José Jerónimo de los Dolores Treviño y Leal (1835 – 1914), commonly known as Jerónimo Treviño was a prominent Mexican General and politician. He was a veteran of the Reform War and the Second French intervention in Mexico which he gained fame for his participation in several battles. After the fall of the Second Mexican Empire, Treviño served as the Governor of Nuevo León on several terms as well as the Secretary of War and Navy of Mexico from December 1, 1880, to December 31, 1881, under the cabinet of Manuel González Flores.
Along with General Francisco Naranjo, he became the strong man of the northeast of the country, with the support of Governor Genaro Garza García. However, his influence and power in Mexico diminished with the coming to power of General Bernardo Reyes. He came to participate in the beginning of the Mexican Revolution after the fall of Bernardo Reyes, and Francisco I. Madero in the overthrow of Porfirio Díaz. After the events of the Ten Tragic Days and the rise to power of Victoriano Huerta, he was reappointed Governor of Nuevo León, a position in which he lasted a month. He refused to be part of the movement against Huerta, so he went into exile in the United States, where he later died.
Childhood He was born in the Hacienda de Chihuahua (also known as "Chihuahuita"),SAN MIGUEL Flores, Rafael, Crónicas revolucionarias: un soldado norteño, Metro Newspaper of December 14, 1988, P. 12. in the town of Cadereyta Jiménez, Nuevo León on November 17, 1835 and was baptized on the 22nd of the same month, being the sixth of the seven children of Don Antonio Treviño y Pereyra and Doña María Francisca Leal Tijerina who were modest ranchers who lived off the produce of the land.SALDAÑA, José P., "Biografía de Jerónimo Treviño". Obras relativas a Cadereyta Jiménez, N.L. Volume II: Biografías, VILLARREAL A. Carlos, Monterrey, 2001, p. 251 From an early age, Jerónimo was distinguished by his intelligence and agility in sports, particularly horseback riding. He completed his primary studies in his native Cadereyta, where he learned to read and write, as well as some Catholic doctrines and arithmetics, according to the prevailing Lancastrian method at that time. He later he attended high school at the Monterrey Seminary, but had to interrupt his studies when the Reform War broke out.
Military career In 1856 Treviño joined the Nuevo León National Guard, fighting in the defense of the Citadel of Monterrey against the troops of the then Governor of Tamaulipas, General Juan José de la Garza who was sent by President Ignacio Comonfort to fight the governor of Nuevo León, Santiago Vidaurri. He began his military career as a lieutenant in the 1st San Luis Lancers Corps on January 15, 1858, later with the "Blusas" under the command of General Juan Zuazua and became part of the First North Cavalry Corps. He was promoted to Captain for his participation in the fight on April 25, 1859, and the following year, he was appointed Squadron Commander.CAVAZOS Garza, Israel, Diccionario Biográfico de Nuevo León. IV Centenary of the Foundation of Monterrey, Grafo Print Editores, 1996, P. 508
Reform War In the period that elapsed between the Reformists and the restoration of the Republic, he participated in numerous important military actions, among which stand out: the battles of la Bufa, Carretas Zacatecas and Guadalajara as well as in San Luis Potosí, Atenquique, Ahualulco, San Juan de los Lagos, where he was injured, and in Garita de San Cosme, in Mexico City. While in Nuevo León, he continued to support the Liberals, even when the differences between President Benito Juárez and Governor Vidaurri became irreconcilable.
Treviño came to participate in the events that arose in Nuevo León, when at that time disputes arose between Governor Vidaurri and the Liberal chiefs Santos Degollado and Ignacio Zaragoza, siding with them against Vidaurri, who deposed him and placed him in the government of Nuevo León to General José Silvestre Aramberri.
French Invasion During the Second French intervention in Mexico, Treviño participated in the Siege of Puebla in 1863, from which he managed to escape to fight in San Lorenzo under the orders of Ignacio Comonfort, but when he was defeated, Treviño went to Oaxaca under the orders of Mariano Escobedo and then in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, next to Porfirio Díaz. In that same year he obtained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
While in Oaxaca in 1865, he made a very long journey on horseback from north to south from Oaxaca to Nuevo León to meet with Mariano Escobedo, being accompanied by other soldiers, such as General Pedro Martínez. In 1866, when Nuevo León was in the hands of the French and Mexican Imperialists, important battles took place in which Treviño, who had been promoted to Colonel of cavalry, participated in an outstanding manner, such as in the Battle of Santa Isabel, near Parras which occurred on the first. On March 1, 1866, where he fought under the orders of General Andrés S. Viesca, in which Treviño was promoted to Brigadier General, and in which he managed to take more than 300 prisoners.
Treviño also came to stand out in the famous Battle of Santa Gertrudis, in that same 1866, in which the Mexican army, under the command of General Escobedo, unquestionably defeated the Imperial Mexican forces, the Battle of San Jacinto against Miramón, and in the Siege of Querétaro in which he was wounded and where the capture of Emperor Maximilian I was achieved.
