He inspired (16 September 1810) the Mexican War for Independence from Spain with his Grito de Dolores (“Cry of Dolores”), proclaimed from the pulpit of his parish church at Dolores. Within a few months he had amassed an army of almost 80,000, but lacking the military skill necessary to complement his well-developed social ideology, the movement was defeated after much bloodshed at the hands of the royalist army. Captured in 1811, he was tried by the Inquisition and referred to the secular authorities for execution.