Juan de Ugalde (1729-1816) and the provincias internas of Coahuila and Texas
Starnes, Gary Bertram
Starnes, Gary Bertram
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1971
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Abstract
Born in Cadiz in 1729, Ugalde soon followed the example of his forefathers and began a career as a professional soldier in the Spanish Army. Since the problems of eighteenth-century Spain were largely military ones, Ugalde served the Spanish Army in Italy, North Africa, Portugal, and the Americas. As a veteran of fourteen campaigns in the Old World, he was rewarded for his services in 1766 with an appointment as corregidor of Cochabamba, a province located in the eastern region of the Viceroyalty of Peru (modern Bolivia). After landing in Chile, however, Ugalde had his services pre-empted by the Captain-General of Chile who appointed him as Commander of the militias with orders to quell any insurrection that might develop because of the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767. When the threat of an insurrection passed, the Viceroy of Peru transferred him to Lima to serve in another military capacity. Finally allowed to assume his position as corregidor, he remained at that post until his term of office expired in 1772. Transferred to Lima again, he briefly commanded the militias of that capital city before returning to Spain in 1773. Promoted to Colonel and appointed a Knight of the order of Santiago, Ugalde remained in Spain until his assignment as Governor of Coahuila in 1776. Since the reorganization of the northern frontier provinces of New Spain into a Comandancy-General, the main duties of the Provincias Internas governors were military. Ugalde, therefore, concentrated his considerable energies on defending his province against a formidable enemy-the Apache. Between 1779 and 1783, he personally led a series of four campaigns directed mostly at the Mescalero Apaches and succeeded in killing or capturing a substantial number of the wily savages. A disagreement with his immediate superior, Comandante-General Teodoro de Croix, however, led to his premature retirement to Mexico City in 1783. Upon the reorganization of the Provincias Internas under Viceroy Bernardo de Galvez in 1786, Ugalde was returned to duty and promoted to the position of Comandante de Armas with primary jurisdiction over Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Santander, and Texas. Another reorganization under Viceroy Manuel Antonio Flores in 1787 resulted in his promotion to Comandante-General over those same provinces. Still serving principally in a military capacity, he constantly campaigned against the Apaches within his jurisdiction until he was relieved of his command by Viceroy Conde de Revillagigedo in 1790. Because of his contributions to the military defense of the Provincias Internas, he was subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and awarded the Gran Cruz de San Hermenegildo. In Texas, the Canon de Ugalde on the Sabinal River was named in his honor and the modern city and county of Uvalde bear his name. He died in Cadiz in 1816 at the age of eighty-seven.
Contents
Subject
Subject(s)
Ugalde, Juan de, 1729-1816
Mexico--History--To 1810
Texas--History--To 1846
Mexico--History--To 1810
Texas--History--To 1846
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Genre
Dissertation
Description
Format
vi, 107 leaves, bound
Department
History