Morelos and Guerrero
Revolutionary paper currency in Morelos and Guerrero
Morelos
As for other areas supposedly under Conventionist control the people of Morelos preferred
Zapata’s coinage to the dubious Chihuahua notes and refused to accept the latter, whilst
hoarding the former. As early as 2 February 1915 González Garza found it necessary to decree
that Chihuahua paper currency was to be accepted in Morelos by force, if necessary, through
only the notes revalidated by his government in Mexico City would be valid. In the next five days
González Garza received numerous queries from the Zapatista commanders of various towns
about the forced circulation of the Conventionist currency - a niece of Zapata was among those
reported to have refused to accept the paper money{footnote}AGN, Archives RGG. González
Garza to Presidente Municipal, Jojutla, 17 February 1915{/footnote}.
On 12 February the Comandante Militar in Cuernavaca listed as of compulsory acceptance the
issues of the states of Durango, Chihuahua and Sonora, the Monclova, the so-called Villista, the
Gobierno Provisional, the Gobierno Constitucionalista and Carbajal "Bonos".
Guerrero
In the first week of February 1915, Zapata left Mexico City to bolster the revolutionary
movement in Guerrero. A Banco Revolucionario in that state had issued more than a million
pesos in paper currency, of such poor quality that they were popularly known as tordillos
(dapple-greys). Zapata had wrung an agreement from González Garza to provide him with eight
hundred thousand pesos from the Convention’s fast dwindling store to take the Guerrero notes
out of circulation. On 9 February Zapata wrote to González Garza from Iguala complaining that,
though a commission had arrived from Cuernavaca with the money, more than five hundred
thousand pesos were unstamped. The people of Guerrero, said Zapata, would no more accept
these
s
ábanas blancas
than their own
tordillos
. He asked that González Garza send an equal quantity of good currency immediately to
replace the unstamped notes and, in addition, to make available the machine with which to
revalidate the
sábanas blancas
already in circulation{footnote}AGN, Archives RGG. Zapata to González Garza, 9 February
1915{/footnote}. González Garza replied the next day the money had been sent though he
insisted that all the
sábanas
were valid, even though some might be
inconvenientes
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Morelos and Guerrero
{footnote}AGN, Archives RGG. González Garza to Zapata, 10 February 1915{/footnote}.
Sábanas-style notes of the Ejército Libertador
The title Ejército Libertador was used by the Zapatistas in Morelos and Guerrero and these
states will have been the source of three notes with designs based on the $10 sábanas. These
$1,
$2
and
$10
values with a blue underprint have several distinctive features: they have continuous border
frames; there are no commas following ‘Tesorero General del Estado’ and ‘Interventor’; there
are no abbreviations (‘Num.’ or ‘No.’) before the serial numbers; there is no dot before Vargas’
signature, and no printer’s imprint at the bottom, which suggest that they were issued
somewhere other than Chihuahua.
The notes have three violet overprints on their backs all applied in one pass, a central circular
Tesorería General seal, which differs from the original Chihuahua seal in size, font and details,
and two Ejército Libertador resellos. The $2 note is also known with an additional ‘Brigada
Malpica’
resello.
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Morelos and Guerrero
Ejército Libertador: a 49.5mm violet oval with ‘REPUBLICA MEXICANA - EJERCITO
LIBERTADOR - COMANDANCIA’
Brigada Pacheco: a 49.5mm violet oval with 'REPUBLICA MEXICANA - EJERCITO
LIBERTADOR - BRIGADA PACHECO-DETALL'
The Brigada Pacheco was commanded by General Francisco V. Pacheco of Huitzilac, Morelos.
When the Convention named Villa as Commander in Chief of the Conventionalist Army he was
nominally commander of Zapata’s Ejército Libertador though he went to great lengths when he
met Zapata to assure him that he would continue to command. Their subordinates, however,
immediately began to manoeuvre for individual power, destroying the co-operation between the
two armies within only a few months. In May 1915 Roque González Garza appointed Pacheco
Minister of War, indicating his trust in Pacheco and by extension the trust of Villa.
By late 1915 Pacheco was feeling Zapata’s lack of confidence in him and insisted that he was
still a loyal member of the Ejército Libertador, thus making Zapata even more suspicious. On 13
March 1916 Pacheco withdrew his forces from Huitzilac and Cuernavaca leaving the area open
to occupation by Carranza’s forces. Zapata was appalled and went, personally, to see what
Pacheco was doing. On 27 March Pacheco presented Zapata with a written description of his
plan: he would take a strong column to the north, encircle Carranza’s army and attack it from
the rear. Zapata presumed that Pacheco was either crazy or intended to defect, either to Villa or
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Morelos and Guerrero
to Carranza, and had him taken prisoner and shot.
Brigada Malpica: the blue text ‘BRIGADA MALPICA’ within an ornate design
In February 1914 the Tampico, one of the three gunboats that comprised the Guaymas
squadron, under the urging of Primer Teniente Hilario Rodríguez Malpica defected to the
revolution in Topolobampo. Malpica was put in command. The
T
ampico
was blockaded in Topolobampo by the federals’
Guerrero
and
Morelos
and during one encounter almost destroyed. After repairs it put to sea at the beginning of June
to attack Mazatlán buts its boilers failed. In the morning of 16 June the
Guerrero
sighted it adrift and sunk it. Malpica took his own life and went down with the ship.
There might have been a brigade named in Malpica’s honour or in honour of his father of the
same name who was Madero’s Jefe de Estado Mayor and with him when he was arrested.
So these notes were probably produced in Cuernavaca, Morelos at the request of Pacheco and
with González Garza’s (and by implication Villa’s) knowledge and approval, for use by
Pacheco’s troops. On 10 October 1915 the Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Publico authorised
an issue of vales of one and five pesos and on 10 January 1916 the Consejo Ejecutivo in
Cuernavaca ratified this decree and authorised the ministry to issue $2 and $10
notes{footnote}AGN, Colección Cuartel General del Sur, vol. 1, exp. 2.25. An undated note
records that the Ministero de Hacienda was unwilling to send the
clichés for
the $2 and $10 notes (AGN, Fondo Emiliano Zapata, caja 20, exp. 9){/footnote}. These
pronouncements might be connected with this issue.
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Morelos and Guerrero
All three values are very rare, as they were produced for a short time and became worthless
once Carranza’s forces took over.
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