Spain's Patriots of Northwestern NeW Spain from South oftt~e U.S. Border in its 1779-1783 War w~th England During the AMERICAN Revolution PART8 SPANISH BORDERLAND STUDIES By Granvil~ W. ~andN. C. Hough -- i . ..... • ~'~. -....~.~.-.~:~..~ ~'~i ~ ..r~.~.~..t"~, ~'~":~,~'. • ~.- • . .- . -- • . ~ ~...~-..~,~.~.:-~,~. ,. m (, f SPAIN'S PAT'I~IOTS OF NORTHWESTERN NEW SPAIN - FROM SOUTH OF THE U. S. BORDER - 1N ITS 1779-1783 WAR WITH ENGI~AND - DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION PART 8 OF SPANISH BORDERLANDS STUDIES by Granville W. and N. C. Hough i -.zf,...,.$~7..,~ ~.;v~'~"~7~:: ,;'I~', .~'-=~,,/"~~;" ~:'~',~ !L~:r.~.'.~,,,~ .:;:, :,*:, .~,:;.~,"o,M=','~'.: ;;,.e- .'.,;*P':~'.'~-~ ~ ,:.';~ ;~_~.~, ".:~L'~'.~.',:~.~ ~-"x ~,~-:,-~'~.~.~x~7-*,'~ ~! ,~-'~-~,A~,~"~,~=e'~:~,;.~x~,.,~.~-.~:r~ ".?-~'~ v~.%'~!'~'~'~~.~'~ " \1 Copyright ~. 2001 by Granville W. and N.C. Hough 3-*38 Bahia Blanca West. Apt B Laguna Hills. CA 92653-2830 4 ?,..: Emad: [email protected] i,~). Other books in this series include: 1 S ain's California Patriots in its 1779-1783 War with En land - Durin the American .ii'!? Revolution, Part 1, 1998. ?t~. Spain's C~ifornia Patriots in its 1779-1783 War with En land - Durin the American Revolution.., Part 2, 1999. ! Spain's Arizona Patriots in its 1779-1783 War with En land - Durin the American ,t Revolution, Third Study of the Spanish Borderlands, 1999. ~.~ Spain's New Mexico Patriots in its 1779-1783 War with Eng,'.end- During the American !t Revolution, Part Four of Spanish Borderlands Studies, 1999. li [I Spain's Texas Patriots in its 1779-1783 War with England - During the American • i~ Revolution, Part Five of Spanish Borderlands Studies, 2000. L:l!i Spain's Louisiana Patriots in its.j1779-1783 War with England - During the American Revolution, Part Six of Spanish Borderlands Studies, 2000. ', Spanish, French, Dutch, and American Patriots of the West Indies - During the American Revolution, Part Seven of Spanish Borderlands Studies, 2001. Published by: SHHAR PRESS Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research P.O. Box 490, Midway City, CA 92655-0490 More Information: (714) 894-8161 Email: [email protected] The 1783 map on the cover illustratesthe accepted boundaries established after the American Revolution. Possession of New Orleans by Spain v.~s stillunder dispute. The map was drawn by Robert M. Chapin, Jr.,a maprnak~ for Time. It was published in The ltdakingof Modern America, a Houghton Mifflin Company high school textbook in the Riverside SocialStudies Series, page 116, published 1950 and authored by Leon H. Canfield and Howard b. Wilder. The Making of Modern America was based upon an earlier text, The United States in the Ma~ng, by the same authors. ii • ~ ~-.~.,.~. ~-.-.-.. ~.:,;-.~,:::~ ~--:~:.,:::;;,,. ::-~ ~.~. ,,~: -::, :,=. ~,. :~:...-.~.,-=.~ :..:<,.-:-~: ....... ... ~..-.. ..... ...=. ,:..~.;.~,-..-. : -. ~.~;:.~:~.~,~.:,,,,.~.~-,~..~,t:~,~W,~~%~ ~ ~': ~. ~, • ..... ~..:. • • • ~-,:~.-~. • : ~ . -..,~...-~..~r -, ~ ,.~:~.. -'X'.'--'2"~..~"~,~.,~'-.~.',~..'.y ..'~--'-:.'...",~e~.~<v.":,:,~Xx~'X.'~'¢'.:~-~.~%'5."O, 2,.*,',.~'A.-.:~-.~_~. <'-~ .'~'.2"-_':".~'X~.,~.-~(/~'-~'.~'q.~xX~',~,;~':t~.%'.'~ 7t~.~-~.~."X~x,~ ~, ..3',,'.¢ ~.~,~'," PREFACE In 1996. the authors became a~varc that neither the NSDAR (Nati~mal Societ.~ for the Daughters of the American Revolution) nor the NSSAR (National Society for the Sons of the American Revolution) would accept descendants of Spanish citizens of California who had contributed funds to defray expenses of the 1779-1783 war with England. As the patriots being turned down as suitable ancestors were also soldiers, the obvious question became: "Whb" base your membership application on a mo[~eta~" contribution when the ancestor soldier had put his life at stake?" This led to a study of h~w the Spanish Army and Navy had worked during the war to defeat the English and thereby support the fledgling English colonies in their War for Independence. After a year of that study, the results were presented ~o the NSSAR; and that organization in March, 1998, began accepting descendants of Spanish soldiers who had served in California. The acceptance was based simply on service during the time period of 1779-1"/83 while Spain was at war with England. Ii Because'of the growing recognition of the role Spain played in our Revolutionary War, SAR membership was extended to Juan Carlos 1, present King of Spain, who accepted in January, 2000, at Washington, DC. His son, the Prince of Asturias, became a member at Albuquerque: NMo in August, 2000. Their cousin, the Duke of Seville, Francisco Enrique de Borbon y Escasn~, joined in Chicago, IL, in May, 2001. We had not by March, 1998, studied the organization of the Spanish Army in Northwestern New Spain, but we have since learned how the forces were deployed to unify the frontier and counter the influence of English or any other foreign forces. We know that orders going to California also went to Texas, New Mexico, Sonora, Nueva Vizcaya, Coahuila, Nuevo Le~n, and Nuevo Santander. The Northwestern realm, with its unmarked border