The military of New Spain played an insignificant role during the 17th century. The new Mexican society growing on the ruins left by the conquest was peaceful. A very limited number of regular troops, a couple of companies, were enough to keep the peace. The defense against external enemies was based on a limited number of fortified port cities. Spanish conflicts with the British Empire during the 18th century changed this. The Bourbon Reforms resulted in the transfer of regular Spanish Army troops from Spain to New Spain, the raising several colonial line infantry regiments, and the creation of a colonial militia which also included former slaves. The northern frontier was the exception to the peacefulness of Mexico, with constant warfare with the nomadic Native Americans.
In sharp contrast to New France's militarization, but also in contrast to the experience of the Thirteen Colonies during the French and Indian Wars, the military in New Spain played an insignificant role during the 17th century. The new Mexican society growing on the ruins left by the conquest was peaceful. The indigenous population was unarmed and the few popular uprisings could easily be defeated and posed no serious threat to Spanish power. In the interior of Mexico, there were only a couple of regular companies, which in the event of disruptions could be strengthened with levies from the merchant, haciendados, and artisan classes. The geographical limitations insulated the interior of Mexico from external enemies. The silver mines in the north were secured by the large desert areas that a hostile army could not penetrate. The deadly tropical diseases on the Caribbean coast, the lack of suitable bases on the West Coast, and the long and poor road network, made the coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico, the only areas in need of defense, against hostile powers, pirates and smugglers. [1] [2]
The defense of New Spain against external enemies was based on a limited number of fortified port cities. On the west coast, there were no serious threats and the small Fort of San Diego in Acapulco, the port of call for the Manila galleon, was enough to meet all foreseeable contingencies. In the Caribbean, there were stronger fortifications to secure maritime communications with the mother country. The dominant winds led the silver galleons through the Straits of Florida; the fortress city of Havana, and the fortifications of St. Augustine in Florida, protected the only point where New Spain could really be threatened. On the surrounding mainland there were also strong fortress cities with regular garrisons. On the Mexican mainland it was Veracruz; in Yucatan, Campeche; and in the New Granada, Cartagena de Indias. As long as these fortresses could be held or quickly relieved, and as long as the large annual convoys could be assembled, there were no serious threats against New Spain. [1] [2]
During the eighteenth century, Spanish conflicts with Britain threatened the strategic position of New Spain. The British government used its naval supremacy to its advantage during its many wars with the Dutch Republic, the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain. During the Seven Years War, Havana was captured by the British. However, New Spain never came under any significant threat of capture by any foreign nation, and thus continued under Spanish rule peacefully until the Mexican war of Independence. [2] [3]
The main goal of the Bourbon reforms in New Spain was to strengthen its defensive capabilities, although it led to significant social and political changes. Militarily, the reform aimed to strengthen the coastal fortifications, increasing the size of local garrisons by raising more colonial troops, and to rotate units between Spain and its colonies on a regular basis. The military reforms in themselves did not alter social relationships, but since the military buildup in Spain proper limited the means available for colonial defense, the reformers decided to arm the colonial population. Hence, a disciplined and organized permanent militia was created. Although mainly consisting of criollos, it was still considered new and dangerous to arm any others than peninsulares. The lack of suitable criollo recruits in some areas led the Spanish military authorities to organize militia units of pardos and morenos. The arming of people of color was an even greater breach with traditional policy than arming white Mexicans. [2] [3]
