Defense of the Spanish borderlands in the early nineteenth century was a lost cause. Official neglect, expansionist pressures from the Mississippi Valley, and insurgency threatening from south of the Rio Grande all but guaranteed that these years would be the twilight of Spanish rule in the region. In the face of unrest, decline, and collapse, Governor Manuel Maria de Salcedo carried the Bourbon standard in Texas. Until the appearance of this now classic work by Felix D. Almaraz, Jr., both the general history of the Spanish borderlands in this period and the specific role of Governor Salcedo...
Defense of the Spanish borderlands in the early nineteenth century was a lost cause. Official neglect, expansionist pressures from the Mississippi Val...