SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS
Nueva España
The First Spaniard | Presidios, Missions and Villas For Biographies (Individuals in Bold), Search Handbook of Texas Online
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.
Earliest Spaniard and European in the Future DeWitt Colony 1528-1534. The story told in 1936 by historian Carlos Castañeda in Our Catholic
Heritage in Texas 1519-1936.
A soldier of De León's command (probably Juan Bautista Chapa, a literate man who was secretary for the Monterrey Ayuntamiento in the late seventeenth century) was apparently moved to compassion at the sight of the massacre and wrote the oft quoted passage from a longer elegy:
The greetings by indigenous tribes "Techas, Techas!" which meant "friends" extended to the De León party while in the more eastern part of their explorations into Texas, was thought to have been the origin of the name given to the area tribes by the Spanish and the region became the kingdom or province of the Tejas. De León on order of superiors completed the destruction of Ft. St. Louis begun by the Karankawas by burning and burying all remains of the fort. Ironically, the brief and abortive venture of La Salle on Garcitas Creek on Matagorda Bay, a site which he initially mistook for the location of the mouth of the Mississippi River, that left no cultural legacy and long term French descendants in Texas, changed the course of history of Texas and for that matter the entire Gulf of Mexico at least the north part. According to author Robert Weddle, the largely rumor-based intensive search and destroy missions to find La Salle and the French and to prevent further incursion of the French into the region resulted in the most intense exploration and mapping of the Gulf coast up to that time and solidified the west and southwestern Gulf shores as part of the territory of New Spain and later the Republic of Mexico. La Salle's venture was used as the basis of claims by the United States that the border of the Louisiana Purchase extended to the Nueces or Rio Grande Rivers until the border between the United States and Spain was established by treaty as the Sabine River in 1819. To secure and attempt to develop the vast territory, the government set up a series of tri-partite outposts consisting of presidios or forts for military protection, pueblos or villas for community development, and missions or churches for spiritual development. Future DeWitt Colony Texas lay between and a little to the east of two of the first, largest and most famous. First was Villa San Fernando de Bexar, Mission San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo) and Presidio San Antonio de Bexar on the upper San Antonio River established in 1718 by Martin de Alarcon which is the current city of San Antonio. In the same year of establishment, Alarcon and his men visited the future DeWitt Colony area and the trip was recorded in a diary by Friar Francisco Celiz.
Almost from the departure of Gov. Aguayo, La Bahia began to experience security problems with coastal aborigines who were some of the least developed and most savage of indigenous peoples in the kingdom of the Tejas. According to most, Capt. Ramon was an inept and corrupt commander failing to discipline his men as well as alienating the local tribes by example and brutality. In late 1723 amid violent altercations between Ramon's men and the local Indians, Ramon was stabbed by an Indian with scissors and died of the wound. The Franciscan missionaries moved their efforts even before official permission to a spot in the future DeWitt Colony on the Guadalupe River 10 leagues west and began to minister to the Aranama tribe, a subgroup of the Tonkawas. Meanwhile, the son of Domingo Ramon, Diego Ramon took over command of the presidio and the failures in leadership proved a family tradition. He was removed on order of the governor and replaced with Capt. Don Juan Antonio de Bustillos y Ceballos. Mission Valley in Future DeWitt Colony. Despite the fact that Bustillos y Caballos was a more competent Capt., Gov. Alamazan after a visit to La Bahia decided to move the Presidio to the site on the Guadalupe River where the mission had previously relocated. The site was known as Mission Valley and was located a few miles south of the current DeWittCo-VictoriaCo line on Mission Creek south of current Nursery. Descriptions of the area in the early 20th century refer to remains of buildings and dams of the settlement. The mission and presidio remained at the site for 26 years and flourished due to the fertile fields and ranch land of the area watered by the Guadalupe. The Franciscan fathers build extensive dams and acequias from the river and its tributaries although rainfall was sufficient such that irrigation was unnecessary in the period. The settlement began to produce not only enough for local consumption, but