The northern frontier, the Provincias Internas, with its population of nomadic Indians, was the only warlike area in Mexico. Apaches, Navaho, Comanches, and other native peoples not subordinated to the Spanish authorities, attacked the settled population, both the Spanish speakers, living on mission stations and cattle ranches or in mining villages, and the Pueblo Indians living in their prehistoric villages. The frontier area contained a third of Mexico's territory, and only one road, the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, connected the frontier with Mexico City, 2,000 km away. The defenses of the northern frontier consisted of a series of forts or strongholds, presidios. They were garrisoned by a special type of soldiers, the soldados de cuera , whose equipment was adapted to Native American warfare. They took their name from the heavy leather armor they wore in the field as a protection against Indian arrows. Besides them, and their Indian scouts (Indios exploradores), Indian auxiliaries (Indios auxiliaries) under Spanish command fought against the nomadic Indians. . A special form of Indian auxiliaries was the Indios amigos that fought under their own captains. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Unit | Companies | Officers | Enlisted |
---|---|---|---|
Halberdiers | 1 | 2 | 23 |
Infantry | 1 | 4 | 220 |
Cavalry | 1 | 4 | 103 |
Fort San Juan de Ulúa, Veracruz | |||
Armada de Barlovento, Battalion of Marines | 6 | 18 | 600 |
Dragoons of Veracruz | 5 | ? | ? |
Infantry battalion La Corona | 6 | 23 | 552 |
Artillery | 1 | 2 | 118 |
Fort of San Diego, Acapulco | |||
Infantry | 1 | 1 | 51 |
Artillery | - | - | 13 |
Isla del Carmen | |||
Infantry | 1 | 3 | 78 |
Dragoons | 1 | 3 | 53 |
Artillery | - | - | 25 |
San Miguel de Panzacola, Pensacola, Florida | |||
Infantry | 2 | 4 | 160 |
Artillery | - | - | 20 |
Northern Frontier | |||
Texas | 5 | 12 | 253 |
Coahuila | 3 | 7 | 113 |
Nuevo México | 2 | 6 | 125 |
Nueva Vizcaya | 5 | 15 | 231 |
Sonora | 5 | 14 | 222 |
California | 2 | 2 | 58 |
Milicias Urbanas in Ciudad de México | |||
Infantry | 8 | .. | ~1850 |
Cavalry | 4 | .. | ~750 |
Source: [9] |
Place | Unit | Strength |
---|---|---|
Ciudad de México | Compañía de Alabarderos de la Guardia del Virrey | 25 |
Regimiento de Infantería fijo de México | 979 | |
Real Cuerpo de Artillería | 1,910 | |
Real Cuerpo de Ingenerios | 9 | |
Regimiento Veterano de Dragones de España [lower-alpha 1] | 461 | |
Veracruz | Regimiento de Infantería de la Corona, fijo de Nueva España | 979 |
Regimiento de Infantería fijo de Nueva España | 979 | |
Batallón de Infantería fijo de Veracruz | 1,000 | |
Puebla and Sonora | Regimiento Veterano de Dragones de México | 461 |
Sonora and California | Compañía fija de Infantería Ligera Voluntarios de Cataluña | 150 |
Acapulco | Compañía fija de Infantería de Acapulco | 77 |
Isla del Carmen | Compañía fija de Presidio de Isla del Carmen | 100 |
Compañía de Dragones de Presidio de Isla del Carmen | 43 | |
San Blas | Compañía fija de Infantería de San Blas | 105 |
Campeche | Batallón fijo de Infantería de Campeche | 550 |
Source: [9] [10] [11] |
Presidio/Unit | Strength |
---|---|
Nueva Vizcaya | |
Casas Grandes | 50 |
San Francisco de Conchos | 50 |
San Pedro del Gallo | 45 |
Nuestra Señora del Pasaje de Cuencame | 45 |
Cerro Gordo | 23 |
Field companies of Parral and Durango | 45 |
Nuevo México | |
El Paso | 50 |
Santa Fe | 100 |
Sonora | |
Flying company | 50 |
Nuveo León | |
Cerralvo | 10 |
Caldereta | 10 |
Coahuila | |
San Francisco | 25 |
Other provinces | |
Sinaloa | 41 |
Tamos | 4 |
Santa Catalina de Tape Huames | 9 |
Source: [12] | |
Presidio/Unit | Strength |
---|---|
Nuevo México | 100 |
Sinaloa | 43 |
Coahuila | 25 |
Paso del Rio del Norte | 49 |
Cerralvo, Calderita y León | 20 |
Cuencalné | 40 |
San Antonio Casas Grandes | 50 |
Sonora | 50 |
Conchos | 50 |
Gallo | 43 |
Pasaje | 45 |
Cerro Gordo | 23 |
Santa Catarina de Tepehuenes | 9 |
Durango | 15 |
Field company | 30 |
Source: [13] | |
Presidios and their strength in the several provinces:
Bejar, 23
Junta de los Ríos, 50 Janos, 51 Guajoquilla, 51
Rio Grande. 33 San Francisco de Coahuila. 36 Santa Rosa del Sacramento. 52
San Agustín Ahumada, 27
Corodeguachi, 51 Guebavi, 51 Horcasitas, 51 Tubac, 51 Caborca (Altar), 51 Buenavista, 51
Loreto, 30 San José del Cabo, 30
Source: [14]
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding fathers of Spanish California and served as an official within New Spain as Governor of the province of New Mexico.
