Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-5lx2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T10:20:41.341Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bourbon Finances and Military Policy in New Spain, 1759-1812

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Christon I. Archer
Christon I. Archer*
Affiliation:
The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In an age of fiscal and administrative reform, the army of New Spain stood out as an irredeemable drain on the treasury as well as a nightmare for bureaucrats and military planners. No knowledgeable observer could possibly advocate a continuation of the haphazard defenses of previous decades, but there were very few other points of agreement. From the perspective of the mother country, Mexicans had to recognize the need to defend themselves. The British conquests of Canada, the Floridas, and the temporary occupation of Havana, underscored the dangers and the possibilities of Mexicans losing their possessions and liberties. Naturally, the full burden of military finance and service would fall upon the residents of the viceroyalty, not to mention the growing costs of the annual subsidies (situados) sent to help pay for the defense of less advantaged possessions in the Caribbean, Central America, and the Philippines. The problem was how to prevent the army of New Spain from becoming a voracious consumer of money without offering much in the way of a standing defense force. In 1762 for example, Viceroy Marqués de Cruillas spent 3,398,471 pesos extraordinary funds without managing to get the fortifications at Vercruz into a state of readiness or a proper force to defend them. Most viceroys, inspectors general, and senior staff officers confronted with the task of having to inspect Mexican units catalogued a long list of failures. They described a history of constnatly changing military policies that achieved little other than to waste hundreds of thousands of pesos each decade while entrenching numerous chronic defects.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , January 1981 , pp. 315 - 350
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Real instrucción de 1 Agosto de 1764 para gobierno y comandancia general de las armas…, Archivo General de la Nación (hereinafter cited as AGN), Indiferente de Guerra (IG), vol. 224–A.

2 Gastos de guerra en 1762, AGN, Historia, vol. 44.

3 For good examples of these attitudes, see Alonso Basco y Vargas to Viceroy Marqués de Cruillas, November 13, 1762, AGN, IG, vol. 532–A; Antonio de Llano y Villaurrutía to Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, February 1, 1775, AGN, IG, vol. 202–B; Bucareli to Julián de Arriaga, December 27, 1774, in La administración de D. Frey Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa II (Mexico, 1936), 147–148; and Pedro de Gorostiza to Viceroy Conde de Revillagigedo, May 29,1794, AGN, IG, vol. 407–A.

4 Many of the officers assigned to colonial service were sergeants and distinguished soldiers in the Spanish army. In the short term, their acceptance of a post in the Mexican army was a definite advancement. See Relación de tenientes veteranos que de Real Orden vinieron de Europa y se han destinado a este Regimiento Provincial de México, 1778, AGN, IG, vol. 361–A; and Dictamen del Marqués de la Torre, October 24, 1768, AGN, IG, vol. 36–B.

5 Arriaga to Viceroy Marqués de Croix, June 24, 1767, and July 18,1769, AGN, IG, vol. 244–A.

6 Reflexiones sobre el Reyno de N.E. y algunos otros puntos deducidos del dictamen dado por el fiscal de Real Hacienda el Señor Areche en 1774 … , Museo Naval, Madrid, vol. 568; and Pedro Mendinueta to Viceroy José Antonio Flórez, November 23, 1787, AGN, Archivo Provisional de Temporalidades, Caja 4.

7 Proyecto de Gorostiza sobre tropa para el Reino de Nueva España, Madrid, August 19,1776, Archivo General de Indias (hereinafter cited as AGI), Indiferente General, leg. 1565.

8 Ibid.

9 Priestley, Herbert I., José de Gálvez, Visitador General of New Spain, 1765–1771 (Berkeley, 1916), 222.Google Scholar

l0 Pascual de Cisneros to Viceroy Martín de Mayorga, May 11, 1780, and Cisneros to Mayorga, August 31, 1780, AGN, IG, vol. 104–B.

11 Pedro Ruiz Dávalos to Mayorga, August 23, 1780, AGN, IG, vol. 104-B. For additional material on Septién’s activities see Brading, D.A., Miners and Merchants in Bourbon Mexico, 1763–1810 (Cambridge, 1971), 313.Google Scholar

12 Report of Fiscal Martín Merino, September 8, 1780, AGN, IG, vol. 104–B.

13 Cisneros to Mayorga, September 18, 1780, AGN, IG, vol. 104–B.

14 Ibid.

15 Proyecto formado en el año de 1784 sobre el mejor arreglo y establecimiento del ejército de Nueva España, AGI, México, leg. 2418.