for export to Bexar and the east Texas missions. Indian converts increased and relations were relatively peaceful, although there were periodic rebellions and vandalism and theft. Pedro Rivera visited the mission and presidio at Mission Valley during his inspection in 1727-1728 and was complementary to the operation despite his reputation in the eyes of historians as a critic and cost-cutter who stalemated the expansion of the mission-presidio system. He reported that Capt. Bustillos y Caballos had a troop of 90 men and military standards were such that he had no corrective recommendations. Rivera recommended, possibly for the first time in history, that the Guadalupe River be made navigable to the coast. Historian Charles W. Ramsdell estimated that over 400 Aranama converts were associated with the mission in 1726. He describes a fiesta in honor of the Spanish King in Feb 1748 with parades, dancing, duels with mock weapons and a rodeo complete with bullfighting and roping. Despite this success, Spanish military xenophobia and paranoia had much higher priority than building a viable society and the recommendation of José de Escandón, governor of Nuevo Santander, to the viceroy to move the mission and presidio further south near the coast was approved. Sometime in 1749, the mission and presidio of La Bahia was moved to its current location on the San Antonio River near current Goliad. Associated with the missions were vast grazing lands or ranchos populated with the Texas Longhorn, sheep, buffalo and mustangs, essentially the cradle of the Texas ranching industry. La Bahia at Mission Valley in future DeWitt Colony occupied over 1 million acres of grazing land comprising the earliest ranch of this scale in Texas history. It stretched from the convergence of the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers on the south to a point on the west near current Nordheim in DeWitt County and as far north as current Belmont in Gonzales County. Even after La Bahia Mission was moved to current Goliad, the ranching headquarters, Rancho Viejo, remained on the Guadalupe River near Mission Valley. The La Bahia Road running through the heart of future DeWitt Colony which connected La Bahia (Goliad) with the interior provinces of Mexico to the south became the southern connection to the East Texas missions and Louisiana. The road was a major route for export to the east and supply of livestock to Spanish allied forces against the British during the American Revolution.
American Revolution and Supply of Texas Beef and Horses. Under the leadership of General Bernardo de Gálvez, governor of Louisiana and later Viceroy of New Spain, for whom Galveston, Texas obtained its name, New Spain reclaimed the Gulf Coast territories of Spanish West Florida (current Florida to the Mississippi River) which had been ceded to Great Britain in the first Treaty of Paris of 1763. Together with George Washington’s American Continental Army on the eastern seaboard and George Rogers Clark’s American forces in the West, Spain, New Spain and Texas under General Gálvez defeated the British resulting in American Independence. One hears little of the contribution in modern history books. The first official cattle drive out of Texas was authorized on June 20, 1779 by General Gálvez to feed Spanish forces in Louisiana. Over 9000 documented and more than 15000 estimated head of Texas Longhorns herded by Texas cattlemen and vaqueros (both Tejano and Indian) left Texas ranchos between San Antonio de Bexar and La Bahia (Goliad) between 1779 and 1782. The Guadalupe River valley in the heart of future DeWitt Colony was the staging area for these cattle drives that preceded the more well-known drives north from Texas to Kansas, Missouri and Colorado by nearly 100 years and equaled them in magnitude. The area supplied Spanish forces on the Gulf Coast front in the successful fight for American Independence from Britain. Although seldom mentioned in American history books, Spanish forces supplied with Texas beef kept British forces occupied on a vast second front in addition to the American northeast coast, which was believed to be instrumental in defeat of the British and resultant American Independence. Bernardo de Gálvez (1746-1786)
