3 Soldiers of Florida: Case studies of a Mexican, Spaniard and Floridano soldiers in the 17-18th centuries

3 Soldiers of Florida

Abstract: This Chapter utilizes three ‘case studies’ found in the notes of Luis Arana at the collection of the Castillo de San Marcos. The case studies outline the careers of three soldiers in Florida. Arana worked from Spanish documents to write the case studies, and the information found in them is, to my knowledge, previously unpublished. 

A major point of interest for the student of history and the public at large is the lives of everyday people living and working in the time periods that are studied by the historian. Colonial Florida is not different, and perhaps even more important because of Florida’s unique Spanish heritage and history.  The late Historian for the Castillo de San Marcos,  Luis Arana, put together what he called case histories of soldiers who lived in the late 17th and early 18th century in Florida to better understand the lives of the Florida soldiers.  Arana researched the history of three such Florida soldiers. The three came from separate walks of life; one was a Florida, another a Mexican and the third, a Spaniard. Their careers sometimes overlapped, but their experiences and outcomes were often different.

The first such soldier that Arana studies were Fransisco Romo de Uriza, born in Florida in 1657. His father, Juan Sanchez de Uriza had been an officer himself in the Florida garrison. In 1673 at the age of sixteen Fransisco joined the infantry as a private. A mere two years later in 1675, at the age of eighteen, he became a sergeant, skipping the rank of corporal altogether. The connections that Fransisco had certainly served him well, he continued to climb the ranks with speed, nine months after his promotion to sergeant he was made an officer when he was appointed to the be the ensign of an infantry company. In 1677 he became a “Captain of a military and naval crew of a vessel to go on a trip by sea.” Not long after his return from the ocean going trip, he was made a Captain on half pay, which allowed him to take varied and unique assignments from the governor when necessary.  Fransisco went on to have a somewhat exciting career, in 1682 he was dispatched to reinforce the settlement at San Marcos in the Apalachee province and defend it form French pirates. The Following year he was entrusted with the command of the Ayoman watchtower several miles south of Matanzas inlet. Upon his arrival to the watchtower to assume command he discovered that it had been captured by pirates. Evading capture he returned to St. Augustine to warn the city, and later another officer successfully repelled the pirates in their advance on the city.  In the following years, Uriza’s duties would transcend that of a regular soldier, and he was made the Lieutenant governor of the Guale Province, a little over a year later he assumed the same position in the Apalachee province where he oversaw the construction of Fort Apalachicola.

In 1692 Fransisco Romo de Uriza’s father passed away suddenly, and the governor made him the acting captain in command of his late father’s infantry company. For brief time in 1696 Uriza was in charge of all three infantry companies because one of the commanders had become blind, and the other was under arrest. The Crown appointed replacement to take command of Uriza’s father’s infantry company died before he could arrive, and so finally in 1700, the Crown appointed Fransisco Romo de uriza the captain in command of his late father’s infantry company. In 1702 Uriza found himself taking reinforcements to Apalachee where he learned from a native American that the English were planning to attack the city of St. Augustine, Uriza quickly sent word back and can likely be credited with saving the city through his timely warning. He, along with three other soldiers arrived later in November, during the siege, and were able to surveil the town and sneak past English lines and gain entry to the fortress where he served throughout the remainder of the siege. After the siege, he continued his command of the infantry company and likely saw continued action in the frontier fighting against the English. By 1708 he was made an appraiser of the public, and private property destroyed during the siege, likely in addition to his regular duties.  He continued his high profile assignments in 1713 with a trip to Mexico to collect the paying fund for the soldiers of Florida. He was promoted to acting Major in 1718 and was still serving in that capacity in 1720 when he likely passed away at the age of sixty-three years old. 

Fransisco Romo de Uriza served the Crown in Florida from 1672 until 1720, a total of forty-seven years. Forty-seven years in which this Florida climbed the ranks from a mere private in an infantry company to the Major of the Florida garrison. He acted as a Lt. Governor, commanded ships, fought with pirates and filled some of the most important duties in the colony throughout his tenure. Fransisco's connections, specifically through his father, made this possible. His father was a high ranking man and served with distinction; it is likely that his father’s influence on the colony is the reason that a young man was able to climb from a private to sergeant and later to ensign as quickly as Uriza did. Uriza’s family status, combined with the fact that he was a pure blooded Spaniard, and was fully literate, all contributed to his success as a soldier in the colony of Florida. 

Another soldier that Arana outlined the service of was the Mexican born Don Juan del Pueyo. Del Pueyo enlisted as a private in Mexico city in 1671. He accompanied the new Governor of Florida, Don Manuel de Cendoya.  While de Pueyo was only a private, he did retain the social title of ‘Don’ on the muster rolls, which suggests that he enjoyed some familial status outside of the military that afforded him use of such a title. A year after enlisting he was made an officer, an Ensign in one of the companies. Just a short time later he was made the captain of the military and naval crew of a vessel for a trip at sea, same as Uriza. Like Uriza, when he returned he was made a reformado Captain or a Captain on half pay. A short time later, he was made the accountant’s second assistant. This quick climb up the ranks, and status as the accountants assistant suggests that del Pueyo had either a quick wit and was apt to learn quickly, was well educated, or had more social status and connection that is clear in the historical record available. Perhaps all three. 

