He played a leading role in the liberal movement under the Plan of Ayutla to overthrow the dictatorship of Santa Anna in 1855; he then served in the cabinet of the new president, Juan Álvarez.

The constitution was met with opposition from conservatives its forceful anticlerical provisions to undermine the economic power and privileged status of the Catholic Church as an institution.

He was twenty years old in 1832 when he took part in the liberal revolt which overthrew President Anastasio Bustamante and saw action at San Agustin del Palmar and Puebla.

During the subsequent Siege of Mexico City, he was already a captain of the cavalry and fought at Tacubaya, Casas Blancas, Zumpango, San Lorenzo, and Posadas, and gave proof of his great military talent until Bustamante was overthrown and the Zavaleta Accords put an end to the revolution.

[1] When General Mariano Arista as part of a conservative revolt against the administration of Valentín Gómez Farías besieged Puebla with a vastly superior force, Comonfort defended one of its most exposed points.

He was elected senator the following year in 1848, and later made a customs official in the port of Acapulco, although he was removed from this position during the last dictatorship of Santa Anna in 1854.

The plan proclaimed a revolutionary program in the town of Ayutla, Guerrero, condemning the dictatorship of Santa Anna, attacking measures such as military conscription, and the selling of the Mesilla valley to the U.S., known there as the Gadsden Purchase.

After months of fighting, Santa Anna resigned in August 1855, but Comonfort refused to recognize his government-appointed successor Martin Carrera, whom he viewed as an effort by the remainders of the administration to coopt the revolution.

By September, Comonfort was at Lagos conferring with the independent revolutionary leaders Antonio de Haro y Tamariz [es] and Manuel Doblado, effecting their recognition of Álvarez's leadership.

[6] On 16 October, a call was made for a congress to assemble at Dolores Hidalgo in February 1856, to organize the nation under the republican, democratic, and representative form, based upon a decree dating back to the -Bases of Tacubaya [es] in 1841.

The filth and brutality of his troops, known as 'pintos' (mottled ones), caused general disgust and alarm and led to rumors that Alvarez would be overthrown in favor of Comonfort.

This proved redundant, as before news of the revolt even reached the capital, the elderly President Alvarez, who was not enjoying administrative tasks or the climate of Mexico City, decided to step down and announced this on 8 December.

There were hostile movements in Michoacan and Tlaxcala, and Tomas Mejia still led troops around San Juan de los Llanos [es].

One of their chiefs seized money from a British consul's house, but the leaders of the revolt ultimately concluded that they did not have enough men and resources to defend San Luis Potosí, and the city was mostly abandoned.

[17] Under the suspicion of sedition, Comonfort decreed the expulsion from the country of Antonio de Haro y Tamariz, Francisco Pacheco, and Agustín Zires [es].

[18] Five thousand troops under generals Villareal, Traconis, Zuloaga, Gayosso, and Moreno marched out of Mexico City on 29 January to suppress the revolt at Puebla.

On 31 March, the federal government issued a decree that the governors of Puebla and Veracruz should seize the properties of the church, except those being used for public worship, and sell them to pay for the damages caused by the rebellion.

The Spanish sent a squadron to the Port of Vera Cruz with representative Miguel de los Santos Alvarez on board, and this was interpreted as a hostile demonstration by nervous merchants.

Governor Santiago Vidaurri had attempted to annex the greater part of Coahuila's towns to Nuevo León, but Comonfort on 15 April 1856, declared this act null, a decree that was confirmed by Congress.

[32][33][34] The law was designed to develop Mexico's economy by increasing the number of private property owners, but in practice, the land was bought up by rich speculators.

The constitutional congress closed its session on 17 February and Comonfort in the meantime passed laws establishing a civil state register and government-run cemeteries.

[39] The Franco-Mexican liberal paper Trait d'Union (Hyphen) proclaimed that war had been declared between church and state and featured stories on who had refused the oath, including judges and other federal civil servants.

The sale of the property went on though slowly owing to conscientious objectors and fear of political persecution by others and the government exiled both military officers and ecclesiastics charged with sedition.

[43] The clerical uprisings did not make up the only insurgency that Comonfort had to deal with, as Governor Santiago Vidaurri of Nuevo León had revolted on the northern frontier, seizing Saltillo and Matehuala.

The rebels, in addition to the usual conservative cause of 'religion y fueros' also promised the Indians to protect their landed property which had also been targeted by the Ley Lerdo.

Operations planned to capture not destroy the rebels, and they only numbered 200, but they made an unexpected defense, sustained by a belief that sympathetic movements were breaking out all over the country, which they did to a limited extent.

Congress conceded by granting emergency powers to the state governors and on 3 November suspended certain articles of the constitution impeding Comonfort's ability to suppress rebellion: namely those on freedom of speech, assembly, bearing arms, and due process.

After arranging with certain governors, the conspirators in a suburb of Mexico City declared the Plan of Tacubaya on the morning of 17 December to set aside the national constitution.

[58] Comonfort had to deal with recently conscripted troops unsuited to stand a fair chance against the French and he was defeated on 8 May 1863, at the Battle of San Lorenzo, retreating to Mexico City.

[58] On 13 November, he was heading from San Luis Potosí to Guanajuato when he was killed in a surprise attack between Chamacuero and Celaya at the Soria Mill, by a party under the command of Chief Gonzales Aguirre.