Royalist

Evolution of the royalist army

There are two types of units: expeditionary units ( in Spanish: expedicionarios) created in Spain and militias (in Spanish: milicias), units which already existed or were created during the conflict in America. The militias, which were composed wholly of militiamen who were residents or natives of Spanish America, were bolstered by the presence of "veteran units" (or "disciplined militia") composed of Peninsular and Spanish American veterans of Spain's wars in Europe and around the globe. The veteran units were expected to form a core of experienced soldiers in the local defenses, whose expertise would be invaluable to the regular militiamen who often lacked sustained military experience, if any. The veteran units were created in the past century as part of the Bourbon Reforms to reinforce Spanish America's defenses against the increasing encroachment of other European powers, such as during the Seven Years' War.

Overall, Europeans formed only about a tenth of the royalist armies in Spanish America, and only about half of the expeditionary units. Since each European soldier casualty was substituted by a Spanish American soldier, over time, there were more and more Spanish American soldiers in the expeditionary units. For example Pablo Morillo, commander in chief in Venezuela and New Granada, reported that he only had 2,000 European soldiers, in other words, only half of the soldiers of his expeditionary force were European. It is estimated that in the Battle of Maipú only a quarter of the royalist forces were European soldiers, in the Battle of Carabobo about a fifth, and in the Battle of Ayacucho less than 1% was European.

The American militias reflected the racial make-up of the local population. For example, in 1820 the royalist army in Venezuela had 843 white (español), 5,378 Casta and 980 Native soldiers.

Royalist army

References

Bibliography

• Kenneth J. Andrien and Lyman L. Johnson (1994). The Political Economy of Spanish America in the Age of Revolution, 1750-1850. Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 9780826314895
• Timothy Anna (1983). Spain & the Loss of Empire. Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803210141
• Benson, Nettie Lee (ed.) (1966). Mexico and the Spanish Cortes. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Christon I. Archer (ed.) (2000). The Wars of Independence in Spanish America. Willmington, SR Books. ISBN 0-8420-2469-7
• Michael P. Costeloe (1986). Response to Revolution: Imperial Spain and the Spanish American Revolutions, 1810-1840. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521320832
• Jorge I. Domínguez (1980). Insurrection or Loyalty: The Breakdown of the Spanish American Empire. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674456358
• Marie Laure Rieu-Millan (1990). Los diputados americanos en las Cortes de Cádiz: Igualdad o independencia. (In Spanish.) Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. ISBN 978-8400070915
• Jaime E. Rodríguez O. (1998). The Independence of Spanish America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62673-0
• Mario Rodríguez (1978). The Cádiz Experiment in Central America, 1808 to 1826. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520033948