Del Pueyo’s military career was not spent entirely at a desk, he was dispatched “in august of 1675 to the Apalachee province to procure corn to feed St. Augustine, the Laborers on Castillo construction, and the Spanish Indian force sent to dislodge the Chisca Indians from Apalachee.” Del Pueyo seems to have been sent out of the city only rarely, instead of spending most of his career through the late 17th century in St. Augustine acting as an assistant to the accountant, and acting accountant, sometimes being considered for treasurer. He was even sent to the Guale province to inspect it because of his good reputation as an accountant. Del Pueyo “petitioned the crown for promotion to the accountancy, but it was not possible to break the hold of the Menendez Marquez family on the position. However, he acted as accountant for extended periods between 1699 and 1708.” Del Pueyo seems to disappear from the record after 1715, and he “is not listed on a 1719 muster roll. He either sought further opportunity away from St. Augustine or died.”  With the documents available it is not clear what became of Del Pueyo, and assuming he was 16-18 when he enlisted in 1671, by 1715 he would have been at least sixty years old when he disappears from the record. Due to his somewhat advanced age for the period, it is quite likely that he passed away. Del Pueyo, being Mexican born, and judging by the use of the social title ‘Don’ and his quick climb to serving in the accountant's office, he likely enjoyed some social status and connection that is not clear, and was also very likely to be a pure blooded Spaniard, thus facilitating his climb. While he was connected enough to use the title Don, and enjoy the quick promotion, as Arana Points out, he was not able to break the grip the Menendez Marquez family on the accountancy as an official title. The Menendez Marquez’s were the ancestors of Pedro Menendez’s nephew, and like this enjoyed a higher social status in Florida than even some outsiders. This further illustrates the point that Arana and other historians make, connection and social status often meant much more than actual skill in Colonial Florida when it came time to earn promotions and be granted them.

The last soldier that Arana completes a case study for was Diego Pablos de San Juan, a Spaniard born in 1671. According to Arana’s case study, Pablos arrived in St. Augustine in 1687 at the age of 16.He arrived in a group of replacement soldiers brought with the new governor Diego de Quiroga.  He was eventually married to local woman, Sebastiana de Avecilla. According to Arana she “was not a desireable match,  because she was daughter of a boatswain who ended his career as a plain seaman, and her uncle never rose above the grade of private before he died in 1680.” Unlike the last two soldiers examined, Pablos did not rise in rank quickly. When the siege of 1702 occurred, he was still a private in the infantry, and participated in some of the most noteworthy infantry actions of the siege. He participated in the attacks by the Spanish both to burn several of the homes closest to the fort to deny the enemy places to hide, and the action “to destroy the gabions,the earth filled wicker baskets in the enemy trenches.” It is likely that after the siege Pablos continued his actions against the English participating in the infantry actions against English in the ongoing fighting on the frontier. 

In 1706 Pablos was finally promoted to the rank of sergeant at the age of 35 after serving in the garrison for 19 years. He serves as a sergeant for three years until he was made a reformado sergeant or a sergeant on half pay. A sort of quasi-retirement where he could be called upon by the governor to complete special tasks. In 1716 Pablos sought a promotion, petitioning the crown for a position as a mayor, or a captaincy of an infantry company. His requests were denied. Eventually, it can be presumed that he was promoted to ensign, although the record is spotty on when that was because in 1726 he was a regular adjacent and traveled to Mexico to collect the pay for the soldiers. In 1729 he was promoted to the Captain of an infantry company at the age of 58, later he traveled to Mexico again in 1732 to collect the pay again.  In 1739 Pablos was sent to the fort at San Marcos in the Apalachee province and commanded both the fort and garrison there, he was away from St. Augustine at San Marco during the English siege of 1740. He eventually returned to St. Augustine and came out of active service. He continued to be on the rolls as a soldier but was listed indisposed due to his age and infirmities. He eventually died in 1753 at the age of eighty-two years old.

Diego Pablos’ story is interesting; most people would assume that since he was a Spaniard that his prospects would be the best, while he did eventually rise through the ranks to the command of his own infantry company, he did it slowly. While Pablo may not have advanced as far or as quickly as other contemporaries, he probably made a much better life for himself than if he had stayed in Spain.  Pablos’ story is indicative of the fact that connections meant the most in the military of Spanish Florida. While other, more well-connected men were often made captains before they were thirty years old, Pablos was not made a captain until he was fifty-eight years old, and while other men continued to climb from the position of captain of the infantry, Pablos stagnated and died a captain of the infantry. He was a Spaniard, he could read and write and was reasonably educated, but lacked connection, made a poor match in his marriage, and he ended up with a somewhat lackluster career in the way of advancement when compared to his contemporaries. 

The preceding three soldiers whose lives straddled the 17th and 18th centuries are indicative of the sorts of lives led by the soldiers of Florida’s garrison in the period. The issue is of course that the three soldiers are all European in heritage. Spanish Society of the period was stratified, peninsulares or men born in Spain occupied the highest social rungs, while Criollos, pure-blooded Spaniards were supposedly below the peninsulares in society, and meztizos below them. While the social stratification existed, what was sometimes more important was connection.  As far as the mestizos were concerned, their stories are often not told or examined as much as they should be, due in large part to many of them being illiterate, and thus incapable of writing their own stories. Illiterate men could not rise above the rank of corporal, and thus, while they may have achieved notoriety as soldiers or property owners, they could not tell their story, and we are dependent on the writing of others to learn about them. For many of the garrison’s soldiers we are left with a simple record of their existence, where they lived and what their position was in the garrison, and perhaps mention of some heroism or wrongdoing that they had committed. More research into the lives of the rank and file soldiers of the garrison is needed in the future, and some of the most valuable work will likely be done with the help of archaeology combined with historians.