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Adelita, an idealized image of a soldadera in the Historical Museum of the Mexican Revolution

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Background

Mexican women at war

La Malinche acted as an interpreter for conquistador Hernán Cortés, often riding with him into battle wielding a shield.

Women warriors are noted in some Mesoamerican societies. People began migrating down through North, Central, and South America between c. 8000 and c. 6000 BCE. Among the peoples who migrated into the Valley of Mexico, both men and women participated in group defense. In many Mesoamerican societies, powers of inheritance, property, and group defense were inherited matrilineally, or from mother to daughter. Totonac figurines found near Veracruz show women with bare waists and large shields and headdresses. In Toltec legend, women fought alongside men in service of Cē Ācatl Topiltzin. Under the Mexicas, the role of women in war began to change, and they were encouraged not to wield weapons directly in combat. Initially, mociuaquetzque (lit. 'valiant women') still accompanied men into battle. However, over time, women were instead tasked with promoting Mexica war efforts and providing personal and sexual services to male warriors.

The term soldadera came from the Kingdom of Aragon, where it was used to refer to men and women who were given soldiers' pay to buy them food and other supplies. Spaniards brought the term to the New World during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Twelve women from the Kingdom of Castile accompanied their husbands during the conquest of the Aztec Empire, and these women cared for and in some cases fought alongside their husbands in battle. One well-known woman who participated in the conquest was La Malinche, a Mexica woman who acted as an interpreter for conquistador Hernán Cortés, often riding with him into battle wielding a shield. Other Indigenous women such as Princess Eréndira fought against the conquest using stones, slings, and bows. As New Spain expanded, women fought for the colonists and against them.

Antonia Nava de Catalán, known as La Generala (transl. 'The General'), encouraged women to join the insurgents during the Mexican War of Independence.

Women also participated extensively in the Mexican War of Independence. They acted as servants, lovers, and wives of soldiers on both sides of the conflict, as well as serving as cooks and supply carriers and gathering military intelligence. Many were encouraged to join the insurgent side by Antonia Nava de Catalán, known as La Generala (transl. 'The General'). After Mexico gained its independence, women continued to participate in similar capacities in other conflicts, such as the Texas Revolution, the Mexican–American War, the Reform War, and the Second French intervention in Mexico, supporting Mexican, Texan, American, and French soldiers. In 1876, general Porfirio Díaz led a coup d'état against President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, installing himself as president of Mexico. Díaz's regime, which lasted for over three decades, was marked by industrialization and modernization, as well as economic inequality, intensified policing, increased government surveillance, and an enlarged prison system. Under the Díaz regime, soldaderas acted as semi-official quartermasters for the Mexican army and were tasked with feeding soldiers.

Mexican Revolution

See also: Mexican Revolution § Prelude to revolution: Porfiriato and the 1910 election

Many women writers, including Dolores Jiménez y Muro, Elisa Acuña, Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza, and Sara Estela Ramírez, opposed the Díaz regime. In 1907, Gutiérrez published an interview with Francisco I. Madero in the newspaper El Partido Socialista (transl. 'The Socialist Party'). At the time, Madero was deeply involved in organizing opposition to the Díaz regime, including by publishing political newspapers such as El Demócrata (transl. 'The Democrat') and the satirical El Mosco (transl. 'The Mosquito'), funding other opposition papers, participating in anti-Díaz protests, and creating a liberal junta to oppose Díaz in 1905.

In 1910, Madero was selected as the leader of the National Antireelectionist Party, which opposed Díaz's bid for a seventh term as president and advocated for civil rights guarantees and the expansion of public schooling. Gutiérrez organized workers on Madero's behalf and wrote in support of his campaign in her newspaper Vésper (transl. 'Evening Star'). Madero was arrested by the Díaz regime on 15 July 1910, allegedly for harboring a fugitive. While imprisoned, he called for the beginning of an armed rebellion against the Díaz regime to begin on 20 November. Fighting began on the appointed day in the state of Chihuahua, marking the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.

History

Overthrow of Díaz (1910-1911)

Rebel soldiers posing alongside a group of women

As the Mexican Revolution began, both the Federal Army under Díaz and the rebel forces sought the help of soldaderas. The Federal Army had large numbers of camp followers. These camp followers were tasked with looking after the male soldiers, cooking, cleaning, nursing, foraging after battles, smuggling munitions, and providing sexual services. Often, they would arrive at campsites ahead of the men in order to set up camp and begin preparing the food so it was almost ready by the time the male soldiers arrived.

Maderistas, forces under Madero, rarely employed camp followers, as the Maderista army mostly consisted of cavalry. These horses required considerable resources, and everyone traveling with the army had to have one, so women were often left behind on campaign. However, the Maderistas did employ women soldiers. Some, such as Ángela Jiménez, dressed as men to join the soldiers. Others, such as Clara de la Rocha, who led an attack on the Culiacán mint, openly served as women.

Dolores Jiménez y Muro helped plan the attempted seizure of a military instillation in Tacubaya, later becoming a brigadier general in the Liberation Army of the South.

On 7 February 1911, the Liberation Army of the South under Emiliano Zapata rose up against Díaz. Zapata's partisans, called Zapatistas, had strong ties to local villages, relying on support from the villagers, including women. While women did not accompany the Zapatistas as camp followers, they supplied the soldiers with food and sexual services from their homes. According to anthropologist Eric Wolf, the Zapatista leadership included many women. Journalist Carleton Beals notes one instance of "an Indian woman from the hills" who fought alongside her husband using a rifle.

The Díaz government suspended individual liberties on 16 March. In response, a group including Dolores Jiménez y Muro and Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza conspired to seize control of a military installation in Tacubaya and arrest Díaz. Jiménez drafted the group's fifteen-point reform plan. The plot was discovered on 27 March, and its leaders, including Gutiérrez and Jiménez, were arrested and jailed in Belem Prison in Mexico City, a men's facility used for pre-trial detention.

Despite this setback, rebel forces took Ciudad Juárez in the First Battle of Ciudad Juárez in May. Soldadera Carmen Parra de Alanís, who fought with the Chihuahuan revolutionary army, became famous for serving in this battle. Soon after, Díaz and his vice president, Ramón Corral, resigned, and elections were called for October. They were held on schedule, with Madero securing a decisive majority. He ascended to the presidency in November.

Madero presidency and civil war (1912-1915)

Madero's presidency saw considerable internal conflict, as the Zapatistas refused to lay down their arms. In November, Zapata published the Plan of Ayala, which called for Madero's overthrow. Dolores Jiménez y Muro contributed the prologue to this document. Madero's presidency ended on 9 February 1913, when Félix Díaz, nephew of Porfirio, joined with General Bernardo Reyes to launch a coup d'état against the Madero government, marking the start of the Ten Tragic Days. The coup was supported by Victoriano Huerta, an officer in the Federal Army who had supported the earlier Díaz dictatorship. During the coup, Huerta arrested Madero and assumed the presidency himself. In response, a coalition including the Zapatistas, the Constitutional Army led by Venustiano Carranza, and the División del Norte led by Pancho Villa, rose up against him.

The Constitutionalists used trains rather than cavalry to move men and war materiel, including their horses. This shift allowed women and children to travel with the armies. The Villistas

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