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Regiment History |
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Beginnings On February 28, 1741 a Royal Order from HM Felipe V of Spain was published containing the “Regulations for the Garrison at the Plaza of Puerto Rico, castles and forts under its jurisdiction”. Through this document the Governor and Captain General Matías de Abadía was informed that the garrison of Puerto Rico would have one infantry battalion of four companies, each one with 84 men, and one company of artillery with 64 soldiers, for a total of 400 men. Initially it was named the “Veteran’s Battalion” but by the following year it would be referred to as the “Fixed Battalion”. One of the most important characteristics of this unit was the fact that local residents were allowed to enlist. At its founding the officers, and most soldiers, were experienced Europeans but the ratio of its composition changed as the years passed. It is estimated that by the early 19th century about 80% of its troops were “criollos”. (see sidebar) In 1756 the famous Field Marshall Alejandro O’Reilly arrived at Puerto Rico with the commission to upgrade the military preparedness of the complete Spanish Caribbean region. He was not impressed with the state of the defenses nor the troops and enacted a series of reforms and measures. As a result the garrison’s size was increased from one to two infantry battalions with one company of artillery. In order to maintain military strength various troops were assigned temporarily to San Juan including regiments from Toledo, León, Victoria, Brussels, and Naples. Spain provided commercial and military support to the American colonies in their struggle for independence against Britain. As part of their defensive preparations in the Caribbean six companies from the Regiment of Brussels arrived at San Juan in 1776 and by 1780 an additional 500 veteran reinforcements were added. By 1782 Spain’s forces from the Louisiana territories, led by Bernardo de Gálvez, had defeated the British in battles at Manchac, Baten Rouge, Natchez, Mobile, and Pensacola. Due to the heightened state of alert in the region, Puerto Rico had a militia at that time that consisted of approximately 3,000 infantry soldiers and 500 cavalry troops. The Fixed Battalion becomes a Regiment On August 18, 1789 a Royal Order was published establishing the Fixed Regiment of Puerto Rico with two battalions of five companies each. The increase in numbers of troops was done to compensate for the loss of the Regiment of Naples which had transferred to Havana, Cuba. As a measure of additional reinforcement, the Regiment of Cantabria arrived in Puerto Rico with 1,366 veterans in 1790. San Juan is Defended On April 17, 1797, a British fleet of approximately 60 ships was sighted off the northern coast of Puerto Rico. Led by General Ralph Abercromby, an estimated 6000 British and German (Lowenstein’s Fusiliers and Chasseurs) troops disembarked and lay siege to San Juan. At the time the Fixed Regiment was providing military support in neighboring Santo Domingo and had less than 1000 soldiers in San Juan. Despite being significantly outnumbered the Governor of Puerto Rico, Don Ramón de Castro, orchestrated a masterful coordinated defense together with his available militia forces. The combination of state-of-the-art fortification, effective use of artillery, counterattack raids, plus several cases of battlefield heroics, proved to be too much for the invaders. By May 2nd the British warships set sail putting and end to the siege. The End for the Fixed Regiment The Fixed Regiment of Puerto Rico maintained a distinguished track record supporting the Spanish crown against the independence movements in South America. It fought in Santo Domingo against French forces and in South America against revolutionary troops. In 1815 King Fernando VII unceremoniously dissolved the Fixed Regiment in response to complaints regarding its deployment to Venezuela. Bibliography Abbad y Lasierra, Fray Íñigo, Historia geográfica, civil y natural de la isla de San Juan Butista de Puerto Rico (1778), Editirial Universitaria, 1959. Cadilla de Martínez, María, Rememorando el pasado histórico, Imprenta Venezuela, San Juan, 1946. Cifré de Loubriel, Estela, Catálogo de extranjeros residentes en Puerto Rico en el siglo XIX, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, 1962. Coll y Toste, Cayetano, Boletín Histórico de Puerto Rico, Tipografía Cantero, San Juan, 1914-1927. Córdova, Pedro Tomás de, Memorias geográficas, históricas, económicas y estadísticas de Puerto Rico, Oficina de Gobierno, Madrid, 1838. De Hostos, Adolfo, Historia de San Juan-ciudad murada, Instituto de Cultura, San Juan, 1966. Fernández Méndez, Eugenio (editor), Puerto Rico y su historia, Departamento de Instrucción Pública, San Juan, 1965-1969. Gomez Ruiz, M. and Alonso Juanola, V., El Ejercito de los Borbones. Tropas de Ultramar, Siglo XVIII, Servicio Historico Militar, Madrid, Spain, 1992. Ledrú, André Pierre (translated by Julio L. de Vizcarrondo), Viaje a la Isla de Puerto Rico (1797), Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, 1957. Miyares González, Fernando, Noticias particulares de la isla y plaza de San Juan de Puerto Rico (1775), Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, 1954. Negroni, Hector A., Historia Militar de Puerto Rico, Ediciones Siruela, Madrid, Spain, 1992. Torrres Ramírez, Bibiano, La isla de Puerto Rico 1765-1800, Instituto de Cultura, San Juan, 1968. |
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Definition: Criollo According to the Royal Spanish Academy (“Real Academia Española”) this term is used to describe a person born in the Americas with European or African ancestry. |
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Defending the island since the 18th century |
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Regimiento Fijo de Puerto Rico |