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid., see primera proposición, parte 2.

l8 Archer, Christon I., The Army in Bourbon Mexico, 1760–1810 (Albuquerque, 1977), 24.Google Scholar

19 Pedro Mendinueta to Flórez, November 23, 1787, AGI, México, leg. 1514; and Nuevas ideas para formar cuerpos provinciales en el reino … , by Ayudante Mayor Manuel Antonio de Mora, 1784, AGN, IG, vol. 14.

20 Brading, D.A., Miners and Merchants, 64 Google Scholar; and Burkholder, Mark and Chandler, D.S., From Impotence to Authority: The Spanish Crown and the American Audiencias, 1687–1808, (Columbia, Mo., 1977), 115.Google Scholar

21 Flórez to Mendinueta, December 6, 1787, AGN, Archivo Provisional de Temporalidades, Caja 4; Flórez to Valdés, January 24, 1788, AGI, México, leg. 1514; and Flórez to Valdés, July 26, 1788, AGI, México, leg. 1515.

22 Archer, Christon I., The Army in Bourbon Mexico, 94–95.Google Scholar

23 Viceroy Marqués de Branciforte to the Duque de Alcudía, no. 37, October 5, 1794, AGI, Estado, leg. 22.

24 Brading, D.A., Miners and Merchants, 81.Google Scholar

25 Revillagigedo to Valdés, no. 296, February 6, 1790, Archivo General de Simancas, Sección de Guerra Moderna (hereinafter cited as AGS, G M), leg. 6959. The viceroy was correct in his assessment of income — from 6,996,529 pesos in 1769 to 14,008,267 pesos in 1799. See TePaske, John, La Real Hacienda de Nueva España: La Real Caja de México, 1576–1816 (México, 1976).Google Scholar

26 Revillagigedo to Valdés, Madrid, April 13, 1789, AGS, GM, leg. 7011.

27 Revillagigedo to Valdés, no. 296, February 6, 1790, AGS, GM, leg. 6959.

28 Expediente a propuesta del Señor Sub-Inspector General D. Pedro Gorostiza sobre extinción y reforma de los dos Batallones de Pardos de México y Puebla, 1792, AGN, IG, vol. 197–B; Los Pardos de Puebla sobre que se les haga saber la Real Orden que mando su reforma, 1792, AGN, IG, vol. 100–A; and Gorostiza to Reviliagigedo, June 30, 1792, AGN, Correspondencia de los Virreyes (CV), series I, vol. 167.

29 Revillagigedo to the Conde de Aranda, no. 117, October 31,1792, Archivo Histórico Nacional, Estado, leg. 4288; and Revillagigedo to the Conde de Alange, no. 302, August 2, 1791, AGS GM leg. 6963.

30 Revillagigedo to Valdés, no. 296, February 6, 1790, AGS, GM, leg. 6959.

3l Branciforte to the Prince of the Peace, no. 108, December 28, 1796, AGI, Estado, leg. 25.

32 Cabildo of Mexico to Revillagigedo, May, 1793, AGI, México, leg. 1437. For organizational information on the cabildo of Mexico see Anna, Timothy E., The Fall of the Royal Government in Mexico City (Lincoln, 1978), 27–28.Google Scholar

33 Petición de capitanes, 1793, AGS, GM, leg. 6969.

34 Revillagigedo to Alange, May 27, 1793, AGI, México, leg. 1437.

35 Cabildo of Mexico to Revillagigedo, May 6,1793, AGS, GM, leg. 6970. Most members of the cabildo did offer 100 peso subscriptions, but they had little choice other than to comply with the viceroy’s proposals.

