Preparing to Weather the Storm, 1790-1800
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lmp,-ovement of tlte military. The antiquated arms of frontier troops were replaced in the fall of 1800 by an improved rifle with bayonet. Nava urged the governor to use all the time necessary to acquaint the soldiers in San Antonio with the use of the new guns. He recommended that the men be drilled with more regularity. Mindful of the inadequate number of troops in the Interior Provinces, he authorized the governor to organize a militia of volunteers from among the able-bodied men. Pursuant to these instructions, Mui'ioz enlisted forty men in a company of San Antonio militia, who elected Pedro Zambrano as captain. \Vhen the governor reported the organization of the volunteer corps and indicated that he had assigned them a monthly allowance, Nava pointed out it was not customary to pay volunteers. In view of the con- ditions that prevailed in Texas, however, he authorized the governor to pay the men enlisted at the rate of ten pesos a month for such time as they were occupied in active service. This rate had been approved by the king in the organization of a similar militia company in Mazatlan. If the men needed horses for the performance of their duties when called, these could be furnished at the king's expense, but such horses were not to be used by the volunteer troops except when on active duty. Nava explained that only one-third of the total number of men participating in a campaign could be taken from the militia, who were intended primarily as a home guard. 77 Building ~ new guard-leouse. The need for an ample and safe place of detention had long been felt. Governor Munoz appealed to NaYa for aid. He informed the commandant general that the citizens had agreed to contribute two hundred ninety-eight pesos by voluntary subscription. The construction of the new jail, however, would cost eleYen hundred ninety-five pesos. Munoz asked that in order not to burden the royal treasury, he be permitted to collect a special assessment of one -pt>So on each barrel of aguMdiente ( fire water), and fifty cents on each barrel of wine sold, until the desired amount was raised. To this proposal, NaYa replied that the assessment was illegal. He suggested that the governor take three hundred pesos from the military fund, urge the citizens to contribute more generously, and save on the cost of labor by requiring persons convicted by the courts to work on the new building.~•
77 Nava to Munoz, December 28, 1800, and May 12, 1801. Bh:ar Arc/,r.1es. 78 Nava to Munoz, !\fay I 2, 180 I. Berar Arc/lives.
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