Santos Degollado

José Santos Degollado Sánchez was a Mexican liberal politician and military leader. He was raised by a priest in Michoacán and worked twenty years in the cathedral in Morelia. He became a Federalist in 1836 and entered politics in 1845 when he was elected to the Michoacán legislature in 1845. He replaced his close associate Melchor Ocampo as governor of Michoacán 27 March - 6 July 1848. He joined the Revolution of Ayutla. He became governor of Jalisco when the liberals successfully ousted Antonio López de Santa Anna. As with a number of rising Liberals, Degollado was not formally trained as a soldier, but gained military experience in the Revolution of Ayutla. He later fought for Benito Juárez's government. During Benito Juárez's presidency he served as Secretary of War and Navy and as Secretary of External Affairs. Degollado was a close friend of Guillermo Prieto and of Melchor Ocampo and fought by his side in many battles. Degollado was a resilient military leader, experiencing defeat after defeat in the Reform War that pitted the constitutional liberal government of Juárez against the conservatives. The army fielded by the conservatives was larger and better trained than the liberals' forces, but the liberals managed to achieve a stalemate for over two years and in the end triumphed. The liberal victory was not achieved by Degollado, who was in disgrace at the end of the war. Degollado was known as the "hero of defeats" for his ability to raise yet another army after yet another defeat. An experienced general who joined the liberal cause, General López Uraga, gave President Juárez a scathing assessment of the liberal army and Degollados's command of it. He had given everything he could to achieve a liberal victory, but his record of defeats meant his men were demoralized although continued to be loyal to him.