In 1817, his troops deserted him, and he stayed in hiding until 1821, when the independence movement was reinvigorated by generals Vicente Guerrero and Agustín de Iturbide, and he helped re-capture Veracruz.

Victoria remained an important and popular figure in the army during the First Mexican Empire, after the Declaration of Independence, wherein de Iturbide served as Emperor Agustín.

Guadalupe Victoria was born as José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix on 29 September 1786 in Tamazula in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain (now the Mexican state of Durango).

He dedicated himself and his troops to controlling the passage of El Puente del Rey and became famous for his successful attacks on military convoys until 1815, when he was defeated.

Other members of the insurgent forces that participated in the assault of Oaxaca were Hermenegildo Galeana, Nicolás Bravo, Mariano Matamoros, Manuel Mier y Terán, and Vicente Guerrero.

[15] The loss of Oaxaca was a heavy blow to the colonial government, because it gave great military prestige to Morelos, as well as a privileged geographical position because of the roads and towns that could be controlled from that site.

Using guerrilla warfare tactics,[25] he obtained control of the Puente del Rey ("King's Bridge"), a strategic position that connected Xalapa to the port of Veracruz.

[26] Also in 1816, when the new viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca arrived at New Spain, Victoria attacked his convoy to Mexico City and came very close to capturing him.

[31] The installation of the Cortes of Cádiz in Spain and the deterioration of the Spanish monarchy on the Iberian Peninsula helped revitalize the struggle for Mexican independence at the end of 1820.

[30] The Army of the Three Guarantees was created on 24 February 1821 as part of the Plan of Iguala[32] and continued battling Spanish royalist forces that refused to accept Mexican independence.

[34] Among the officers who entered the city that day were Pedro Celestino Negrete, Vicente Guerrero, Nicolás Bravo, Anastasio Bustamante, Melchor Múzquiz, José Joaquín de Herrera, Manuel Mier y Terán, Luis Quintanar, Miguel Barragán, Vicente Filisola, Antonio López de Santa Anna and Guadalupe Victoria.

[36] Guadalupe Victoria met with Agustín de Iturbide on 17 June 1821 in San Juan del Río and asked him to adopt the Plan of Iguala to create a republican government.

None of the former insurgents, such as Vicente Guerrero, Nicolás Bravo, Ignacio López Rayón, Guadalupe Victoria and Andrés Quintana Roo, were called to participate.

[45] The lack of a Congress, the arbitrary actions of the Emperor, and the absence of solutions to the serious problems that the country was facing, increased conspiracies to change the imperial system.

Its members were Pedro Celestino Negrete, Nicolás Bravo and Guadalupe Victoria,[53] with alternates being Miguel Domínguez, Mariano Michelena[54] and Vicente Guerrero.

[57] Despite being elected to be part of the Supreme Executive Power, Victoria remained in military control of Veracruz, where he oversaw the transportation of Iturbide to Europe and organized resistance against Spanish attacks from San Juan de Ulúa.

[30] The Supreme Executive Power was commissioned to direct the former provinces, now Free States, to create the Federal Republic and also to call elections for a new constituent congress.

As president of the new republic, Victoria was in charge of rebuilding an economy devastated by the long war of independence and the economic blockade promoted by the Spanish Crown.

These loans, negotiated through banking houses such as Barclay and Goldschmidt, averted bankruptcy and helped retain social peace, factors that undoubtedly enabled Victoria to serve out his full term.

[69] In addition, he established the Military Academy, restored Mexico City,[70] improved education, accorded amnesty to political prisoners, laid plans for a canal in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, opened new ports for shipping, began construction on the National Museum, garrisoned Yucatán to thwart a contemplated Cuba-based Spanish invasion, and unmasked a conspiracy led by a monk named Joaquín Arenas to restore Spanish rule.

[68] Victoria also facilitated the activities of the Lancasterian Society, which was dedicated to education, and he created the naval force that enabled his greatest achievement: the complete independence of Mexico, when on 18 November 1825, general Miguel Barragán took the last Spanish stronghold, the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa in Veracruz.

Though Lucas Alamán, his Secretary of the Interior, tried to dissuade him, American ambassador Joel R. Poinsett encouraged Victoria to order the expulsion of the Spaniards,[6] which caused serious economic problems, because most of those expelled were traders who brought their fortunes to Spain.

[76] On 18 August 1824, the General Colonization Law was issued to populate the Northern Territories of (Alta California, Nuevo México and the north side of the state of Coahuila y Tejas).

[77] The immigration of Americans was abundant and communities quickly formed that retained their language, religion and customs, resulting in weak links with the rest of the country.

[77] In 1826, the first attempt at separatism was made when empresario Haden Edwards declared independence from state of Coahuila y Tejas and created the Republic of Fredonia near Nacogdoches, Texas.

[79] The plan called mainly for the reorganization of government, which had showed serious deficiencies in the control of public revenues and expulsion of the United States representative on the grounds that country meddled in domestic affairs.

[8] Victoria declared that no proposals would be heard from Spain until it recognized Mexican independence and the form of government established and agreed to, and never ask for indemnification for the loss of Mexico.

A few days before returning to the Senate, in Puebla, he stated his position:[30] "Twenty-three years I have fought for your same cause and if new dangers will call me for your defense, you know that my vote is irrevocable: Federation or death.

[11][89] Victoria was declared by Congress Benemérito de la Patria (Worthy of the Nation) on 25 August 1843, and his name was written in golden letters in the session hall of the Chamber of Deputies.

[90][91] Victoria is considered a national hero,[89] and there are many monuments, statues, schools, hospitals, libraries, cities, towns, streets, and other places named after him in Mexico.