BRAVO, NICOLS

born c. 1786, , Chilpancingo, Mex. died 1854, Chilpancingo soldier and statesman, one of the founders of republican Mexico, serving as its president or acting president at various times. Bravo and his family joined the peasant leader Jos Mara Morelos y Pavn and his band in 1811 and thus became one of the first of the wealthy Creole families (i.e., of Spanish origin) to support the war against Spain. In this way they helped to turn what had been considered a peasant rebellion into a full-scale revolution. Bravo commanded the Mexican forces during the War of Independence against Spain (181021). He then joined the first independent government of Mexico, that of Agustn de Iturbide (182123), as a member of the executive group that founded the Republic of the United Mexican States (1823). Bravo served as a vice president of the Republic (182427) and as president for a time during the 1830s. During Mexico's war with the United States (184648), he also was at times acting president, as well as commander of the departments of Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Tabasco. He was in command of the fortress of Chapultepec outside Mexico City when it was captured by U.S. forces in 1847.