36 Royal Order, March 21, 1796, AGS, GM, leg. 6970.

37 Branciforte to Alange, January 31, 1795, AGS, GM, leg. 6970.

38 Branciforte to Alcudía, October 6, 1794, AGI, Estado, leg. 22.

39 Félix Calleja to Viceroy José de Iturrigaray, September 6, 1805, AGN, IG, vol. 315–A.

40 McAlister, Lyle N., The “Fuero Militar” in New Spain, 1764–1800 (Gainesville, 1957), 76–89 Google Scholar; Archer, Christon I., The Army in Bourbon Mexico, 181 Google Scholar; Campbell, Leon G., The Military and Society in Colonial Peru (Philadelphia, 1978), 189–209 Google Scholar; and Kuethe, Allan J., Military Reform and Society in New Granada, 1773–1808 (Gainesville, 1978), 4–6.Google Scholar

41 Revillagigedo to the consulado of Mexico, June 3, 1794, AGN, IG, vol. 13–B; and Branciforte to the Prince of the Peace, July 30, 1797, AGI, Estado, leg. 26.

42 Pedro Várela to Branciforte, March 20, 1797, AGN, IG, vol. 336-A; Branciforte to Alvarez, July 30,1797, AGN, C V, series 2, vol. 34; Alvarez to Melchor de Jovellanos, January 31,1798, AGN, IG, vol. 336–A; and Francisco de Saavedra to Branciforte, May 16, 1798, AGN, IG, vol. 336–A. For interesting insights into the state of the imperial regime, see Barbier, J.A., “The Culmination of the Bourbon Reforms, 1787–1792,” HAHR, 57:1 (February, 1977), 66–67.Google Scholar

43 Branciforte to Gorostiza, September 9, 1794, AGS, GM, leg. 6970.

44 Branciforte to Alange, no. 81, October 5, 1794, AGI, México, leg. 1438.

45 Brading, D.A., Miners and Merchants, 238.Google Scholar

46 Branciforte to Alange, December 28, 1796, AGI, Estado, leg. 26; and Instrucción reservada de Branciforte, 1798, AGN, CV, series 2, vol. 36.

47 Calleja to Iturrigaray, September 6, 1805, AGN, IG, vol. 315–A.

48 Branciforte to the Prince of the Peace, Orizaba, January 30, 1798, AGI, Estado, leg. 27.

49 Branciforte to Alange, no. 205, February 28,1795, AGS, GM, leg. 6971 ; and Duque de Alcudía to Alange, Palacio, July 6, 1795, AGS, GM, leg. 6971. The minister of war suspended the order until the completion of militia formation.

50 Many historians have referred to Branciforte's dishonesty in forming the army, but no sources are given. See Alamán, Lucas, Disertaciones sobre la historia de la república mexicana III (México, 1849), 83 Google Scholar; de Bustamante, Carlos María, Suplemento a la historia de los tres siglos de Mexico, durante el gobierno español, escrita por el Padre Andrés Cavo III (México, 1836), 169 Google Scholar; Brading, D.A., Miners and Merchants, 238 Google Scholar. McAlister, L.N. in Fuero Militar, 68–69 Google Scholar, notes that he could find no suggestions of corruption by Branciforte.

51 Viceregal Order, November 25 1794, AGN, IG, vol. 211–B.

52 Branciforte to the Comisionados para el establecimiento de milicias, December 27,1794, AGN, IG, vol. 270–A.

53 Pedro de Laguna to Branciforte, February 9, 1796, AGN, IG, vol. 175–A; and Colonel Juan Velázquez to Branciforte, n.d., January 1795, AGN, IG, vol. 211–B.

54 Branciforte did suspend the right of the cabildo of Patzquaro to propose officer candidates. See Viceregal Order, December 31, 1794, AGN, IG, vol. 211–B.

55 Branciforte to Alange, no. 160, January 15, 1795, AGI México, leg. 1438.

56 Cabildo of San Miguel el Grande to Branciforte, April 4, 1795, AGN, Historia, vol. 489.

57 Branciforte to Alcudía, no. 47, October 31, 1795, AGI, México, leg. 27.

58 Cuenta de ofertas y gastos para el Regimiento de Dragones de le Reina, June 10, 1799, AGN, Historia, vol. 489.

59 Branciforte to Alcudía, no. 47, October 31, 1795, AGI, Estado, leg. 23; and Branciforte to the Prince of the Peace, no. 61, October 30, 1797, AGI, Estado, leg. 26.

60 Branciforte to Alvarez, no. 870, July 30, 1797, AGN, CV, series 2, vol. 34.

61 Occasionally a special tax was levied to support the regular army. In 1790 for example, Revillagigedo placed a tax of 4 reales per fanega on cacao entering the port of Acapulco to pay for hosptals and barracks in Mexico City. See Estado del arbitrio de 4 reales, November 12,1792, AGN, IG, vol. 407–A.

