Our Catholic Heritage in TexM
of officers to be chosen solely on the basis of qualifications for military service. Zambrano counseled the same action for the auxiliary militia of Nuevo Leon and that of Texas.' Tho members of the Junta took the matter under advisement on March 23, 18n. Three days later they were hastily organizing a group of five hundred men to march to Laredo. Events moved rapidly and develop- ments brought about the complete, though temporary, success of the counterrevolutionists. The proposed plan for the reorganization of the various units stationed in San Antonio was finally tabled on April 20, 18u. 1 When Governor Salcedo resumed his office in December, 1811, he ex- pressed the same distrust of the troops under his command which Zambrano had voiced. His uneasiness grew steadily. The men in the province had been contaminated by the Revolution. They had too many relatives and friends, who, sympathetic with the new ideas, constantly weakened their loyalty. In March he wrote to the Viceroy that the forces under his com- mand were fickle and inadequate to meet a foreign attack or a concerted rebellion. He had in the entire province a total of 1,136 men. Of these, more than 400 were stationed at Nacogdoches, Trinidad, La Bahia, and San Marcos; some 250 others were on sick roll, or used for guarding prisoners, escorting supplies, scouting and carrying dispatches. There were, therefore, less than 400 men left to fight the Comanches, Tawakoni and Taovayas, who were on the warpath, a fact, which produced a sense of insecurity among the citizens and consequent widespread discontent.' Early summer confirmed the rumored organization of an expedition of filibusters and revolutionists in Louisiana. As the danger of invasion became a reality, Salcedo wrote the Viceroy in despair. Unless reenforce- ments were rushed from Vera Cruz by sea, Texas, "the bulwark of the Kingdom," would be swept away by the new wave of revolution. When these Texas deserters and fugitives returned from Louisiana at the head of a liberating army, they would, he declared, inevitably be joined by their former comrades, friends, and relatives. He complained bitterly that he had neither troops nor officers capable of meeting the onslaught. He did not dare trust them after what had happened in January of 1811. The Governor advised meeting the attack on the frontier. He desired 1 Seiiores Vocales de la Junta de Govtes. San Fernando de Bejar, March 2 3, 181 I, Naco1doc/ie1 Arc/iives, XV. 1 Vote of the Governing Junta, San Fernando de Bejar, April 20, 18II, Nacog- doc/ies Arc/iives, XV. 'Manuel Salcedo to the Viceroy, Bejar, March 10, 1812, Historia, O-jeracio,,,s di G111rro, vol. I, pt. 1, .A.G.N.
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