Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia
Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia Compañía Franca de Voluntarios de Cataluña | |
---|---|
Active | 1767–1815 |
Country | Spain |
Branch | Light Infantry |
Role | Garrison |
Garrison/HQ | Guadalajara (1772–1800)
Pedro de Alberní
Pedro Fages |
The Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia (Spanish: Compañía Franca de Voluntarios de Cataluña) was a military company of the Spanish Army serving in the Spanish colonial empire.
Origins
The company was raised in
Service in Sonora
The Catalan Volunteers arrived in
The Establishment of Alta California
In September 1768, Lieutenant
Twelve Volunteers succumbed to illness while awaiting the arrival of the overland arm of the expedition under Captain
In June 1770, command of the military forces in California passed from Portola to the short tempered and relatively inexperienced Fages. His often high handed treatment of soldiers and missionaries and his possible mishandling of the distribution of rations led to criticism from Father
At least one of the Volunteers later returned to retire in California.
Reorganization
In Sonora, the Catalan Volunteers served alongside the Fusileros de Montaña (Mountain Fusiliers), another independent company from Catalonia associated with the 2nd Regiment. As a part of new regulations promulgated in 1772, the two commands were merged and reorganized into two companies of 80 men and 3 officers each: The First Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia, which included the detachment in California under Fages and remained under the command of Captain Callis, and a Second Company under Captain Antonio Pol. Both companies were based in Guadalajara.[4]
Garrison Duty in Central Mexico
As
Return To Sonora
Fages, his reputation now rehabilitated, was promoted to captain and assigned command of the Second Company in early 1776. At the urging of
The following April, the Volunteers of the Second Company were posted to the Presidio of El Pitic (modern Hermosillo) in response to renewed hostilities with the Seris, who quickly surrendered.
At the urging of Lt. Col
In December 1780, with the Second Company now down to half strength, Fages left Terrenate for Mexico City for new recruits. In his absence, the Presidio was ordered abandoned, and the garrison moved to its previous location at Santa Cruz, Sonora, which was believed to be more defensible and easily supplied. The company was soon once again posted at El Pitic, where they were employed in putting down another rebellion by the Seris.
In September 1781, Fages led an expedition that included 40 men of the Second Company to the
During the third expedition in the Fall of 1783, Fages was appointed
The Pacific Northwest and California
The Volunteer's mission was to secure Spain's claims to the Pacific Northwest against incursions by the British and, in particular, the Russians. To that end, Alberni's men were employed as
The First Company returned to Guadalajara in 1792, though some Volunteers remained on detached duty in Nootka as late as 1794. In 1796, as a response to the War of the
Part of Alberní's mission in California was to establish a new civilian settlement called the
Alberní was appointed Governor of California in 1800 and was replaced as Captain by
Dissolution of the Companies
Lt. Col. Alberni died in Monterey in 1802. He was the last of the original group of officers who had sailed from Barcelona in 1767. By this time, the unit was no longer Catalan in character with men and even officers largely from other parts of Spain and criollos from Mexico.
In 1810, the Volunteers were mobilized against the revolt of
The Volunteers managed to survive as a Company, participating in the battles of Tuxpango, Tlacótepe, and Ajuchitlán, through 1815, by which time they were no longer a discrete unit, having been absorbed into larger battalions.[6]
Uniform
Its uniform consisted of blue coat with yellow collar and cuffs, yellow waistcoat, blue breeches and black tricorne hat with the red cockade of the House of Bourbon.
There were two drummers on the strength of the company. After 1760, Spanish army drummers wore the livery of the
Images in Modern Culture
The crest of the
The Catalan Volunteers are portrayed in the 1955 American film
An infantry soldier wearing a Catalan Volunteer uniform briefly appears in the opening scene of the 1968 film Guns of San Sebastian which, like Seven Cities of Gold, stars Anthony Quinn. However, the movie is supposed to take place in 1746, twenty years before the Volunteers' arrival in New Spain.[9]
See also
Notes
- ^ Sanchez, pgs. 3–12.
- ^ Sanchez, pg 16–30
- ^ Sanchez, pg. 32–57
- ^ Sanchez, pg. 103–104
- ^ Chartrand 2000, The Nootka Incident.
- ^ Sanchez, pg. 134–140
- ^ "Crest". Defense Language Institute. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
- IMDb
- IMDb
References
- Catalans al Canadà
- Chartrand, Réné (2000), Canadian Military Heritage, vol. II, Art Global, retrieved 29 November 2007[permanent dead link];
- Sanchez, Joseph (1990), Spanish Bluecoats: The Catalonian Volunteers in Northwestern New Spain, 1767–1810, University of New Mexico Press;