Alta California, also known as Nueva California among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of Las Californias, but was made a separate province in 1804. Following the Mexican War of Independence, it became a territory of Mexico in April 1822 and was renamed Alta California in 1824.
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain, originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several domains established during the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and had its capital in Mexico City. Its jurisdiction comprised a large area of the southern and western portions of North America, mainly what became Mexico and the Southwestern United States, but also California, Florida and Louisiana; Central America, the Caribbean, and northern parts of South America; several Pacific archipelagos, including the Philippines and Guam. Additional Asian colonies included "Spanish Formosa", on the island of Taiwan.
The Pimería Alta was an area of the 18th century Sonora y Sinaloa Province in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, that encompassed parts of what are today southern Arizona in the United States and northern Sonora in Mexico.
Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' imperial era between 15th and 19th centuries. To the end of its imperial rule, Spain called its overseas possessions in the Americas and the Philippines "The Indies", an enduring remnant of Columbus's notion that he had reached Asia by sailing west. When these territories reach a high level of importance, the crown established the Council of the Indies in 1524, following the conquest of the Aztec Empire, asserting permanent royal control over its possessions. Regions with dense indigenous populations and sources of mineral wealth attracting Spanish settlers became colonial centers, while those without such resources were peripheral to crown interest. Once regions incorporated into the empire and their importance assessed, overseas possessions came under stronger or weaker crown control.
A presidio was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word praesidium meaning protection or defense.
Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas was a Spanish general, governor of Havana, captain general of Cuba, and viceroy of New Spain.
Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa was a Spanish military officer, governor of Cuba, and Viceroy of New Spain from 1771 until his death in 1779. His military service included campaigns in Italy and Portugal. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general while serving as inspector of coastal fortifications in Granada. In 1766, Bucareli entered the Spanish colonial administration as governor and captain general of Cuba. His record there earned him appointment as viceroy of New Spain in 1771.
Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas, also known as Calabasas, is a Spanish Mission in the Sonoran Desert, located near present-day Tumacacori, Arizona, United States.
The Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia was a military company of the Spanish Army serving in the Spanish colonial empire.
The Pima Revolt, also known as the O'odham Uprising or the Pima Outbreak, was a revolt of Pima native Americans in 1751 against colonial forces in Spanish Arizona and one of the major northern frontier conflicts in early New Spain.
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The Provincias Internas, also known as the Comandancia y Capitanía General de las Provincias Internas, was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire created in 1776 to provide more autonomy for the frontier provinces of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, present-day northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. The goal of its creation was to establish a unified government in political, military and fiscal affairs. Nevertheless, the Commandancy General experienced significant changes in its administration because of experimentation to find the best government for the frontier region as well as bureaucratic in-fighting. Its creation was part of the Bourbon Reforms and was part of an effort to invigorate economic and population growth in the region to stave off encroachment on the region by foreign powers. During its existence, the Commandancy General encompassed the provinces of New Navarre, New Biscay, The Californias, New Mexico, New Santander, New Kingdom of Leon, Coahuila and Texas.
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The soldados de cuera served in the frontier garrisons of northern New Spain, the Presidios, from the late 16th to the early 19th century. They were mounted and were an exclusive corps in the Spanish Empire. They took their name from the multi-layered deer-skin cloak they wore as protection against Indian arrows. When New Spain's visitador José de Gálvez organized the Portola Expedition, he was accompanied by a party of 25 soldiers, the "finest horsemen in the world, and among these soldiers who best earn their bread from the august monarch whom they serve".