Future DeWitt Colony--Demise of the Mission-Villa System--Rise of Texas Ranching. With the Second Treaty of Paris in 1783, Spain now faced the problem of securing the vast Louisiana Territory, which had replaced Texas as the northeastern frontier of New Spain, as well as Florida which it regained from Great Britain at the end of the American Revolutionary War. Ironically, American settlement was moving west toward Spanish territory as a consequence of the independence that New Spain helped to secure for them against the British. As an internal province rather than eastern border front of New Spain, attention for the period 1783 to 1803 was largely turned to protection of the three population centers, Nacogdoches, La Bahia and San Antonio de Bexar and the vast associated private ranches and farms from Indian raids. Generally a strategy of pacification and agreement through gifts and trade similar to French colonial strategies was applied. Governor Domingo Cabello y Robles made a treaty with the norteño Comanches in 1785, which lasted until the end of New Spain in Texas. The Apache tribes remained resistant to treaty. Viceroy Bernardo Gálvez instituted a policy of vigilance and immediate response by civilian minutemen with the military rather than systematic offensive extermination that would be continued in Texas through colonization and statehood. Developments during the period 1762 to 1783 brought the demise of the historic Spanish mission system in Texas, the demise of the partnership of the Catholic Church and the State military and somewhat the Catholic Church in general except in the three population centers, San Antonio, La Bahia and Nacogdoches. In 1787, Governor Martinez Pacheco organized the first Texas roundup and rodeo that reached from San Antonio de Bexar to the Gulf Coast and included large parts of the future DeWitt Colony. The venture demonstrated that private ranches identified 6000 head while missions could identify only 1500 and mission interests could hardly make a showing of men in the field or in rodeo competition. In 1790, church missions showed a little over 100 Indian converts in residence and less than 2000 head of cattle that at one time had exceeded 40000. In 1792, Father José Francisco Lopez, president of Texas missions, recommended secularization of Mission San Antonio de Valero as well as the administration of four other missions near San Antonio. In 1793, Viceroy Revilla Gigedo ordered the secularization of the mission and all others in Texas thereby relieving the government of financial responsibility and turning their Indian welfare wards into tax-paying citizens of New Spain. As private ownership increased, the Texas ranchos and haciendas between the San Antonio and Guadalupe Rivers became the cradle of the Texas ranching industry producing for the first time regional wealth in the form of longhorn cattle, sheep and mustangs. These herds under control of Spanish vaqueros made their way south and east along the La Bahia road that stretched from Laredo to Louisiana. The La Bahia road passed through the heart of future DeWitt Colony from La Bahia (current Goliad) on the San Antonio River to the creek "El Cuchiyo" (Sandies Creek) across the Guadalupe River to the creek "El Cuero" to the "Rio La Baca" (Lavaca River), "Rio Navidad" and on northeast to the Colorado River. Controlled Immigration in Spanish Louisiana--Spanish Xenophobia in Texas--Rise of an Independent Tejano Society. Despite the consolidation and survival of San Antonio de Bexar, La Bahia and Nacogdoches and the rise of private Texas ranches and farms, the decline of the Texas mission system signaled the failure of the Spanish Church and State partnership to secure, colonize and develop Texas through peaceful means. While the total Interior Provinces of New Spain averaged 6 inhabitants per square league (about 6 square miles), Texas averaged fewer than 2 per league, only twice that of the most severe desert regions of Baja California. In 1803 when Texas again became the frontier of New Spain (described below), the permanent population of Texas was 2500 San Antonio de Bexareños, 618 La Bahiareños and 770 Nacogdochereños, a total of no more than 4000 including the scattered settlements. The problems of maintenance of Spanish culture and control in the vast frontera lands far from the centers of government were rapidly becoming apparent. As early as 1783, a French Indian agent, Juan Gasiot, sent a prediction to Commandant of the Provincias Internas Felipe de Neve that the independence of British American colonies would bring serious dangers to Spanish interests in America:
The Spanish ambassador to France in about the same period warned:
Moreover, the small population of originally Spanish origin in Texas was evolving into a racially and socially diverse group, which coupled with private sector economic opportunities and frontier spirit, fostered independent thinking and desire for self-determination similar to that of the increasing number of similar-spirited peoples that had developed from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River and was spreading slowly within Spanish Louisiana to the Sabine River. To leave the rich and vast territories of New Spain unsettled and undeveloped would most certainly mean loss of them by default to other world powers who had interest in North America and in particular the newly independent American Confederation. With insufficient Spanish citizens willing to colonize the Louisiana