Memorandum on the presidial horse-herd situados (caballadas) & frontier cavalry doctrine. Argues the heavy company situado (346 horses, 67 mules) is unsustainable & self-defeating: constant field service ruins the soldier's kit & indebts him, leaves no time for drill, the penal law, religion, or to see wife & children — 'un hombre hambriento que lleva una vida miserable y abandonada.' The Apaches 'buscan siempre apoderarse de caballos y mulas'; once robbed, the troops are left 'á pie' and 'cesan sus operaciones por muchos meses.' Remedy: reduce each soldier to 2 horses + 1 mule kept stable-fed (caballerizas). Includes a frontier-wide allotment table: 18 regular presidios 2,284 horses/1,152 mules; 4 Nueva Vizcaya flying cos. 1,184/592; Sonora 92/46; dragoon piquetes; Sta Fe (NM) 224/112; San Antonio de Béxar 188/94; Bahía del Espíritu Santo 120/60; 30 Rosales auxiliaries 60/30 — total 4,332 horses, 2,266 mules = 6,598. Company effective strength: 71 plazas → 61 effective (guardia de caballada 20, escolta de prisiones/caudales 15, correos/enfermos/presos 8 → 21 left). Copia legalizada by Cap. Bonilla. Orig. pp.9–44 (vide pp.12–14).
| Date | 1780-04-03 (exact) |
|---|---|
| From | Caballero Teodoro de Croix, Comandante General |
| Place | Arizpe (Sonora) |
| Series | Provincial State Papers, Benicia (Military) |
| Tomo | IV |
| Original tomo page | 9–44 |
| Savage copy page | 136–142 |
| Scan leaf | n138–n144 |
| Document type | reglamento/memo |
| Source | Savage abstract |
Read this leaf on the Internet Archive ↗ · leaf n138–n144
Caballero Teodoro de Croix, Comandante General, Arizpe (Sonora), 1780-04-03, Provincial State Papers, Benicia (Military), IV, 9–44, Archives of California, C-A 15, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.Cite the document by series, tomo and original tomo page, as the literature does; the C-A number locates it in the repository. To cite this catalogue entry itself, use https://archivesofcalifornia.com/record/ca15/ca15-d170.html