Anacleto's rebellion

Anacleto's Rebellion or Nicaraguan Civil War It was a rebellion led by José Anacleto Ordóñez, a Nicaraguan soldier, merchant, and nationalist who opposed Mexican rule over Nicaragua, launched a rebellion against the pro-Mexican government

Background
In December 1811, armed uprisings led by Creoles dissatisfied with colonial dependence and control broke out in León, Masaya, Granada and Rivas. They were suffocated. The Creole opportunists availed themselves of the Captain General's pardon. The rebels in Granada resisted until April 21, 1812, when some rebels of aristocratic origin made an agreement with the authorities that did not save them from prison.

Ordoñez returns to Granada

Between 1812 and 1820 Ordoñez returned to Granada where he maintained a life linked to the people, gaining appreciation for his willingness to serve. In Mosquitia he acquired knowledge about the healing properties of plants, which is why many needy patients turned to him as a “herbalist doctor.”

The rebellion
José Anacleto Ordóñez started the rebellion against the pro-Mexican government on January 16, 1823. He and his supporters bloodlessly captured the military barracks in Granada. This was followed by a series of looting and robberies by Ordóñez supporters in the cities of Granada, Jinotepe, Juigalpa and Masaya. The violence caused many in the affected cities to flee to Managua, which remained under the control of pro-Mexican forces.

On February 13, 1823, the troops of Brigadier Miguel González Saravia (Cartagena, 1788 – Madrid, 1848), former governor of Nicaragua (1819–20), were repelled -despite the superiority-, by popular resistance and skill. of the Granada leader.On February 23, 1823, Nicaraguan governor Miguel González Saravia y Colarte (who had been the last Spanish governor of Nicaragua) forcibly recovered Granada with an army of 1,000 soldiers. The imperialists requested reinforcements from the Mexican army under the command of General Vicente Filísola (Naples, 1789 – Mexico, 1850), but, on March 19, Agustín de Iturbide abdicated, collapsing the ephemeral empire.

Cleto established himself as a popular leader. He managed to unify the political wills of León and Granada. A Patriotic Junta was formed made up of progressive elements of the middle classes and some liberal Creoles who supported it, “abolished the testamentary law, as well as the titles, treatments and privileges of the Creole aristocracy,” and shouted: “The gifts are over!”

Cleto's actions became widespread in Nicaragua and other cities in Central America. Social contradictions emerged; In mid-1824 the popular forces controlled León and Granada. The Creole aristocracy and the old peninsular officials were concentrated: those of León in El Viejo, and those of Granada in Managua (named Leal Villa de Santiago de Managua by Royal decree of Fernando VII in 1819 for having maintained fidelity to the monarchy by not revolting. as did León, Granada and others) where they created parallel government boards (that of Managua chaired by Policarpo Irigoyen – priest and judge of Managua since 1813; he was in Guatemala in 1823 with Bishop García, returning in 1824 until his death in 1829 -, Cleto's father's brother) and appointed military leaders: Crisanto Sacasa in Managua and the Peruvian mercenary Colonel Juan José Salas in El Viejo, with the support of Bishop Nicolás García Jerez. Faced with the anti-popular involvement of Policarpo, the bishop and others such as the parish priest of San Carlos who facilitated the Sacasa escape, this revolutionary struggle also had an anticlerical component.

In 1824 Sacasa failed twice in the attempt to take Granada, while his troops had low morale, those who defended the city showed a high commitment motivated by their leader.

Intervention by Manuel Arce

Faced with the complex situation, Gen. Manuel José Arce (San Salvador, 1787 – 1847) was sent as a peacemaker and arrived in León on January 9, 1825. Sacasa had died in a failed attack on León and Salas had deserted. Arce's intervention mediated the popular conquest in the main cities; He sought to “install a formal democracy and modernize the system of exploitation.” He imposed a solution to flatter everyone: he appointed Cleto Ordoñez to the honorable position of Inspector General of Weapons of the Federal Republic, removing him from the Nicaraguan scene.