page_title: Military of New Spain
section_title: Seventeenth century
hierarchical_section_title: Military of New Spain / Seventeenth century
caption_attribution_description: Español: óleo por Eduardo Pringuet. Imagen tomada de la revista Artes de México, núm. 116, año XV, 1969, sin página.
context_page_description: The Military of New Spain played an insignificant role during the 17th century. The new Mexican society growing on the ruins left by the conquest was peaceful. A very limited number of regular troops, a couple of companies, were enough to keep the peace. The defense against external enemies was based on a limited number of fortified port cities. Spanish conflicts with the Kingdom of Great Britain during the 18th century changed this. The Bourbon Reforms meant sending regular troops from Spain to New Spain, raising several colonial line infantry regiments, and creating a local militia that also included former slaves. The Northern frontier was the exception to the peacefulness of Mexico, with constant warfare with the nomadic Native Americans.
context_section_description: In sharp contrast to New France's militarization, but also in contrast to the experience of the Thirteen Colonies during the French and Indian Wars, the military in New Spain played an insignificant role during the 17th century. The new Mexican society growing on the ruins left by the conquest was peaceful. The indigenous population was unarmed and the few popular uprisings could easily be defeated and posed no serious threat to Spanish power. In the interior of Mexico, there were only a couple of regular companies, which in the event of disruptions could be strengthened with levies from the merchant, haciendados, and artisan classes. The geographical limitations insulated the interior of Mexico from external enemies. The silver mines in the north were secured by the large desert areas that a hostile army could not penetrate. The deadly tropical diseases on the Caribbean coast, the lack of suitable bases on the West Coast, and the long and poor road network, made the coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico, the only areas in need of defense, against hostile powers, pirates and smugglers.
  The defense of New Spain against external enemies was based on a limited number of fortified port cities. On the west coast, there were no serious threats and the small Fort of San Diego in Acapulco, the port of call for the Manila galleon, was enough to meet all foreseeable contingencies. In the Caribbean, there were stronger fortifications to secure maritime communications with the mother country. The dominant winds led the silver galleons through the Straits of Florida; the fortress city of Havana, and the fortifications of St. Augustine in Florida, protected the only point where New Spain could really be threatened. On the surrounding mainland there were also strong fortress cities with regular garrisons. On the Mexican mainland it was Veracruz; in Yucatan, Campeche; and in the New Granada, Cartagena de Indias. As long as these fortresses could be held or quickly relieved, and as long as the large annual convoys could be assembled, there were no serious threats against New Spain.
caption: Fort San Juan de Ulúa, the Spanish fortress in Veracruz.
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