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Frenc/1, /11terventio11 in Spain and Its Reaction in Texas
signed to patrol the entire Gulf coast. That part of the plan pertaining to the defence of the coastal area called for winning over the Indians in the region in order to secure their cooperation in preventing landings by the enemy or in securing immediate information on such landings. He also hoped to find a place on the coast where he could establish a good port to which supplies could be shipped directly from Vera Cruz; but it was his intention not to occupy or even start settling and fortifying it until circumstances demanded such a measure. He confided to Bonavia that he intended to abandon Nacogdoches, where there were no means for its fortification, where sickness was prevalent among the soldiers and the settlers the year round, ,vhere the surrounding country was so barren that it barely produced the essentials of life, and where disloyal citizens, smugglers, and spies were harbored. Under the circumstances, he felt that this post would offer more comfort to the enemy than protection to His Majesty's dominions. But he was not yet ready to carry out this phase of his plan. The importance of retaining the friendship of the Indians made it impera- tive to select one or two other strategic places on the eastern frontier where agents might establish their headquarters to trade among the natives. By way of conclusion he explained the existing regulations on Louisiana emigrants, and warned him not to permit any one-under any circumstances-to settle at Atascosito. 59 It will be recalled that Governor M. de Salcedo immediately upon his arrival in Texas ardently sponsored immigration. On March 20 Don Manuel wrote Commandant General Nemesio Salcedo to suggest that those who were clamoring to enter the province be settled on the vacant lands of the secularized missions in San Antonio. Innocently or not, he set forth the benefits that would accrue to old Villa de San Fernando from the services of these new and industrious citizens, and emphasized the fact that the applicants would be saved much time and labor in getting rehabilitated and becoming self-supporting. Commandant General N. Salcedo replied on April 2 that the existent regulations were to be observed strictly, and that all applicants now in San Antonio, as well as those who had settled there, were to be sent to Villa de Salcedo. He declared that these regulations res"tted, not from arbitrary whims or fancy, but from the lessons of bitter experi- ence. The commandant general instructed Don Manuel to resen·e the lands in the vicinity of San Antonio for more deserving subjects of 59 N. Salcedo to Bonavia, March 24, 1809. Bh:ar Arcltiv1s.
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