with English colonies, was a continuing concern to the highest Spanish authorities, particularly to Jos~ de GAlvcz, i~linister of the Interior. During 1776 while the English Colonies were declaring Independence, he reorganized the border provinces into the ~ilitary structure of the Provincias Internas reporting directly to him. He authorized his nephew, Governor Bernardo de G~lvez of Louisiana, to begin clandestine help to the English Colonies. He supervised the Anza Expedition to settle San Francisco Bay. He visualized that he could regain the Fioridas, lost to Britain in 1763; unify the whole northern frontier from the Mississippi River to the Pacific; and counter the British wherever they appeared. Indeed, Jos~ de G~lve~' aims were partly accomplished. He did establish California and wipe out any historic English claims from the lime of Sir Francis Drake. He did recover Florida. He made progress unifying the northern outposts, but there were not enough resources to do what he visualized. Indian tribes who were already on the vast land could not be incorporated into the Spanish way of life fast enough. Events in Europe inten'ened and took higher priority. So, in due course of time, the land frown the Mississippi River to the Pacific became American rather than Spanish. Therefore, we have Americans and Mexicans who descend from Spanish soldiers who fought t*o move the frontier forward in Northwe~rn New Spain. They were part of Spanish forces which held land in trust for future expansion of the United States. Since 1925, both the NSDAR and NSSAR have accepted descendants of soldiers and sailors who served under Governor Bernardo de Gfilvez of Louisiana. The NSSAR also accepts descendants of soldie~ and sailors who served in California through Texas. Why not accept descendants of o~her Spanish soldiers who served the same King, received the same orders, and fought and died trying to carry out the common strategy? That they or some of their ancestors were born south of the current border is an accident of history. What have been missing for any prospective member are listings of soldier ancestors. We undertook to provide those listings. Our first two books covered California and the third Arizona, or at least the southern third of the state. Our fourth book covered New Mexico, the most forward thrust of the Spanish frontier. It was also the oldest and most seif-sofficient of the Spanish frontier provinces. Our fifth hook covered Texas, including the territory along the Rio Grande from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico. Our sixth book covered Louisiana and West Florida. Our seventh book covered the West Indies, along with the shore areas of New Spain and New Grenada. °°° 111 We now present our eighth book, covering some of the patriots of Northwestern New Spain - South of the Border - the two states of Baja California, Sinaloa, Sonora, Nueva Vizcaya (Chihuahua and Durango), Nueva Estremadura (Coahuila), Nuevo Le6n, and Nuevo Santander (Tamaulipas). • ortin units and institutions Trom other• parts* of Newo* ~i. include naval umts and other supp g ,rl • soldiers and sadors in Spanish s~e i S°our e|[ort is to identify four groups of 1779-1783 pa...ots. service; members of militia called up for service; citizens who contributed funds to defray war ~;,~'~.. expenses; and priests who led public prayers for Spain's success in war. ,,', W..-.,,., In our listings we have designated with an asterisk those patriots who definitely served in ~.f{.'~. ,~','.~ ' ,; some suitable capacity during Spain's 1779-1783 War with England. In a few cases, we have also "~,L~":i ~ designated with an asterisk patriots who helped provide clandestine support to the fledgling United States before Spain declared war on England. Those in our listings who have no asterisk were old .,!~..: , enough to serve or contribute and lived in an area affected by the war; however, the documentation we found does net include any specific patriotic activity by those individuals. We consider them to be "near patriots." Descendants of these persons may be able to find and provide suitable proof for their ancestor's patriotic service. Our presentation outline includes an introduction, summary time line, units we could identify in each area or activity, individuals involved, epilogue comments, then references we actually t•- . used plus others which may be helpful to other researchers. ~i , '. We regret we have been unable to travel to the libraries which hold additional information. We have done what we could using local libraries, interlibrary loan resources, and what we could find on the internet. We especially appreciate the continuing efforts of those who work in intedlbrary loan at the E! Toro Branch, Orange County Library System. They have been most patient and helpful. We also appreciate the efforts of those who work at the Documentary Relations of the Southwest, the microfilm holdings of the University of Arizona at Tucson. When they placed extracts of their holdings on the internet, it really placed our work on a more substantial footing. :''.. Pl]Prefl, 28 Oct 2001.