Leonardo Marquez

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Leonardo Marquez (1820 - 1913) was a Mexican general. He served against the United States in the Mexican War of 1846-1848, and was a prominent supporter of Santa Anna in the revolutionary movement of 1849. After the fall of that dictator, Marquez espoused the cause of Miramón and Zuloaga against Juárez.

In 1862, he took up the cause of the French, and rendered important service to the establishment of the power of Maximilian, by whom he was placed at the head of the regular army, and was, in 1864, given the mission to Constantinople. He returned in 1866, and a year later, when the French withdrew, he undertook to organize a native army to support the Empire.

In October 1866, Maximilian made him a division commander, and in March 1867, sent him to Mexico City to form a cabinet and raise troops for the relief of Querétaro. He joined Maximilian ar Quetétaro, but broke through the beseigers and made his way to Mexico City for the purpose of organizing a force to relieve the Emperor. Finding this impossible, he conceived the plan of setting up an independent government of his own in the Southern States, with Puebla as the capital. He was defeated before he could reach that city and returned to Mexico, where he was besieged by General Díaz.

The city was captured on 21 June 1867 and Marquez, after remaining in concealment for several months, made his way to Vera Cruz, and then to Havana. He was expressly excluded from the amnesty of 1870. He was fanatical and cold-blooded in his disregard of human life, receiving the nickname "The Tiger of Tacubaya" for the wholesale executions which followed one of his guerilla victories in 1859, though he alleged the express order of Miramón as an explanation.