The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945 Page: 58
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
If war should break out, it would be expedient to
suppress it in a single campaign-a less expensive
method than to be always on the defensive. But even
this would be useless until a colony of one thousand
native Mexican families is planted there, an economical
measure when it is remembered that the funds spent
once in establishing a colony would be spent many
times in maintaining garrisons.
The remainder of this letter is in the form of a private [muy
reservado] report:
The Twelfth Battalion of infantry contains 150
men. It is on duty at Nacogdoches, and should be in-
creased to 500 men; to do this, it will be necessary to
make use of the contingents of deserters from the
states of San Luis, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas, or else
make a levy on the regular troops. It would not be
wise to relieve the Twelfth, for the reason that if an-
other battalion were sent, even though it should set out
with more than the full enrollment, it would arrive in
the same condition as the Twelfth and have to be re-
inforced.
The Ninth Regiment of cavalry has 250 men fit for
duty; its full complement is urgently needed. The duty
of this regiment is a continuous activity in Tamaulipas
and Texas. There are on hand arms and equipment
for the full number. The members who have survived
are acclimated and familiar with the country, and can
be depended upon; wherefore, it would be more prac-
ticable to fill out this body than to send another.
The Eleventh Battalion of infantry, with 100 men,
more or less, remains on guard in the Port of Tampico
de Tamaulipas; if it is not raised to its full number,
its effectiveness as a guard will be of small account,
a danger to the safety of one of our most important
seaports. To lessen the utter uselessness of this body,
I have detained here the Tenth Infantry; but it should
be at the rear, becoming acclimated in Victoria; for
to station it at once in Tampico will be to lose those
still surviving. It has 150 men reported as fit for duty,
but the truth is, all are sick.
The town of Matamoros is a most important mari-
time point; yet it lacks the most ordinary defence;
wherefore, it seems necessary to form a company of
coast guards numbering 150 men, who shall constitute
a part of the infantry militia, and in addition to this
a body of 40 artillerymen of the same class. These
bodies can easily be raised in the department of the
north [Texas]. This matter is so urgent that extra-58
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945, periodical, 1945; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146055/m1/62/: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.