Francisco Morazán
Battle of 'La Trinidad'

In 1826, the Federal Government headed by Manuel José Arce attempted to dissolve the federal congress and called a meeting to be held in Cojutepeque, on October 10, 1826, to elect an extraordinary congress. This unconstitutional move was rejected by the Honduran head of state, Dionisio de Herrera. But President Arce did not recognize Herrera's authority, claiming that Herrera's provisional mandate had expired, and that he was in power illegitimately. For this reason, the National Assembly had called for new elections in Honduras, but Herrera had ignored this decree and remained in power. For these reasons, but under the guise of protecting Copán's tobacco plantations owned by the federal government, Arce decided to oust Herrera. This mission was entrusted to colonel Justo Milla, who on April 9, 1827, commanded 200 men and seized Comayagua (the state capital) capturing Herrera and sending him to a Guatemalan prison.

While Milla was busy consolidating power in Comayagua, Morazán escaped from the federal troops. He left the besieged capital in the company of colonels Remigio Díaz and José Antonio Márquez, with the purpose of getting reinforcements in Tegucigalpa. Their plan was to return, and to liberate the state capital. Upon their return from Tegucigalpa, his men clashed with Milla's forces on the ranch 'La Maradiaga'. This confrontation, had no major consequences for either side; Milla remained in charge of Honduras, and Morazán left for Ojojona where he was captured and transferred to Tegucigalpa by order of Major Ramón Anguiano.

But Francisco Morazán managed to escape from his captors and left for La Unión, El Salvador, with the intention of emigrating to Mexico. In La Unión, he met Mariano Vidaurre, a special Salvadoran envoy to the government of Nicaragua. Vidaurre convinced him that, in that country, he could find the military support he needed to expel Milla from Honduran territory. He arrived in the city of León, Nicaragua, where he met with the commander-in-chief of the Nicaraguan armed forces, José Anacleto "Cleto" Ordóñez. For Morazán the meeting paid off; the Nicaraguan leader provided him with weapons and a contingent of 135 men. These men were joined by Colonel Zepeda's troops from El Salvador, and some columns of Honduran volunteers in Choluteca, Honduras.

When Justo Milla discovered the presence of Morazán in southern Honduras, he quickly moved his troops to Tegucigalpa, where he established his headquarters, meanwhile Morazán headed for Sabanagrande. At 9am on November 11, Morazán faced General Milla in the memorable battle of 'La Trinidad'. After five hours of intense fighting in a hill used by the Justo Milla forces, Morazan disguised a plan for attack at the flanks using the fresh and rested troops coming from El Salvador, at last moment the troop from El Salvador reached the hill and attacked the rear forces from Justo Milla, driving Milla's forces to the front shock army from Morazan. Milla's federal troops were crushed by Morazán's men. Milla and few of his officers survived and fled the scene of battle. Following this victory, Morazán marched to Comayagua where he was declared Honduras' new Chief of State.
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