In preparing these posts concerning the Spanish in the 18th century American Southwest, one runs across individual personalities involved in each of these situations. Sometimes, these personalities are rather flippant or indecisive in nature. At other times though, they are forceful, decisive, and direct. One of the latter is Lieutenant Colonel Don Pedro de Fages of the Catalonian Volunteers. This post, and at the very least the next one, will relate his life leading up to his role in assisting in quelling the Yuma Uprising of 1781 along the Rio Colorado. Promise and Default of the Provinicas Internas - 1781: Reprise - Lieutenant Colonel Pedro de Fages, Pt. I The sources used in this post are: Kessel, John L. Friars, Soldiers, and Reformers: Hispanic Arizona and the Sonora Mission Frontier, 1767-1856, (The University of Arizona Press, 1976). Sanchez, Joseph P. Spanish Bluecoats: The Catalonian Volunteers in Northwestern New Spain, 1767-1810, (University of New Mexico Press, 1990). When the Commandant General Teodoro de Croix in Arizpe, Sonora received word of the the uprising of the Yumas against the Spanish settlers of the Rio Colorado in mid-July 1781, he immediately dispatched the most readily available military figure who was close at hand. This particular individual was Lieutenant Colonel Don Pedro de Fages of the Catalonian Volunteers. Pedro de Fages was born in Guisona, Catalonia at some point in 1734 and began his career as a military officer in 1762 with the 2nd Regiment of Catalonian Light Infantry as a sublieutenant (Sanchez, p. 59). In 1767, the Spanish called for volunteers to form a new company, destined for service in the Americas. Sublieutenant de Fages volunteered and was promoted to Lieutenant on May 12, 1767 at the age of thirty-three, making him the second-in-command of the newly formed Free Company of Catalonian Volunteers (Sanchez, p. 59-60). He received orders to travel with his company to Mexico to join a military campaign into Sonora under Colonel Domingo Elizondo ..to humble once and for all the wild Seri Indians and their rebel Pima allies (Kessel, p. 18). For the next several years, de Fages won a reputation for skill in leading troops, decisive decisions in the field, quick intelligence and as a ...courageous individual who never shirked his duty (Sanchez, p. 62). He also won a reputation for being a difficult personality to deal with. These complaints levelled at him over the years of his service in the Americas would include bad treatment of troops under his command, arrogant remarks and lack of respect towards his troops which created dissension among them, and withholding adequate rations from his men to the point where they were facing starvation (Sanchez, p. 61-66). These complaints were made not only by men serving under him but, also by the priests who accompanied his expeditions. It was around 1774 that he acquired the nickname El Oso, The Bear, ...because of the many bear hunts he had undertaken (Sanchez, p. 67). He could have just as easily gained his moniker due to his ...strong, aggressive personality (Sanchez, p. 67). But, ...like his English colonial counterpart, Daniel Boone, de Fages would earn his share of frontier accolades (Sanchez, p. 67). In 1778, while he was stationed in Guadalajara, de Fages married Eulalia Callis. He was about seventeen years older than his wife, who, at the time of their marriage, was only twenty-five while de Fages was forty-two. By 1777, de Fages had been promoted to captain of the Catalonian Volunteers. He and his men were dispatched to El Pitic, present-day Hermosillo, Sonora, and then further to the presidio of Santa Cruz. This was a particularly difficult and dangerous assignment because once there, he and his men experienced almost daily attacks from the hostile Apaches (Sanchez, p. 69). This same year, Pedro de Fages was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel while he was still on the frontier. By 1780, he would be in Mexico City recruiting troops for his command, which ...had been depleted by deaths, desertions, and retirements (Sanchez, p. 69). By May 1781, de Fages had completed recruiting of his company and had returned with them to Arizpe, capital of Sonora. The party arrived ...none to soon, for on the night of May 30, Eulalia gave birth to Pedro Jose Fernando de Fages...who...was baptized on June 4, 1781 (Sanchez, p. 70). Lieutenant Colonel Pedro de Fages would only stay in the provincial capital of Sonora for a brief time. In the summer of 1781, he and his troopers were moved to El Pitic to put down a rebellion of their old enemies, the Seri. While the Catalonian Volunteers were stationed there, de Fages would receive orders from Commandant General Teodoro de Croix to lead an expedition to the Rio Colorado and check on rumors of a rebellion there among the Yumas. This was the last military expedition for Lieutenant Colonel Pedro de Fages as commander of the Catalonian Volunteers.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 03:23:56 +0000
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