Martín Carrera

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Martín Carrera

In office August 15, 1855 – September 12, 1855
Preceded by	Antonio López de Santa Anna
Succeeded by	Rómulo Díaz de la Vega

Born	December 20, 1806 Puebla, Puebla
Died	April 22, 1871 Mexico City
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	María de los Angeles Lardizábal

Martín Carrera Sabat (December 20, 1806, Puebla, Puebla—April 22, 1871, Mexico City) was a Mexican general and interim president of the country for about a month in 1855. He was a moderate Liberal.

Carrera entered the military at the age of 9, as a cadet in the Expeditionary Regiment of Ferdinand VII. By 1818 he was an instructor. He joined the insurgent Army of the Three Guarantees after the Battle of Huerta) (August 30, 1821). He was with the army when it triumphally entered Mexico City on September 27, 1821.

A lieutenant by the age of 16, he commanded a battery of artillery during the siege of the Spanish in San Juan de Ulúa in 1822. Later he was director of the arsenal and commander of artillery at San Luis Potosí. He defended the government of President Guadalupe Victoria at the time of the "Motín de la Acordada", an insurrection led by General José María Lobato and Lorenzo de Zavala in favor of Vicente Guerrero (November 30, 1828). In 1831 he was named commander of La Ciudadela in Mexico City.

Carrera was promoted to brigadier general in 1840, and to general of division in 1853. He was commander of the artillery of the Mexican Army for much of his career. He was a member of the National Legislative Junta charged with writing the Bases Orgánicas (constitution) in 1843 and senator of the Republic from 1844 to 1846.

Carrera was commander of artillery in the Valley of Mexico at the time of the United States invasion. He fought in the battles of Padierna (August 20, 1847), Molino del Rey (September 11), and Casa Mata (September 11). After the war he was military governor of the Federal District (1853-55).

When Antonio López de Santa Anna resigned the presidency because of the Plan de Ayutla, a junta of reprsentatives named Carrera interim president to replace him. He served from August 15 to September 12, 1855. On August 20, 1855, in agreement with the Plan de Ayutla, he called elections for a constituent congress. Under pressure from supporters and opponents of the Plan de Ayutla, he resigned in September, turning the office over to Rómulo Díaz de la Vega. He then retired to private life in Mexico City.

Carrera did not take part in the War of the Refrom. At the time of the French invasion, he offered his services to President Benito Juárez, but serve in Juárez's government or military. He wrote Uso y prácticas de maniobra de artillería ligera de montaña (San Luis Potosí, 1831) and Notas de campaña (1843). He died in Mexico City in 1871, at the age of 65.

[edit] References

(Spanish) "Carrera Sabat, Martín," Enciclopedia de México, v. 3. Mexico City, 1996, ISBN 1-56409-016-7.
(Spanish) García Puron, Manuel, México y sus gobernantes, v. 2. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984.
(Spanish) Orozco Linares, Fernando, Gobernantes de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, ISBN 968-38-0260-5.