On this date in 1864, the French executed the governor of Aguascalientes.
Elected to the post during early months of the unfolding French intervention in Mexico, Jose Maria Chavez Alonso (English Wikipedia entry | Spanish) was deposed by the invaders in December 1863 — to be succeeded by a different Chavez who met an equally violent fate.
Alonso formed a popular militia and continued a short-lived resistance against the French but was captured early in 1864, and although this was still some months before the dirty war’s notorious “Black Decree” the French determined to make an example of him.
Alonso aside, the Mexican adventure proved a right catastrophe for France and its adherents.
On this day..
- 1923: Bernard Pomroy
- 1919: The Pinsk Massacre
- 1525: Jakob Wehe, rebel priest
- 1356: Four friends of Charles the Bad
- 1766: William Whittle
- Themed Set: Lancaster's Golgotha
- 1901: Filipino insurgents on Luzon
- 2005: Glen James Ocha, poorly endowed
- 1916: Joseph Hani, abandoned
- 1918: Robert Prager lynched during war hysteria
- 1984: Elmo Patrick Sonnier, Dead Man Walking
- 1722: Arundel Cooke and John Woodburne, despite a novel defense
- 1794: Georges Danton and his followers
Chavez, or Chavez Alonso. Where a Spanish speaker has more than one surname, the first is the one used by default. Exceptions, such as Pablo Ruiz Picasso, are by personal choice. The opposite applies with Portuguese speakers.