Bernardo Reyes

Bernardo Doroteo Reyes Ogazón (30 August 1850 – 9 February 1913) was a Mexican general and politician who fought in the Second French intervention in Mexico and served as the appointed Governor of Nuevo León for more than two decades during the Porfiriato.

During Reyes's administration as Governor, the state made important economic, industrial and social advances, and he was one of the closest and most faithful allies of President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz.

However, he resigned from office after two years amid political conflict with the Cientificos, a circle of technocratic advisors to Diaz who saw the Second Reserve as a private army loyal to Reyes,[4] and returned to Nuevo León, where his popularity grew.

At the Battle of La Mojonera in Zapopan, he fought with Ramón Corona against the caudillo Manuel Lozada, and single-handedly returned valuable information from behind enemy lines, evading a surprise attack.

Though outnumbered three-to-one, Reyes repelled Terrón's initial attack and returned the charge with only a few soldiers, delivering fictitious orders to give the illusion of a larger force.

In recognition of his victory at Villa Unión, President Porfirio Díaz personally awarded Reyes a rare double promotion directly to the rank of brigadier general.

Reyes was seen as a reformer, anti-Científico, pro-business, with a strong following among professionals such as doctors and lawyers, and a viable candidate of the old order with both military and political experience who could manage a presidential transition.

[6] With Francisco Madero's latter challenge to the dictator in the 1910 elections and, afterwards, initiation of the Mexican Revolution, previous notions of who should succeed Díaz were discarded.

General Félix Díaz was imprisoned at another Mexico City jail for rebellion, but the two were able to easily communicate despite that and plot a joint coup against Madero.

[9] On November 4, 1872, Reyes married Aurelia de Ochoa y Sapién, the daughter of an aristocratic family from Zapotlán el Grande.