Territory and the northern Provincias Internas of New Spain, Spain had no choice, but to consider a policy of controlled immigration as a source of resident citizens under Spanish control. At first the policy emphasized fresh European immigrants direct from Britain, France and other European countries, but then residents of the American colonies to the east after 1783. With the latter, it was predicted that grants of land, economic freedom and de facto religious freedom would take precedence over allegiance of the mostly European immigrants and their descendants of only one or two generations to the fledgling Confederation of American States. However, unlike the Spanish Louisiana Territory, which was much more diverse because of its French background and contact with the outside world through its Gulf Coast and Mississippi River ports and its distance from southern provinces of New Spain, Spanish xenophobia dominated and was policy in Texas at the close of the 18th century. From his headquarters in Chihuahua in 1796, Commandant of the Provincias Internas Pedro de Nava issued orders banning foreigners without extensive documentation, including citizens of Louisiana, entrance into Texas, targeting particularly the Anglo-Americans. A letter from Commandant de Nava to Texas governor Manuel Muñoz indicates that the policy came from the top:
Filibustering Begins--The Phillip Nolan Expedition. It was at this height of Spanish xenophobia regarding individuals from the newly independent Confederation of American States that the first Texas filibustering expedition from the east of historic note occurred in the period from 1791 to 1800 with disastrous results. Phillip Nolan, born in Belfast, Ireland in 1771 and a resident of Kentucky in 1789. Nolan was a student of James Wilkinson, a self-serving political and economic opportunist of the period with influential contacts at all levels of the governments of New Spain and the USA. Nolan was interested in the vast herds of horses that roamed Texas and filling the void for working ranch horses that existed in Louisiana with the growing cattle industry which itself had been exported from Texas. Nolan, who carried papers approved by the highest levels of Texas officials, in his numerous trips to Texas between 1791 and 1799 in which he delivered several thousand head of Texas mustangs to buyers in the east became suspected of a spy for Wilkinson and his associates. Despite his awareness of the suspicions of both governor Manuel Gayoso de Lemos in Natchez, govenor Munoz of Texas and Commandant Nava, Nolan entered Texas in 1800 with 28 associates, crossed the Trinity River and built a corraling station for mustangs near the Brazos River. Governor Juan Bautista de Elguezabal authorized the commander Manuel Múzquiz at Nacogdoches to arrest Nolan and encountered Nolan and associates in Mar 1801 near Blum in current Hill County, Texas. In the confrontation that followed, a ball killed Nolan, and his men surrendered under a white flag raised by the royal patrol and the promise of safe return to the United States. After being transported to Nacogdoches, San Antonio and then Chihuahua, eight Nolan associates were forced to roll dice, the lowest number of which was to be executed for resisting the king’s soldiers. A man named Ephraim Blackburn rolled a four and was hanged in Chihuaha in 1807, all the others except the remarkable Peter Ellis Bean died in Spanish prisons. Texas--Disputed Border and Buffer between New Spain and the United States--The Treaty of Ildefonso 1800---The Louisiana Purchase 1803. The thirst for self-determination and local government, distrust of the central Spanish government’s monarchy and the state-dictated Roman Catholic faith and demand of its immigrant citizens need for protection and investment capital resulted in the Louisiana Frontier becoming a political and financial burden for Spain. A solution came with renewed interest of France in its former Louisiana Territory. In alliance with France, Spain hoped to contain the American westward-moving juggernaut at the Mississippi River by concession of Louisiana back to France in 1800 by the secret treaty of San Ildefonso. Political events moved swiftly. In October 1803, Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States of America. In November 1803, France took possession of Louisiana as agreed with Spain in 1800 and 20 days later the fledgling United States of America took formal control of its new purchase. Texas was once again the northeastern frontier of New Spain with the United States of America on its eastern border just across the Sabine River. To many officials of New Spain, Anglos were the evil threat to monarchy and the established order, however, the threat was not from without, but within the borders of New Spain and its inhabitants, forces of the human spirit pressing for self-determination