Wells of Baján () are water wells located between Saltillo and Monclova in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. The small community near the wells is called Acatita de Baján. In the first phase of the Mexican War of Independence, revolutionary leaders Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, José Mariano Jiménez, and Juan Aldama, plus nearly 900 men in the rebel army were captured here on March 21, 1811, by 150 soldiers commanded by Ignacio Elizondo. Elizondo pretended to be a supporter of the struggle to overthrow Spanish rule, lured the rebels into a trap, and captured them with little resistance. The four leaders and many of their followers were tried and executed.
Background
In 1810 Mexico was ruled by Spain and called New Spain. On September 16, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Roman Catholic priest, triggered the Mexican War of Independence with his speech, called in Mexico the "grito." Among Padre Hidalgo's followers were Ignacio Allende and Juan Aldama, both captains in the Spanish army. A citizen's army, numerous but poorly equipped and trained, quickly formed around these leaders. On September 22, 1810, Hidalgo, who had no military experience, was named by his followers as captain general of the revolutionary army. Allende was second in command with the rank of lieutenant general. The rebel army under Hidalgo enjoyed early successes but was decisively defeated by the royalist army supporting Spanish rule on January 17, 1811, in the Battle of Calderón Bridge near Guadalajara. Along with the remnants of the rebel army, Allende, Aldama and Hidalgo, and others fled northward with the goal of getting to the United States and hoping that they would receive military and financial support from the U.S. The military leaders blamed Hidalgo for the loss at Calderon Bridge, forced him to resign his command, and threatened to execute him if he resisted. Thereafter, Hidalgo was effectively a prisoner of Allende and the rebel army.
Meanwhile, another rebel general, José Mariano Jiménéz, was leading a separate army of 7,000 men from San Luis Potosi toward Saltillo. A royalist force of 700 men chose to defect to Jiménez rather than fight and on January 8, 1811, he entered the city of Saltillo. Jiménez sent out parts of his army to take control of several northern cities, including Parras, Monterrey, and Monclova. To command in Monclova, Jiménez dispatched Pedro de Aranda, 73 years old and a heavy drinker of alcohol. In Monclova, Aranda chose a retired militia officer, Ignacio Elizondo, to take charge of royalist prisoners. Elizondo was converted to the royalist cause by his prisoners, He was asked to continue to pretend he supported the rebels to gain intelligence about the plans of Allende and Hidalgo. The royalist sympathizers in Monclova included a group of large landowners of the region led by José Melchor Sanchez Navarro.
The remnants of the retreating rebel army under Allende and Aldama joined Jiménez in Saltillo on February 24. Hidalgo arrived with a rear guard on March 4 or 5. As royalist armies were advancing on Saltillo, the rebels made plans to continue their flight toward the United States. The principal route to the U.S. was through Monclova and the best source of water en route to Monclova was the Wells of Baján.
The royalist sympathizers in Monclova sent two prominent citizens as spies to Saltillo to ascertain the plans of the rebels. The spies won the confidence of Allende and the other leaders and volunteered to guide the rebels to Texas. They told Allende that Elizondo would meet them the Wells of Baján and escort them to Monclova. In Monclova, the royalists seized key points in the city, capturing the inebriated Aranda, the rebel commander in the city, and blocking all roads out of Monclova to prevent the news that they had taken control from reaching Allende and Hidalgo. Elizondo, his adherence to the royalists unsuspected by the rebels, was sent with 150 men to the Wells of Bajan to capture the rebel leaders.
Capture
On March 17, 1811, Generals Allende, Jiménez, and Aldama, Padre Hidalgo, and more than 1,000 soldiers of the rebel army departed Saltillo to march north to Monclova. The caravan was strung out on the road over a distance of . An advance guard led the convoy, followed by more than 20 horse-drawn carriages transporting the rebel leaders. Following the carriages was a mule train with loads of supplies and silver bullion. Next came caissons of artillery, cumbersome ox-drawn carts carrying munitions, and, finally, the bulk of the soldiers and a rearguard. On the evening of March 20, the rebels camped from the Wells of Baján.