Uniforms and Equipment of Spanish Frontier Soldiers

Ramón de Murillo’s sketch of the soldado de cuera .

(Article written by Jonathan Woodward)

During the eighteenth-century, Spain controlled most of the modern US Southwest, including Texas. To defend this region from both foreign encroachment and Indian attacks, the Spanish government established various fortresses or presidios along the frontier zones and garrisoned them with militia and eventually special cavalry troopers. These men became known as soldados de cuera or “leather jacket soldiers,” named for the sleeveless leather coat worn to protect the cavalryman from Indian arrows. While popular memory has been kind to the cuera cavalry and the presidios they garrisoned, the historical record reveals a different story. Separated from the centers of colonial New Spain, these soldiers were often under threat from possible Indian attacks or insurgency, were often poorly trained, typically ill-equipped, and often lacking in basic supplies.

The popular memory of the presidial soldiers contains a romantic vision of who these men were and what they did. The soldado de cuera has typically been depicted as a tough, hard-riding but picturesque Indian fighter who guarded the far-flung northern regions of Spain’s empire, and as the ultimate symbol of Spain’s domination in the Southwest. Some of this is not completely unwarranted, as the soldiers were quite picturesque, at least on paper. The most popular depiction of the soldado de cuera comes from the Reglamento de 1772 (Regulation of 1772), passed as part of efforts by Spain to reform the presidial system. The regulations required that each soldier be clothed in a short blue jacket with red collar and cuffs, blue breeches, a blue cape, a black neckerchief, a buckskin cross belt with the company name embroidered upon it, a black broad brimmed hat, leather leggings, and shoes. The most distinctive piece of the presidialsoldiers uniform was the cuera, a knee-length, sleeveless leather coat constructed from layers of buckskin and designed to protect the soldier from Indian arrows.

Along with his distinct uniform, the soldado de cuera was supposed to be heavily armed. Every soldier was supposed to carry an escopeta, a short flintlock musket designed for mounted warfare, a brace of pistols, a lance measuring eight to nine feet long, and a bull-hide shield or adarga. Another weapon carried by the cuera cavalry was the espada ancha or “broad sword”, a short, broad weapon with a blade usually measuring around eighteen inches in length, which many soldiers made by cutting down their regulation sword blades for ease of use while mounted. Not only was the soldado de cuera supposed to carry such an enviable array of weapons, but he was also supposed to maintain his own personal stable. To ensure that every man would have a fresh mount, each trooper was originally provided with ten horses, reduced to six in 1729 with the addition of a mule, then increased in 1772 with an additional colt. The reason for this was that the great weight of the soldier and his equipment often wore the horses out quickly. Spain also had to ensure that replacements for lost or killed mounts were available, as without his horse a cavalryman is almost worthless.

By the second half of the eighteenth century, the presidio system was found to be in dire straits, as was evident by the difficulty in supplying the presidios themselves. As mentioned earlier, the presidial soldiers often found themselves lacking basic goods such as firearms, powder, and shot because of this inability. Part of this inability was caused by official Spanish regulation and policy with regards to the presidios, such as in the Reglamento de 1729 (Regulation of 1729). The regulation states that the original salary of a presidial solider was three hundred pesos per year with a musket every two years, and changes this to an extra fifteen pesos as a substitute for the musket along with six pounds of gunpowder from the company storeroom, the soldiers now expected to purchase their own musket with the extra fifteen pesos. Alongside muskets, soldiers were expected to purchase all equipment. This system continued into the nineteenth century, with Ramón de Murillo stating in an 1804 letter to a minster of Carlos IV: “They draw the supplies, munitions, and other necessities from their respective stores, as well as three horses and a mule.”

The supplies that presidial soldiers were expected to purchase had to be brought north from the Mexican interior. The Spanish supply system was highly centralized on Mexico City, the capital of New Spain. As such, all supplies and goods were required to pass through the city before beginning the trek. Goods meant for presidios were typically brought from Spain to Veracruz before journeying to Mexico City for inventory. The supplies were then hauled north, primarily by mule train, to be delivered to the presidios. These supply trains often brought goods such as flour, chocolate and cloth into the presidio and would return to Mexico with the nearby town’s goods for sale, such as cattle hides, jerky, and tallow. In Texas, the presidios relied on Saltillo, as this was a major center of trade in northern New Spain.