and freedom, that then as today transcend simplistic explanations based on genetics and race. Although politics, jurisdictions and borders changed in relation to development and securing the frontiers and border of New Spain---the Sabine River in 1700, the Mississippi River in 1763 and again the Sabine River of 1803, the problems in development and security of Texas remained the same. Physically, the frontier was a vast wilderness and territory with few people, little economy, little culture, no military security, which was ranged and exploited by nomadic, unorganized bands of Indians who used the land only to support their subsistence. Inability of the government of Spain to deal with these persistent problems was open invitation to the adventurous Americans to the east, possibly other foreign powers and a gateway for a domino effect of takeover of southern provinces of New Spain as well. Vocal American factions, including President Thomas Jefferson, suggested that Texas was part of the Louisiana Purchase and that the western boundary of the purchase was the Rio Grande River. The Treaty of San Ildefonso ceding Louisiana to France by Spain of 1800 was vague about the western boundary of Louisiana describing it as "the same extent that it now has in the hands of Spain, and had while in the possession of France." Upon the sale of Louisiana, Napoleon had apparently intentionally made definition of boundaries unclear. The uncertainty of the border of the Louisiana Purchase was expressed in communications by Thomas Jefferson to the minister to Spain in Madrid in 1806:
Another letter declared the title "to be good as far as the Rio Bravo," it is thought that the ministry was to insist upon the Rio Bravo as the boundary in Madrid and yield only in case of necessity or probable armed force. Neutral Ground (No Man's Land) between the Sabine and Arroyo Hondo--Attempts to Control Immigration. Open conflict between American and Spanish forces over the Texas border almost erupted in late 1805 as Commandant Provincias Internas Nemesio Salcedo y Salcedo and Texas Governor Antonio Cordero y Bustamente massed over two thirds of the 1368 Spanish royal troops in Texas at Nacogdoches. General James Wilkinson, filibuster Phillip Nolan’s former mentor and now commander of US forces in Louisiana, negotiated the Neutral Ground Agreement with governor Simon de Herrera of Nueva Leon, both without approval of their superiors. The agreement provided for neutral territory between the Sabine River and the Calcasieu River and Arroyo Hondo to the east beyond which either force on either side would not move. Before becoming engulfed in actions related to the Mexican independence movements, Spanish Texas was besieged by illegal refugees, adventurers, opportunists and filibusters of all sorts sufficient to maintain the fear, suspicion and possibly paranoia of Commandant of Provincias Internas Nemesio de Salcedo y Salcedo of all foreigners, particularly Anglo-Americans. The Neutral Ground between the Sabine and Arroyo Hondo became a haven and staging area for thieves, smugglers and fugitive slaves. In addition, there were a significant number of Louisiana residents of all nationalities, now officially Americans, who were only a short time before Spanish subjects who had interest in making Texas their home. Just prior to transfer of Louisiana to France and the USA, Spanish Louisiana officials convinced Texas to accept displaced Choctaws and Alabama-Coushatta Indians, tribes much more organized and politically active than the indigenous nomadic tribes of Texas. Texas remained a potential area for resettlement of even more indigenous peoples displaced by westward expansion of Americans. In 1807, periodic Indian agent from Natchitoches introduced the concept to Red River tribes that they were "white Indians" and natives similar to Anglo-Americans implying that the Spanish were the alien race. In the spring of 1807, explorer Lt. Zebulon Pike, sanctioned by American President Jefferson and sent by Gen. Wilkinson, swung south from his namesake, Pikes Peak, in Colorado where he was arrested on the upper Rio Grande River by Spanish forces. He was escorted as a "guest-prisoner" through Santa Fe, Chihuahua, Monclova, Presidio del Norte (current Juarez-El Paso), San Antonio and east into Louisiana on the El Camino Real. In 1809, another adventurer in the Phillip Nolan style, Anthony Glass, and companions penetrated Texas on a trading mission without arrest that stretched as far as the Edwards Plateau. Glass left a diary of his journal that gave great insight into horse trading with the native populations of the period. In view of the above chaos, controlled immigration similar to that applied in Spanish Louisiana appeared the only choice to build a society of citizens loyal to the King of Spain, but strong debate arose about how to differentiate between those that would become industrious and loyal Spanish citizens and those perceived as subversive to Spain or simply undesirables of all types. In 1809, Commandant Nemesio Salcedo issued orders banning all foreigners entrance into Texas. The official view was expressed clearly:
