it was ordered that every three years he should personally inspect the troops, not only those stationed at the capital, but those in the provinces, and if unable to do this on account of ill health, the fact was to be confidentially made known to the king by the viceroy or captain-general.[1]
Fears of war with Great Britain having ceased in 1772, the government mustered out of garrison duty three of the native regiments,[2] though the drilling of the militia was continued. The troops from Spain were successively sent back, and from the last of them, the Zamora, were retained the necessary officers, sergeants, and corporals for perfecting the organization of the provincial militia. Later, the occupation by the British of the Philippines, and the revolution in England's colonies in North America, again warned Spain of the necessity of being prepared for an emergency. But no preparations were made. At the end of the war of 1783, when the coasts of Spanish America were threatened, and the forts of Omoa and San Juan de Nicaragua were taken by the English, she resolved further to increase her military establishment in Mexico, creating in 1788 the regiments Nueva España and México, and the next year the Puebla. The French revolution deeply affected Spain, and the revolt of Santo Domingo gave rise to the creation of the Fijo de Vera Cruz in 1793. The Nueva España, Mexico, and Puebla were afterward sent away to serve in Cuba, Santo Domingo, Louisiana, and Florida.[3] But between 1789 and 1794 the
- ↑ The king wished it distinctly understood that the office had been created to he useful to the royal service, and not to be a mere additional authority in the country. Cédulario, MS., 25.
- ↑ The government always was apprehensive that the natives, with arms in their hands, might revolt. Hence the policy of transporting and maintaining at heavy expense in Mexico one or two regiments of Spaniards. But nothing was really gained by it. A few months after the arrival of such troops they were of little use. Officers and men pursued pleasure and vice, and discipline became relaxed. Some of the privates got themselves mustered out of service, and others deserted; and when a regiment went back to Spain it was much smaller than when it came out. Villarroel, Enferm. Polit., in Bustamante, Voz de la Patria, v. 167.
- ↑ From Habana these regiments were despatched upon the useless expedition
