3,400 in Nueva Galicia, and a somewhat larger force in the Occidente,[1] to which must be added the armed citizens in towns, villages, and farms; so that the royalists could really command about 80,000 men, on the whole better armed and disciplined than the insurgent forces, and with increasing resources, as the latter were driven back, but also with proportionately heavier expenses than the more frugal and enduring patriots.[2] Calleja's plan henceforth was to isolate the insurgent leaders as much as possible from each other, and press steadily upon them, reducing one stronghold after another.[3]
The central point of war operations had changed to Puebla and Vera Cruz, as we have seen. The flight of Rayon gave a fresh impulse to Rosains' plans for asserting his authority over this region; and to this end he proposed first that Osorno should join him in surprising the forces of Marquez Donallo, who occupied the line between them. But Osorno was justly
- ↑ This distribution applied rather to a few months later, and rests on the official table given in Torrente, Hist. Rev., ii. 288, which shows 39,430 men, including nearly 2,000 who arrived in June 1815 under Miyares, and 8,000 stationed in the Provincias Internas and California, the latter province having 3,665 assigned to it. This figure belongs to the Occidente, yet the mistake casts a doubt also on other parts of the list, as Tabasco; the summing up is also wrong. Of the 40,000, 12,000 were in regiments from Spain. For regulations governing them and official lists, see Fernando Vll. y Decretos, 25-73, passim, 109-55, 337-49; Arrillaga, Recop., 1836, 59-64; Noticioso Gen., Aug. Sept. 1815, passim; Estado May. Gen. Ejer., 1-2; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, ii. 20; Mendíbil, Resúmen Hist., 288-9; Bonnycastle's Span.-Amer., 56.
- ↑ Great as was the pressure on the country, with increased excise and other taxes, while mining and many other industries had declined, yet the pay of civil and military employes was seldom delayed, the old high rates being generally maintained. It had not been thought prudent to impose taxes on Indians in lieu of the abolished tribute. The sale of tobacco, which yielded so large a revenue, was in the remote provinces granted to contractors. Forced contributions by commandants were forbidden, and surplus funds in one province were ordered sent direct to the troops and officials in an adjoining needy one. Decree in Gaz. de Mex., 1816, vii. 162-6; Bonnycastle’s Span.-Amer., 55-6; Torrente, Rev., ii. 193-4.
- ↑ Of these were in Mizteca: Silacayoapan, Jonacatlan, Ostocingo, and Cerro del Alumbre; in Michoacan: Zacapo, Artijo, and Cóporo; in Nueva Galicia: Mescala Island; in Guanajuato: Cerro San Gregorio and Cerro del Sombrero; in Tehuacan District: Cerro Colorado, Tepeji, and Teotitlan; and in Vera Cruz: Monteblanco and Palmillas, besides a number of temporary strongholds, Robinson expresses some views respecting the value of the troops on both sides, Mem. Rev., 182-3.