Yet he gave his nephew, Manuel María de Salcedo, the new and the last Spanish governor of Texas, broad discretional powers in dealing with the problem of undocumented immigrants already making a living on Texas soil. On an inspection trip to Nacogdoches in 1810, governor Salcedo personally intervened in determining the intention of numerous residents, squatters by the letter of the law, and granted titles of land to those he felt sincere and potentially productive Spanish Texas citizens. Nemesio Salcedo y
Salcedo Salcedo began his military career about 1765 in the Royal Spanish Guard, for thirteen years was a infantry captain in Navarre and distinguished himself in Spain's North American conflicts. He returned to Europe in 1783, achieved the rank of Lt.Col., then Col. and regimental commander. After transfer to New Spain, he received the attention of Viceroy Pacheco de Padillo and was promoted to brigadier general and commandant of the Interior Provinces. From Chihuahua he autocratically guided Texas and the internal provinces through the last xenophobic and bloody days of Spanish crown rule. His manner and character is described by Lt. Zebulon Pike during his "house-arrest" and interviews in Chihuahua in spring 1807. Independence Movements in Texas--Last and Tragic Spanish Governor Salcedo. The final and bloodiest decades of Spanish Texas, if not Texas under all six flags, began as the news of the insurrection led by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo of Delores reached Texas. Maríano Jimenez, one of Hidalgo’s trusted lieutenants, was assigned to assess and promote resistance to the royal government in Coahuila and Texas, which were important because of proximity to the United States from which the independence movement needed sympathy and aid. The losing cause of defending the Spanish crown fell to the loyal, able, honest, ambitious and last royal governor of Spanish Texas, Manuel María Salcedo, termed the "Tragic Cavalier" by biographer Felix D. Almaraz Jr. Salcedo was son of Juan Manuel de Salcedo, the governor of Louisiana when the Louisiana Territory was transferred to France and sold to the United States in 1803. While in Spain, Salcedo was appointed the governor of Texas by the Council of the Indies in 1807 and arrived in Texas in the summer of 1808. Governor Salcedo moved actively to deal with mounting problems of the period which included how to deal with squatters in the Neutral Ground. He promoted somewhat futilely more active settlement of Texas with Spaniards from either Louisiana or Mexico to counteract the influx of Anglos from the US and active measures to deal with the aboriginal populations. In the spring of 1810 he made an inspection tour of East Texas of which he left a journal record. Salcedo has been noted for his sympathy for problems of foreigners who had settled in Texas and supported the issue of titles to lands for them. Governor Salcedo moved quickly to organize resistance to the titanic forces of insurrection with meager resources. Governor Salcedo also realized the potential prestige to be gained by obtaining support and arms from the USA to the east, but such was subverted at the last moment by his uncle, Commandant Nemecio Salcedo. Commandant Salcedo also had recalled most high-ranking officers from Texas for duty in the southern provinces, although he conceded to his nephew’s appeal to let able frontier officer Lt. Col. Simón de Herrera remain. With rumors of rebel spies and assassins and even that Hidalgo forces were preparing to invade Texas, Salcedo imposed restrictions on civilian travel and actually intercepted and screened mail carried by royal carriers. In Jan 1811, Gov. Salcedo secretly sent his family to East Texas. Gov. Salcedo planned to move troops from San Antonio to defend Texas at the Rio Grande, however, rumors circulated that the governor and Lt. Col. Herrera were leaving Texas altogether which would be at the mercy of insurrectionists and Indians. On Jan 6 Gov. Salcedo issued a proclamation to counter the panic and called for renewed loyalty of Texans to the Spanish crown and way of life. On Jan 15, the first overt action against the royal government in San Antonio occurred which Salcedo learned of before action occurred. Rebel sympathizers under Lt. Antonio Saenz planned to take over the Casa Reales, the seat of the royal government in San Antonio. Despite intense efforts of Gov. Salcedo and Lt. Herrara to maintain control and calm, fear, rebellion and revolutionary ideas began to gain a hold on Bexareños including elements of the royal military itself from within.
