Abstract

RAMIREZ CASAS, Ulises. “While the Generals Sleep” Military Disobedience and Rebellion in Sierra Gorda During the War between Mexico and the United States, 1846-1849. Estud. hist. mod. contemp. Mex [online]. 2020, n.60, pp.19-49.  Epub Mar 14, 2022. ISSN 0185-2620.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iih.24485004e.2020.60.71401.

During the Mexican-American War, the inhabitants of Sierra Gorda strongly rejected the Mexican government’s call to enlist in the army to fight the U.S. troops in northern Mexico. Based on documents obtained in the state archives of Guanajuato, this article analyzes the reasons for natives to oppose the war and the peculiar perception they had of the Americans, not as enemies, but as potential allies because of the multiple grievances the Mexican government and the military had inflicted against them, including the annulment of local authorities and forced recruitment that led many to certain death in battle.

Keywords : war; desertion; alliances; rebellion; insurgency.