Puruaran

Puruarán lies near Tacámbaro in the highlands of Michoacán, on the edge of the warmer country to the south. An estate here became the scene of a major defeat for the Mexican insurgents during their war against Spanish rule. Its fields and walls briefly formed part of a defensive position as royalist forces approached.

After the insurgent attack on Valladolid failed in December 1813, the army of José María Morelos fell back toward Puruarán. On 5 January 1814 royalist troops attacked the forces gathered at the hacienda. The insurgents were defeated and Mariano Matamoros, one of their leading commanders, was captured. He was executed at Valladolid the following month. The defeat deprived Morelos of a close lieutenant and marked a turning point in the southern campaign.