Next Page--Revolution in Texas 1811 1812 | Las Casas Insurrection | First Republic of Texas | Execution of Gov. Salcedo | First Constitution | Defeat at Medina/Arredondo's Revenge New Spain-Index |
The King commissioned José
Bernardo de Gálvez Gallardo and the 
In 1776 King Charles III appointed Teodoro
de Croix as Commandant General of the newly organized New Spanish unit called the
Provincias Internas which included Coahuila, California, Neuva Vizcaya, New Mexico,
Sinaloa, Sonora and Texas. In June 1779, Spain and Texas along with its ally France joined
the war for American independence against the British. At the same time that meager
government support of defense and development of Texas turned toward the war, increased
Indian attacks further threatened the existence of San Antonio de Bexar, La Bahia and
Nacogdoches. Nacogdoches arose from residents of former capital Los Adaes (near current
Robeline, Louisiana) and scattered settlements on the Trinity River who refused to adapt
to earlier resettlement to San Antonio. Despite these severe handicaps and lack of
resources, Commandante Croix together with Texas governors Juan María Baron de
Ripperdá and Domingo Cabello y Robles was able to reasonably
protect and secure the three population centers as well as the Texas ranches and farms in
the vast area between them. It was Commandante Croix who established the tactics that
would be used to secure the vast uninhabited frontera, which was Texas up to and
succeeding statehood in the mid-19th century. These were the mobile ranging units known as
"flying companies" that linked the citizen soldiers or militia who were
residents of presidios, missions, villages, stations or other outposts. At the end of the
war and Commandant Croix’s tenure, he had established a contiguous series of
presidios from San Antonio and La Bahia, each with under 100 men, to California with a
total of nearly 5000 men.
Born in Macharaviaya in the Province of Málaga, Spain
in Jul 1746, Gálvez was the oldest child of Matías de Gálvez and Josefa Gallardo, both
from noble and distinguished families in the royal service of the Spanish monarchy. His
father was Captain-General of Guatemala and then Viceroy of New Spain from 1783-1784.
Distinguished uncles in the royal service were José de Gálvez,
Minister of the Indies, Field Marshal Miguel de Gálvez and ambassador to Russia Antonio
de Gálvez. Bernardo Gálvez was promoted to Lieutenant and Captain because of combat
service for Spain in Europe at the age of 16. He became commandant of the army of Neuva
Vizcaya in 1769 where he led multiple actions against Apaches, in one of which he was
wounded severely. After return to Spain in 1772 with uncle José de
Gálvez, he studied military science in France and served in multiple expeditions in
Europe and Africa. In 1776, he returned to America as Col. of the Louisiana Regiment and
was governor of Louisiana in 1777. Gálvez’s duties were broad and those required to
maintain and develop colonial New Spanish Louisiana, but most importantly to weaken
British influence in the area. He had great admiration for the American Independence
movement and was given secret orders to assist wherever possible. Gálvez declared the
port of New Orleans open and free to American forces and began to provide munitions and
cooperated with practically every venture of the rebels in the area.In
1779, Spain declared war on Great Britain and became an open ally of the American
Revolutionary movement. Forces under Gen. Gálvez secured the Mississippi River with
victories at Manchac, Baton Rouge and Natchez causing great worry in the British high
command. In Mar 1780 now Brigadier-General Gálvez captured Mobile and was promoted to
Field Marshal (Mariscal de Campo) and became commander of all Spanish forces in the
Americas. With great difficulty and daring, Gálvez captured Pensacola, the British
capital of West Florida. The war ended as Gálvez was moving to take the Bahamas, Jamaica
and St. Augustine and Halifax in the Floridas. Gen. Gálvez’s Spanish forces provided
munitions, medicine, money, and most important of all, food, which came from Texas
haciendas to supply Spanish forces and to some extent, the American Continental Army. Gen.
Gálvez secured the entire Gulf of Mexico and kept the British forces occupied on that
front which otherwise would have freed them to fight the American Colonists in the
northeast. At the end of the war, Gálvez returned to Spain until 1785 when he returned as
Viceroy of New Spain upon the death of his father. He was a popular Viceroy in Mexico as
well as governor and military leader, however, sudden illness caused his death on 30 Nov
1786 at age 38. Throughout his career from the beginning as a teenage soldier in Spain,
fighting Indians in New Spain, commanding large naval and ground forces to Commander in
Chief of the Gulf Coast and Caribbean, Gen. Gálvez was known for leading those under his
command in the thick of the battle and motivating his troops by personal example and
eloquence. The name Bernardo Gálvez is one seldom heard among those of lesser
contributors from other European allies and countries in the War of American Independence
against Great Britain. His name should stand out equal to or above the names Lafayette, de
Grasse and Rochambeau of France, von Steuben and de Kalb of Prussia, and Pulaski and
Kosciusko of Poland.