62 Arreglo del Regimento de Cavalleria Provincial de Querétaro, 1785, AGN, IG, vol. 104-B; and Sobre el fondo que deba sufrir el gasto de la nueva contrata de caballos para los Dragones de la Reina, 1807, AGN, IG, vol. 356–A.

63 Marqués de Moneada to Branciforte, May 31, 1795, AGN, IG, vol. 99–A.

64 Sobre la junta en Querétaro para la buena recaudación y distribución de los arbitrios de milicias, 1779, AGN, IG, vol. 104–B.

65 Cabildo of Querétaro to Mayorga, March 8, 1781; and Pedro Ruiz Dávalos to Mayorga, March 28, 1783, AGN, IG, vol. 104–B.

66 Relación del importe de nuevos impuestos, 1799, AGN, IG, vol. 35–A.

67 Dictamen del Fiscal de lo Civil Ramón de Posada, November 14, 1793; and Report of the Cabildo Extraordinario de Querétaro, July 9, 1810, AGN, IG, vol. 240–A.

68 Antonio de San José Muro to Branciforte, August 5, 1794, AGN, IG, vol. 289–B.

69 See John Tepaske, La Real Hacienda de Nueva España. Although some of these themes are evident from the treasury figures, changes in bookkeeping and the introduction of the intendant system make the statistics difficult to follow. The regional tresuries became more important in the 1790s.

70 Costo anual del exército de Nueva España, 1792, AGN, IG, vol. 3–A.

71 Cartas sobre la Intendencia General de Exército, 1797, AGN, IG, vol. 391–A.

72 Francisco Rendón to Viceroy Jose Miguel de Azanza, August 14,1798, AGN, IG, vol. 328–A.

73 Archer, C.I., “To Serve the King: Military Recruitment in Late Colonial Mexico,” HAHR, 55:2 (May, 1975), 235–237.Google Scholar

74 Ordenes y providencias para el campamento de tropas, 1799, AGN, IG, vol. 477–A; and Consulta del Sr. Governador de eracruz sobre destino de los galerones que sirvieron a las tropas acantnadas en Arroyo Moreno, 1801, AGN, IG, vol. 164.

75 The costs to support this force rose to 2,037,718 pesos in 1807. See John TePaske, La Real Hacienda de Nueva España.

76 Pedro de Laguna to Viceroy Pedro Garibay, January 24, 1809, AGN, IG, vol. 166–A.

77 Branciforte to the Prince of the Peace, no. 318, August 29, 1796, AGN, CV, series 2, vol. 33.

78 Demostración y extracto del estado de situados de la caja capital de México con la Tesorería General de Exército de la Havana … , AGI, section 11–A, Cuba, leg. 1712.

79 Juan Rubio and Pedro Quevedo to Colonel Conde de Contramina, February 14, 1797, AGN, IG, vol. 177–B.

80 Azanza to Alvarez, no. 94, September 26,1798, AGI, Mexico, leg. 1447; Pedro de Alonso to the Cabildo of Veracruz, June 6, 1800, AGN, Historia, vol. 361; Instrucción Reservada de Marquina, AGN, Historia, vol. 282; and Iturrigaray to Alonso, November 10, 1807, AGN, Historia, vol. 361.

81 Marquina to Caballero, October 27, 1802, AGI, Mexico, leg. 1465.

82 Garibay to Martín de Garay, no. 28, June 30, 1809, AGN, CV, series 1, vol. 243; Lizana to Garay, no. 24, December 15, 1809, AGN, CV, series 1, vol. 244; and Audiencia Governativa to Vice-Admiral Rowly, May 9, 1810, AGN, IG, vol. 510–A.

83 Revillagigedo to Valdés, no. 296, February 6, 1790, AGS, GM, leg. 6959.

84 For information on salaries and income levels see Anna, Timothy E., The Fall of the Royal Government, 24.Google Scholar

85 Flórez to Mendinueta, January 11, 1788, AGN, Historia, vol. 249.

86 Joaquín Gutiérrez de los Ríos to Lizana, November 25, 1809, AGN, IG, vol. 166–A.

87 Pedro de Alonso to Iturrigaray, December 3, 1806, AGN, IG, vol. 165–A.

88 Regimiento de la Corona: Disposiciones que se necesitan dar para establecer en este Regimiento, un bien sistema de gobierno interior … , May, 1799, AGN, IG, vol. 197-A.

