Spanish expeditionary army (Spanish American independence) order of battle explained

In attempts to retain or re-assert control over its colonies in America, the Spanish Empire deployed several expeditionary forces during and after the Spanish American wars of independence. The largest of these forces, known as "the expeditionary army of Costa Firme",^[1] and consisting of over 10,000 troops under General Morillo, undertook the Spanish reconquest of New Granada (1815–16).^[2] Forces were also sent to New Spain between 1812 and 1817.^[3] Later, after Mexican independence in 1821, a Spanish garrison was sent from Cuba to occupy Spain's last Mexican outpost, the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa; this force remained there until surrendering in 1825.^[4] Finally, a force under Isidro Barradas Valdés attempted to regain control of Mexico in 1829.^[5]

Viceroyalty of New Spain

Counter insurgency (1812-1821)

Period	year	Number of men	Units and Commanders (units changed names in 1820)
European Expeditions 1812 - 1817	year 1812	total men 3857	Unit soldiers Officers Battalion Asturias (Mallorca) 270 men - Battalion Lobera (Infante Don Carlos) 847 men Francisco Bucelli, teniente coronel Regiment América (Murcia) 817 men, one Battalion Juan José Olazábal Battalion Castilla (Voluntarios de Castilla) 649 men Francisco Hevia Battalion Zamora 910 men Rafael Bracho Battalion Fernando VII -expediciónario- 364 men Ángel Díaz del Castro, teniente coronel
	year 1813	men total 1895	Unit soldiers officers Battalion Extremadura 995 men coronel Benito Armiñan Battalion Saboya (Reina) 900 men coronel Melchor Álvarez
	Year 1815	men total 1749	Brigadier Fernando Miyares y Mancebo, commander of expedition unit soldiers officers Regiment Órdenes Militares 1126 men, 2 Battalions Coronel Francisco LLamas Battalion Voluntarios de Navarra (Barcelona) 623 men Coronel José Ruiz
	Year 1817	men total 1547	Mariscal de Campo Pascual Liñan, commander of expedition.

Defense of San Juan de Ulúa (1821-1825)

	Date	Expeditions	Units
San Juan de Ulúa	August 7, 1821		Brigadier Juan Rodríguez de la Torre, comandante en jefe Unit Soldiers 1º Company mixed form Regiments Habana and Luisiana, and Battalions Málaga, Cataluña and Tarragona. 105 men 2º Company de Battalion Pardos de la Habana. 75 men 3º Company de Battalion Morenos de la Habana. 75 men 4º Company de voluntarios. 105 men
	August 1821	1º reinforcement	299 men
	October 1822	2º reinforcement	1º Commander of fortress Brigadier Francisco Lemaur. 834 soldiers y 44 officers, y 100 artillery men Battalion Cataluña and Málaga.
	December 24, 1822	1º relief	354 soldiers y 8 officers Battalion Málaga 75 soldiers Battalion Tarragona
	March 1823	2º relief	numbers similar to 1º relief from battalions Cataluña, Tarragona y Málaga.
	August 1823	3º relief	200 men.
	July 1824	4º relief	227 men from Battalions Cataluña and Málaga.
	January 1825	5º relief (last)	300 men battalions Cataluña and Tarragona, plus 116 men from Battalion Pardos y Morenos de Cuba. 2º Commander of fortress, brigadier José Coppinger.

Expedition of Isidro Barradas (1829)

valign=top bgcolor="#F5F5F5" width=500px

Division of Vanguard (1829) Total 3,000 men Commander Brigadier General Isidro Barradas Valdés Units Regiment de la Corona (3 Battalions) I Battalion Rey Fernando II Battalion Reina Amalia III Battalion Real Borbón Squadron of cavalry (dismounted) (incomplete) Company of artillery (short)

Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme

(Venezuela and New Granada)

Viceroyalty of Perú

(Perú, Chile and Upper Peru)

Notes and References

1. Book: The Americas. 1961. Academy of American Franciscan History.. 173.
2. Lynch, Spanish American Revolutions, 209. Rodríguez, Independence of Spanish America, 122. Kinsbruner, Independence in Spanish America, 57.
3. Small contingents from Spain had been arriving in the Americas since 1810. On August 25, 1810, a group of Spanish Marines arrived in Veracruz from Cádiz on the frigate, Nuestra señora de Atocha under the command of Rosendo Porlier and accompanying Viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas. These were the first Spaniards to have come from Europe in support of royalists. Frieyro de Lara. Guerra ejército y sociedad en el nacimiento de la España contemporánea. (2009, Universidad de Granada) p. 660.
4. Book: Jaime E. Rodríguez O.. The Divine Charter: Constitutionalism and Liberalism in Nineteenth-century Mexico. 2005. Rowman & Littlefield. 978-0-7425-3710-1. 205–6.
5. Book: Ruiz Gordejuela Urquijo, Jesús. La expulsión de los españoles de México y su destino incierto, 1821-1836. Universidad de Sevilla. 978-84-00-08467-7. 2006.