The battle was fought between royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown, commanded by Juan Antonio Fuentes, and Mexican rebels, commanded by José María Morelos and Rafael Valdovinos, fighting for independence from the Spanish Empire.

In 1811, Morelos arrived with his army to the area around Carácuaro, Michoacán de Ocampo and began to issue notices to the local population about the popular uprising initiated by Miguel Hidalgo, a movement Morelos himself had joined at Indaparapeo when he had met Hidalgo.

Hidalgo had named Morelos a lieutenant and commissioned him to operate in the south of the country where the important port city of Acapulco was situated.

On his return to Carácuaro, Morelos raised his own army and traveled to the state of Guerrero to conduct his first military campaign which took place between October 1810 and August 1811.

While these actions were taking place, the Guerrero brothers, Bravo and Vicente, arrived at the battle and bolstered the rebel forces with their own soldiers.