Regarding warfare, the presidial soldiers of Texas were seriously affected by supply shortages as they often hindered their ability to fight. Though the soldado de cuera was expected to be a one-man arsenal on horseback, he at times found himself lacking in firepower. Spanish policy dictated that all weapons for presidio and militia troops were to come from Spain and forbade the manufacture of firearms in the colonies. This combined with the convoluted supply system and difficulty of transport led to a general deficiency of firearms on the frontier, with the available weapons often in poor condition. In addition to poor quality firearms, presidial soldiers often found themselves lacking ball and powder for ammunition, limiting their ability to even use their guns and forcing them to rely on their lances or swords. The lack of supplies also made it difficult for presidial cavalry to pursue hostile natives after raids. This is noted in the diary of Captain Pedro José de la Fuente, a presidialofficer stationed at the presidio of El Paso del Norte. Fuente notes that in October 1765, a party of troopers were sent to pursue a party of Apache that had stolen horses from Socorro and were unable to overtake the Apache and forced to return due to a lack of supplies and horses. Fuente also notes that the Lucero Expedition of 1765 was also forced to retreat because their supplies were so low that they feared that they did not have enough to return to the presidio.The inability to properly supply the presidios naturally affected the conditions within these fortresses. One aspect is that of clothing, because the soldiers were supplied so infrequently their clothing often wore out and was unable to be replaced in a timely manner.

In the 1770s, Teodoro de Croix inspected the presidios from Texas to California and found many troopers poorly equipped and ssupplied. A focus of Croix’s efforts was to make the presidial cavalry more effective as an offensive arm and improve their fighting capabilities. Croix believed that this was best achieved by the creation of new kind of soldier for the frontier, the tropa ligera or “light trooper.” The ligera was meant to require less equipment and fewer horses than the soldado de cuera, therefore making them faster moving and less encumbered soldiers. To this end, Croix regulated that his light troopers would carry neither the cuera nor the adarga, as he believed the cuera’s weight of eighteen to twenty pounds wore horses out to quickly and that the adarga provided no offensive advantage to the soldier. Theoretically, these changes in equipment would have made the soldiers easier to supply, as the soldiers were now supposed to carry less equipment and have fewer horses. The soldier still had his musket, pistols, sword and lance to fight with and still needed his uniform, minus the cuera. Despite this reform, the Spanish continued to rely on the overland system that had dominated the supply chain since the inception of the presidios.

In 1804, Ramón de Murillo, a private citizen of New Spain,wrote to Manuel de Godoy, the prime minister of King Carlos IV with his suggestions on how the frontier defenses of New Spain could be reformed. Murillo justified his suggestions by stating that he had served as a cadet for six years in both administrative capacities in the Interior Province and in the field where he claimed to have participated in campaigns against the Apache. Murillo’s proposal contains a description of the equipment and dress of presidial soldiers where he states that a degree of tolerance in dress was present due to lack of proper uniforms that they end up looking ridiculous. Murillo also mentions that the supply system of company storerooms was still in use, as mentioned earlier. Murillo suggested that the best changes for the frontier soldiers was the abolition of the soldado de cuera, as he felt this type of soldier was a relic and like Croix, specifically felt that the cuera was useless. To replace the cueracavalry, Murillo proposed that two new regiments of cavalry be raised for frontier service, which he titles the Usares de Texas (Hussars of Texas) and the Cazadores de Nueva Vizcaya(Chasseurs of New Vizcaya).

(Murillo’s sketch of the Hussars of Texas)

(Murillo’s sketch of the New Vizcaya Chasseurs)

Despite their specific designation, Murillo suggested that the hussars would replace the presidial companies and the chasseurs would replace the flying companies, meaning these troops would be stationed across New Spain, including Texas. Both forces represented a complete overhaul of the presidialuniform and equipment for frontier cavalry, specifically with the cuera and lance being removed. To explain his proposed changes, Murillo provided three watercolors with his letter, one of the traditional soldado de cuera that he wished to replace, and two depicting the hussars and chasseurs he wished to see formed. The hussars were to be dressed in blue trousers, a red dolman (a tight-fitting short jacket), a blue pelisse (a loose jacket worn over the left shoulder, a black shako, and armed with a brace of pistols and a saber. The chasseurs were to wear blue trousers, a blue jacket with red trim, a black shako, and armed with a saber, pistols, and a carbine. Both the hussars and chasseurs were to retain the adarga, which Murillo stated was more pratical for defense than the cuera. The chasseurs were to wear typical European chasseur uniforms, with short bluejackets and trousers, riding boots, and shakos.

Despite his comprehensive suggestions for reform, none of Murillo’s ideas ever came to fruition. His proposed Texas Hussars and New Vizcaya Chasseurs were never created and the soldado de cuera remained the dominant soldier on the northern frontier of New Spain, along with the presidio system. This was the result not only of administrative complication in the colonial government because of constant reorganization, but by 1804 Spain was focusing on the early stages of the Napoleonic Wars as an ally of France, though this changed following the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. This left the colonies without proper royal oversight and caused Murillo’s proposal to be completely overlooked.

Despite these supply deficiencies, the soldado de cueraremained Spain’s most prominent presence in the Southwest, though he was unable to survive the onset of Mexican independence in 1821 intact. The legacy of the cuera cavalry continued in the Mexican forces as presidiales with their lances and broad-brimmed hats but was completely removed following the acquisition of the Southwest, especially Texas and California, by the United States with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848. The romantic image of the dashing Spanish cavalry still exists in Texas, though the truth is likely that these men did not live up to that picturesque ideal because of failures of the Spanish supply system.