Francisco Amangual, Trustee of the Presidio: Administration, Dereliction, and the Flying Squadrons in the Comandancia General, 1700-1810

Captain Francisco Amangual (1739–1810) was a military officer who played an important role in the administration of BÉxar, Texas, as the presidio paymaster from 1788 to 1793. His documentation, including stockpiles, litigious actions, correspondence, military service records, criminal investigations, and monthly company reports, provides a unique insight into army life in the periphery of New Spain. The book also examines the evolution of the flying squadrons, a specialized contingent charged with surveilling New Spain's frontiers, and assigns a critical reevaluation of the colonial presidio experience.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 31 December 2023
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

The Military Career of Captain Francisco Amangual (1739-1810)

Historian Roland RodrÍguez delves into the military career of Captain Francisco Amangual (1739-1810), whose presence in the presidial hierarchy encompassed active participation in convoys, skirmishes, and routine, day-to-day administration. The central focus of the narrative examines Amangual's tenure as the presidio paymaster (habilitado) for BÉxar, Texas, from 1788 to 1793. Amangual and his colleagues generated extensive documentation, including stockpiles, legal actions, correspondence, military service records, criminal investigations, and monthly company reports. Their interactions with Native polities, civilians, and fellow soldiers shed light on the overarching administrative functions fulfilled by the paymaster in New Spain's Comandancia General. Drawing from a wide array of archival sources, RodrÍguez's approach prioritizes the significance of borderland operatives, documenting the seemingly mundane activities of life in the garrison and the more harrowing episodes of soldiering. What remains today from their writings is a unique body of literature about army life in the periphery.

This case study aims to bring to the forefront the role of one lesser-known actor in the history of presidios as an unapologetic navigator of complex bureaucratic obligations, even as he soldiered on during the empire's twilight. A secondary but no less important focus of the book examines the evolution of the so-called flying squadrons (compaÑÍas volantes), a kind of make-ready cavalry unit in the Provincias Internas. The volantes evolved as a specialized contingent charged with surveilling New Spain's frontiers. Late in life, Amangual headed the San Carlos de Parras company. In much the same way as it brings Amangual's multi-faceted career to light, the book assigns a cogent place to the role of t.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781648431463