266 UNIT 2 COLONIAL MESOAMERICA
Figure 7.5 Mural
painting of Miguel
Hidalgo and his band of
followers. Mural by Juan
O’Gorman. Courtesy of
the Organization of
American States,
Columbus Memorial
Library.After the capture of Guadalajara, events began to turn against Hidalgo. Most
creoles had come to see the movement as a “caste war,” a life-and-death struggle be-
tween Indians and poor mestizos on one side and Whites on the other. The creoles
rallied to the side of the Spaniards, among them men who had originally joined Hi-
dalgo’s movement. The Spanish forces under the ruthless General Félix Calleja re-
took Guanajuato, where they proceeded to slaughter anyone suspected of being