Governor of Nuevo León With the advent of French defeat, Juárez entrusted General Treviño with the military command of the Plaza de México, which he left on December 4, 1867, when he was appointed constitutional governor of Nuevo León, in recognition of his services.
Administration
According to the historian Santiago Roel, Jerónimo Treviño wasn't very notable during his Governorship of Nuevo León and it has even been claimed that Treviño lacked competency as a statesman as he generally preferred the battlefield.
The regulations promulgated for the González Hospital are remembered from his administration, he granted pardon for those who had been involved against the government, improvements were made to the National Guard and higher education was given a boost when the Colegio Civil was completed in September 1870, which had been founded in 1859 by decree of Governor José Silvestre Aramberri and the Normal School of Professors was also created, the latter at the time he requested a leave of absence from the government, being replaced by José Eleuterio González.
Another contribution his government made was the beginning of the construction of the highway that crosses the Sierra Madre Oriental through the mouth of Santa Rosa and connects with the southern portions of the state. On August 15, 1870, telegraphic communication began with the Capital of the Republic and some municipal seats, such as Cadereyta Jiménez, in October of the same year. In addition, support was given to industrialization, for example, the installation of a white canvas factory that was authorized in May 1871, a company that to date, with difficulties, operated in El Cercado, under the name of Textiles de Monterrey, a subsidiary of the El Porvenir Warehouses.
Cenobio Díaz's revolt At the end of 1868, a former imperialist commander named Cenobio Díaz escaped from Monterrey, organized a party of 25 men, and entered Villa del Carmen, proclaiming the 1857 Constitution and ignoring the state authorities. He was working in conjunction with General Quiroga who, from Laredo, Texas, was preparing an armed movement against the general government. Treviño, at the head of a fraction of the troops, chased him, catching up with him in Mamuliqui and defeating him. Díaz was able to escape and entered Tamaulipas, where he was later apprehended.
New Villas On December 9, 1868, the "El Puntiagudo" ranch was renamed to what is now known as the municipality of General Treviño which was initially a villa. The municipalities of General Escobedo were also created in the old Hacienda del Topo de los Ayala, in honor of General Mariano Escobedo, the former rancho del Toro became General Bravo in honor of the insurgent general Nicolás Bravo and the San José hacienda was transformed into the Villa de Juárez.
Re-election in 1869 In October 1869 Treviño was re-elected, for which he held the position for two consecutive terms. During this stage the situation in the state continued to worsen as the hacienda was completely bankrupt and the contribution system was so unequal to the extent that workers and peasants began to emigrate because they could not cover the personal taxes that had been applied to them.
Plan de la Noria
Due to the fact that at the end of 1871 the period of government for which he was elected concluded, on March 18 of that year, Treviño issued a manifesto indicating:
On September 19, 1871, in the midst of an opposition environment, Treviño was again declared Governor of the State for the biennium of 1871 to 1873, in elections considered to be fraudulent against Simón de la Garza Melo. However, he would not take office, since eight days later, on September 27, he published a manifesto in which he refused to recognize President Benito Juárez, accusing him of wanting to perpetuate himself in the presidency of the Republic, and joined the Plan of la Noria led by Porfirio Díaz. Treviño then left Monterrey to fight and on October 4, he left Genaro Garza García as governor and military commander. Treviño was supported by generals Francisco Naranjo, Ignacio, Pedro Martínez, Trinidad García de la Cadena, Donato Guerra, and Díaz himself.
The nonconformists at first made progress, but were defeated by forces loyal to the government under the command of Generals Sóstenes Rocha and Lázaro Garza Ayala in the Battle of Cerro de Bufa. This resulted in the rebels handing over their weapons and agreeing to withdraw. With this, Treviño retired to his hacienda "La Babia", in Múzquiz, Coahuila. Given this attitude of the rebels, President Juárez ignored the rebelling generals and appointed Garza Ayala as Governor and Military Commander of the State.
When Benito Juárez died on July 18, 1872, he was succeeded by Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, who promulgated an amnesty for those who had taken up arms against the Juarista administration and Nuevo León regained order. Treviño even came to recognize the government of Lerdo de Tejada.
Tuxtepec Revolution
In January 1876, Porfirio Díaz took up arms again, brandishing the , with which he opposed the re-election of Lerdo de Tejada. This was immediately supported in Nuevo León by Generals Treviño and Francisco Naranjo who sided with Díaz in the famous Battle of Icamole against Generals Carlos Fuero, Julián Quiroga and Juan E. Guerra. Fierce fighting ensued, and although they suffered several defeats, by November the rebels had defeated the loyalist forces at the Battle of Tecoac and Lerdo de Tejada fled into exile to New York City.
On November 22, 1876, General Díaz made his triumphant entry in Mexico City and acceded to the Presidency of the Republic, while Treviño, who was head of the forces in the north, recovered positions such as Saltillo and Monterrey.
Once the constitutional order was restored, after the triumph of the Tuxtepec Revolution, Treviño was elected governor and took office on March 12, 1877; however, barely a month had passed when on April 16 he presented his resignation from the position, being replaced by Genaro Garza García .