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Petra Herrera

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Petra Herrera, also known as "Pedro Herrera" (June 29, 1887 – February 14, 1916) was a Mexican "soldadera" (a soldier in the insurgent troups of the Mexican Revolution).

Biography

Women of the Mexican Revolution ("adelitas" or "soldaderas") with crossed bandoliers.

Petra Herrera, dressed as a man and with the pseudonym Pedro Herrera, actively participated in many battles of the Mexican Revolution in order to join the league commanded by General Francisco Villa. She had an excellent reputation and demonstrated exemplary leadership. She was capable, after a time, to reveal that she was a woman, but they refused to give her military rank and removed her from the army. [1]

Female participation in the Revolution was common, but in activities such as food and accompaniment. Herrera's involvement was exemplary.[2] She was able to keep her status as a woman a secret due to ingenious strategies, for example, during the early morning she pretended to shave her beard, assuring that she was barely growing. Although she had some significant victories, Pancho Villa refused to give military credit to a woman and did not promote Petra Herrea as General. As a result of being removed from Villa's forces, Herrera formed her own brigade exclusively for women. She fought in the second battle of Torreón on May 30, 1914 with 400 other women.[1]

Her strategy of attack included exploding bridges. She had a great capacity for leadership. This manifested once her feminine identity was revealed and she formed a group of soldaderas which fought some battles next to the troops of General Villa. One of her most important triumphs was the previously-mentioned second battle of Torreón, Coahuila, on May 30, 1914.[3] Cosme Mendoza Chavira, another follower of Villa, said "Ella fue quien tomo Torreón y apago las luces cuando entraron en la ciudad" (She was the one who took Torreón and turned out the lights when they entered the city.")[4] Conventional history does not say anything about the participation of Petra Herrera. Villa gave the role of Petra Herrera in the revolution to an unknown woman. [5]

Some time later, her female army was dissolved by superior orders and Petra Herrera ended up working as a spy, under the disguise of a girl in a canteen in the state of Chihuahua.[4] Some sources say she worked in Jiménez, Chihuahua,[4] While others say her work was in Ciudad Juárez.[3] Both versions agree, however, that one night, a group of bandits in a drunken state, insulted and shot Petra Herrera, who although survived the attack, died as a result of the wounds that were infected.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b "La soldadera, Petra Herrera (Siglo XX)". Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  2. ^ www.stmuhistorymedia.org https://www.stmuhistorymedia.org/the-unrecognized-soldier-of-the-mexican-revolution-petra-herrera-and-the-adelitas/. Retrieved 2019-03-07. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ a b c Poniatowska, Elena. (1999) Las soldaderas. D.F., México: Conaculta / Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. pp. xvii
  4. ^ a b c d Salas, Elizabeth (1990). Soldaderas in the Mexican Military. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. pp. xii. ISBN 0292776306.
  5. ^ "La valiente Petra Herrera". Imagen de Zacatecas, el periódico de los zacatecanos.

External sources


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