and the fortifications of San Juan de Ulúa strengthened; the garrison of Vera Cruz was reënforced, and the king's treasure, ready for shipment, removed to a safe distance. All this was accomplished at little expense.
The condition of the army occupied the viceroy's special attention and a reconstruction was proposed according to orders issued in January, 1792. The regular troops and the militia were in a demoralized condition, and their insubordination gave such serious cause of offence that they were put under strict regulations, and a portion of the latter disbanded. These measures caused dissatisfaction, particularly among the creoles, and it is claimed that the reduction in the militia was one of the few errors of Revilla Gigedo's administration. Bustamante says that he gave a fatal blow to this branch of the service, destroying and unmaking what had been established with much care and labor since the time of Viceroy Cruíllas. In his instructions to Branciforte, the count claimed, however, that in the enlistment of provincials there seemed to have been no other purpose than to defraud the king's treasury, for such troops were unreliable in action.[1]
The immediate consequence of this measure was that native tribes committed depredations in the eastern provinces. Many colonists were assassinated in Coahuila, the Indians penetrating to within the confines of Saltillo, driving off cattle, and winning over the presidio of San Juan de Rio Grande. Still greater disturbances occurred in the colony of Nuevo Santander, where in the settlements of Laredo, Revilla, and Mier, twenty-five Spaniards were killed between March and July, 1791.
- ↑ Revilla Gigedo, Instruc., 147. Bustamante, in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 104, says that the viceroy believed them to be no match for foreign troops in case of invasion. The viceroy reduced the militia in order to increase the royal revenue; for while serving, the Indian was exempt from the payment of tribute, ceasing to enjoy this privilege as soon as discharged. Id., Id., 105. The Spanish government disapproved of the count's measures, and decrees were subsequently issued for the reconstruction of the militia, during Branciforte's administration.