89 Gorostiza to Revillagigedo, January 25, 1790, AGN, IG, vol. 66–B.

90 Marqués de la Torre to Viceroy Croix, September 12, 1768, AGN, IG, vol. 36–B.

91 Torre to Croix, November 14, 1768, AGN, IG, vol. 36–B.

92 Revista de Inspección: Regimiento de Dragones de México, 1790, AGN, Historia, vol. 155; Revillegigedo to Valdés, November 30, 1789, and Revillagigedo to Alange, August 31,1793, AGS, GM, leg. 6959.

93 Pedro de Alonso to Calleja, December 31, 1799, AGS, GM, leg. 6981; and Marquina to Caballero, no. 809, October 27, 1802, AGI, México, leg. 1465.

94 Iturrigaray to Caballero, no. 679, November 26, 1804, AGI, México, leg. 1468.

95 Branciforte to Alvarez, no. 912, October 20, 1797, AGN, CV, series 2, vol. 34.

96 Revillagigedo to Las Casas, November 26, 1793, AGI, sección 11-A, Cuba, leg. 1473; and Azanza to Alvarez, no. 91, September 27, 1798, AGI, México, leg. 1447.

97 Azanza to the Captain General of Cuba, September 26, 1798, AGI, section 1l–A, Cuba, leg. 1517–B; and Azanza to Alvarez, August 30, 1790, AGS, GM, leg. 6980.

98 Instrucción Reservada de Marquina, 1803, AGN, Historia, vol. 282; Marquina to Miguel Cayetano Soler, no. 61, July 20, 1800, AG I, México, leg. 1319; and Iturrigaray to Caballero, no. 679, November 26, 1804, AGI, México, leg. 1468.

99 Cabildo of San Luis Potosí to Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, 1816, AGN, Operaciones de Guerra (OG), vol. 92; and Correspondence of Calleja, 1811, AGN, OG, vol. 175.

100 Calleja to Viceroy Francisco Javier de Venegas, August 19, 1811, AGN, OG, vol. 199.

101 Calleja to Venegas, October 7, 1811, AGN, OG, vol. 193.

102 Calleja to Venegas, March 3, 1812, AGN, OG, vol. 200; and Calleja to Venegas, February 20, 1812, AGN, OG, vol. 198.

103 Calleja to Venegas, March 1, 1812, AGN, OG, vol. 200.

104 Calleja to Venegas, March 12, 1812, AGN, OG, vol. 200; and Hamill, Hugh M., “Royalist Counterinsurgency in the Mexican War of Independence: The Lessons of 1811,” HAHR, 53:3, (August, 1973), 489.Google Scholar

105 Reglamento político militar que deberán observer los pueblos, haciendas y ranchos…, June 8, 1811, AGN, OG, vol. 186.

106 Cabildo of Guanajuato to Venegas, August 14, 1811, AGN, OG, vol. 30.

107 Cabildo of Celaya to Venegas, April 21, 1813, AGN, OG, vol. 32.

108 Cabildo of Jalapa to Calleja, April 27, 1813, AGN, OG, vol. 32.

109 Melchor Alvarez to Miguel Menéndez, Jalapa, July 4, 1813, AGN, OG, vol. 1.

110 Francisco Rendón to Calleja, September 16, 1811, AGN, OG, vol. 204.

111 Melchor Alvarez To Antonio Requera, Oaxaca, July 1814, AGN, OG, vol. 1.

112 Report of the Council of the Indies, February 26, 1817, AGI, México, leg 1147.

113 Calleja to Venegas, August 21, 1811, AGN, OG, vol. 190; and Report of theCouncil of Indies, May 25, 1816, AGI, México, leg. 1146. Also see Caballero, Romeo Flores, La contrarrevolución en la independencia: Los españoles en la vida política, social y econónica de México (1804–1838) (México, 1969), 79 Google Scholar; and Tutino, John, “Hacienda Social Relations in Mexico: The Chalco Region in the Era of Independence,” HAHR 55:3, (August, 1975), 509.Google Scholar