaz he made steady but unspectacular advancement.[citation needed]

In 1891, Blanquet became a second captain. The same year, he fought against an uprising led by Catarino Garza.[4] In the late 1890s he was involved in putting down uprisings by indigenous Maya people in Yucatán.[9] In the early 1900s in Yucatán, he met fellow officer Victoriano Huerta.[10] In 1898, Blanquet was promoted to the rank of first captain.[11]

Mexican Revolution

In July 1911 Blanquet commanded federal troops stationed in Puebla.[12] On July 12 a group of armed men fired shots at the rival Maderistas and fled into the federal army barracks.[12] The incident erupted into an all-out battle in which Blanquet defeated the Maderistas. 46 were killed, including women and children.[12][13] 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.[14] The Puebla Incident also created international tension after the fleeing Maderistas killed German and Spanish expatriates who stood in their way.[14]

During May 1912 Blanquet served under General Victoriano Huerta, leading the 29th Infantry Battalion in the successful suppression of the Pascual Orozco revolt against the Madero government.[15] In June, Blanquet fought the Orozquista general Benjamín Argumedo in Nazas, Durango.[16]

Ten Tragic Days

Further information: Ten Tragic Days

The Ten Tragic Days (Spanish: Decena Trágica) was a coup d'état against President Madero that began on 9 February 1913. Insurgent generals Félix Díaz and Manuel Mondragón unsuccessfully tried to take the National Palace, the president's residence, and subsequently took up refuge in the Ciudadela [es], Mexico City's main garrison. Despite formally fighting them, General Huerta had secretly negotiated with Díaz and U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson to overthrow Madero.[17] Blanquet was a key participant in this conspiracy.[18][19][20]

On 17 February, Blanquet and his 29th Battalion reunited with Huerta, and Blanquet ordered his troops to relieve the National Palace guard of their duties.[1] On 18 February at 1:30 in the afternoon, Madero and his cabinet were interrupted by members of the 29th Battalion, which resulted in a shootout. Madero, Vice President José María Pino Suárez and the surviving cabinet members ran into the palace courtyard, encountering Blanquet. The general pointed his pistol at Madero and told him, "You are my prisoner."[21] Madero shouted, "You are a traitor!", to which Blanquet responded calmly, "Yes, I am a traitor."[19] On 19 February, Madero and Pino Suárez gave their resignations, and Huerta assumed the presidency on a provisional basis.[1]

Huerta government and exile

Mondragón became the Secretary of War and the Navy in Huerta's government, but following the sidelining of Félix Díaz, Mondragón resigned and left the country, and Huerta replaced him with Blanquet.[22] He assumed office on 13 June 1913.[23][24][25] He held the post until 1 July 1914. He was succeeded by José Refugio Velasco.[20]

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.[26]

In July 1914, when the Huerta government collapsed, Blanquet resigned as vice president, and departed from Mexico with Huerta.[27][28]

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,[29] 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.[29] Blanquet escaped and resumed his exile, in Cuba.

Death

On 3 April 1919[30], Blanquet returned from exile in Cuba, disembarking at the port of Veracruz, to support the Félix Díaz rebellion against Venustiano Carranza.[31] With only about six followers he moved inland from the Gulf Coast in an attempt to join up with Díaz. On April 16, 1919[32], Blanquet was killed when his horse fell down a ravine after a skirmish with government troops near La Barranca de Chavaxtla, in Huatusco, Veracruz.[33] The Constitutionalist commander General Guadalupe Sánchez had Blanquet's head taken to Veracruz for display and photographing.[citation needed]

Legacy

Due to his role in the Ten Tragic Days, Blanquet became known as a traitor in Mexico.[6] The historian Peter Henderson has identified Blanquet as "one of the major villains of the Mexican Revolution".[12] Blanquet, along with other figures from the revolution, has also been featured in corridos, with the song "Tragedia compuesta a la revolución Maderista y a Torreón" comparing Blanquet to Saint Augustine.[34]

Notes

  1. ↑ Some sources give Blanquet's first name as Aurelio.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Serrano Álvarez 2011, p. 153
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Camp 1991, p. 27
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Díaz Zermeño 2004, p. 25
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Galeana 2013, p. 139
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Díaz Zermeño 2004, p. 30
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Quién fue el soldado que fusiló a un emperador y traicionó a un presidente de México". Infobae (in español). 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  7. ↑ Villalpando & Rosas 2009, p. 168.
  8. ↑ Villalpando & Rosas 2009, p. 165.
  9. ↑ Galeana 2013, pp. 139–140.
  10. ↑ Rausch Jr. 1964, p. 142.
  11. ↑ Galeana 2013, p. 140
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Henderson, p. 65.
  13. ↑ David LaFrance, “The Mexican Revolution in Puebla” 1989, p115
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Henderson, p. 66.
  15. ↑ De La Pedraja, Rene (16 November 2015). Wars of Latin America 1899-1941. McFarland. p. 171. ISBN 9780786482573.
  16. ↑ Serrano Álvarez 2011, p. 145.
  17. ↑ Krauze 1998, pp. 267–268.
  18. ↑ "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.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Krauze 1998, p. 270
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Quijano Torres 2012, p. 217
  21. ↑ Eisenhower 1993, pp. 24–25.
  22. ↑ Eisenhower 1993, p. 34.
  23. ↑ Serrano Álvarez 2011, pp. 167–168.
  24. ↑ "Changes in Huerta Cabinet". The New York Times. New York City. 14 June 1913. p. 1. ProQuest 97524790.
  25. ↑ Peter Henderson, “Felix Díaz” 1981, p101
  26. ↑ LaFrance, p. 7.
  27. ↑ John Eisenhower, “Intervention!” 1993, p149
  28. ↑ Michael Meyer, “Huerta” 1972, p208
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 LaFrance, p. 49.
  30. ↑ "BLANQUET FORCES LAND IN MEXICO FOR REVOLUTION; Join Diaz Army of 40,000, Scattered in Fifteen States, WhoAre Fighting Carranza.WASHINGTON IS INFORMEDPro-Ally Movement Will SeekRecognition as Belligerentsby Europe and America.HOLD PORTS ON GULF COAST Gen. Blanquet, Leaving New Yorkin January, Organized Expedition in West Indies. Many Elements in Movement. Expedition Reaches Mexico. BLANQUET FORCES LAND IN MEXICO To Ask Recognition as Belligerents Say Mexico Faces Bolshevism. TWO REVOLTS IN MEXICO. Uprisings North and South Promise Sharp Fighting by June. Says Mexico Will Nip Revolt. MEXICAN CONGRESS IS CALLED Carranza Will Ask 10,000,000 Pesos to Control Railways" – via TimesMachine.
  31. ↑ Aguilar Casas & Serrano Álvarez 2012, p. 36
  32. ↑ "Blanquet killed, his enemies say". timesmachine.nytimes.com. 17 April 1919.
  33. ↑ Peter Henderson, “Felix Díaz” 1981, p141
  34. ↑ Brill 2026, p. 404.

Bibliography

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