Mexican Light Infantry Battalions

[tmdreb]

I've always been a bit puzzled by this statement in Hefter's El Soldado Mexicano:

A decree of May 5th 1824 was revised in 1835 to declare some regular and militia units as Light Troops with 8 companies each, one of them a sharpshooter company with grenadier pay. They used small bugles for signaling and were dressed in a medium blue tailcoat with collar, cuffs and bars of the same color, red piping and yellow metal buttons; pants were gray, shako simple and light without ornaments except a pompon and a shield with unit number or initials.

Which battalions were designated as light troops? What's even more confusing is that the illustration that goes with this description is of a soldado in a blue piped red frock coat.

Would anyone care to shed any light on which troops these were, and if they were in Texas in 1836?

[stuart]

I've always been wary of Hefter and prefer to follow Rene Chartrand's work which is a lot more thorough in some ways. The earliest verifiable ligero or light infantry units he can find are those raised in 1840, who adopted the levita or frock coat depicted by Hefter in 1843. Apparently the levitas first appeared for undress in the army's 1825 clothing contracts, but Rene hasn't been able to find much evidence of their use in the 1830s.

[tmdreb]

Ok, so I'm not too far off by pretty much ignoring that rather cryptic passage.

It's ironic that most of the sources I've seen regarding the Mexican Army in the first half of the 19th Century seem to have relied almost entirely on Hefter's book. I find that Chartrand's work is especially helpful in regard to Mexican-American War uniforms and equipment as he goes beyond stating the regulations, and actually examines what was issued as well as eyewitness accounts and contemporary artwork.

[glforeman]

I also agree with Stuart. During the 1980s, I had the honor of working with H. Charles McBarron in his waning years. On several occasions, he commented quite negatively about the response Hefter received from the majority of the Company of Military Historians. He often mentioned the disorganized mess of Hefter's documentation, the inconsistent methods of using primary sources, and the internal domestic struggle Hefter faced at home because his wife (from what I understood from McBarron) showed no interest in the vocation he pursued. In fact, she supposedly tossed much of his "historical notes and documents" into the fireplace. This is why I personally never got excited about Hefter even as many worshipped everything he did. On the other side of the coin, it looks like I'll be seeing Rene Chartrand again (he worked with us on several History Channel shows) in two weeks. If any of you have questions, I'll gladly take them to him. Let me know. And let me beat this nearly dead horse...SEND LETTERS NOW. Thanks.

[TRK]

I looked up the decree of May 5, 1824, that Hefter referred to, and I quote the pertinent articles (source: Manuel Dublan and José María Lozano, Legislación Mexicana, Tomo 1, No. 402, 5 de Mayo de 1824:

"Decreto -- Organizacion de los cuerpos de infantería del ejército.
El soberano congreso general constituyente decreta:
1. Los batallones del ejército se pondrán bajo el pié de ocho compañías.
2. De éstas, una será de granaderos, otra de cazadores, y las seis restantes de fusileros."

[Translated:
1. The battalions of the army will be established on the basis of eight companies.
2. Of those, one will be grenadiers, one of cazadores, and the six others of The rest of the law concerns strength and officer complement of the battalions.
(I omit the subsequent articles of the decree, which bear on strength and officer complement of the battalions.)]

Hefter states that the 5 May 1824 decree was reestablished or revived in 1835 "para destinar algunos cuerpos permanentes y de milicia activa como Tropa Ligera, con 8 compañías cada uno, siendo una de las compañías de Tiradores con haberes de granaderos." (my take: "to designate some permanent and active militia units as light troops, with eight companies each, one of the companies being marksmen with the pay rate of grenadiers.") Unfortunately, Hefter didn't cite the date of this 1835 decree. I have searched Dublan y Lozano, text and indices, from 1834 to 1836 for the decree, with no luck, but I'll try again later. And, the usual caveat: just because it was legislated doesn't necessarily mean that all or any of its provisions were always carried out.

Since cazadores were, in effect, light infantry (or, tropa ligera), I wonder if Hefter screwed up this passage of his text, and in fact meant that each of the eight-company battalions had one company that functioned as cazadores, or, if you will, tropa ligera?

With respect to the term tropa ligera, I have seen numerous references to it in period documents during the colonial period through the Mexican War of Independence and into the early 1820s, in reference to specific, named infantry battalions and, if I'm not mistaken, regiments. Later, during the War of the Reform in the late 1850s, you'll see many named or numbered ligera infantry battalions. However, aside from the four numbered ligera infantry battalions raised in the 1840s and the light cavalry units of that period, I don't recall ever seeing references to specific ligera permanent or active militia infantry units at the battalion level or above for the 1830s or 1840s.

[stuart]

trk said:

However, aside from the four numbered ligera infantry battalions raised in the 1840s and the light cavalry units of that period, I don't recall ever seeing references to specific ligera permanent or active militia infantry units at the battalion level or above for the 1830s or 1840s.

I'd add to that, Hefter also introduced at least one light cavalry regiment (in a blue uniform) in 1835. Again Rene assures me there is no sign of of such an animal.