Our Catl1olic Heritage in Texas
386
\,Vith regard to the Indians, Nemesio Salcedo had said that the natives were actuated by only two motives: fear and gain. To attempt the estab- 1ishment of trading posts at this time was out of the question, the com- mandant general had pointed out, becau,;e the goods could not be secured except in the United States and it would be foolish to purchase Indian supplies from the Americans to resell in competition with them. The only solution he could see for the Indian problem was to distribute gifts more liberally to the chiefs and friendly tribes, and to promise them relief after the war. N. Salcedo had noted that, according to the report of Cordero, there were in the province only 371 men between 18 and 45. He had author- ized Governor Cordero to organize three companies for service in San Antonio and La Bahia. He believed that Nacogdoches did not need and could not support more than the 50 men stationed there, because it did not have either quarters or the necessary food supply. The militia was to form a home guard and to receive military instruction. He had empowered the governor to furnish the militia with the 91 guns and bayonets in the armory, for, as he pointed out, this type of rifle was useless to the cavalry. The militiamen were to receive no pay when not on active duty. 81 More pressing duties and the reluctance of the inhabitants themselves had prevented the governor from organizing the Texas militia. \Vhen Governor Manuel de Salcedo arrived in 1808, he became vitally interested in the project and found the new frontier commander, Bonavia, thor- oughly in favor of the movement. On June 26, 1809, the new governor called the attention of Bonavia to the fact that the Americans had neither withdrawn nor disbanded the large number of troops mobilized on the Texas-Louisiana-Florida frontier in spite of the fact that the British Fleet had not put in at Pensacola as the Americans had alleged and against which they had armed. Furthermore, Foronda, the secretary of the Spanish minister in Philadelphia, had recently arrived in Vera Cruz on a secret mission. Governor de Salcedo advised Bonavia, there- fore, that it was time to prepare against a surprise attack. Time was precious, particularly in a province so lacking in money, ready resources, and manpower. "Great will be our sorrow," he said, "to find ourselves defeated because of overconfidence."
llN. de Salcedo to Cordero, September 11, 1807. Nacogdoches Archives, XI, pp. 67-72.
Powered by FlippingBook