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5 / The Rise and Fall of the Militia of Color: From the Constitution of 1812 to the Escalera Era Antonio Vazquez had the luck of being drafted as a pardo militiaman . . . but according to the published regulations . . . I request that he be exempted from service . . . because he is my only son and my only source of support. —ursula viviana In March 1844, the same month the O’Donnell administration initiated the targeted expulsion of libres de color from Cuba, officials also disarmed moreno and pardo battalions. Over the next few months, the Military Commission trials convicted or detained an array of militiamen as co-conspirators in the Escalera rebellions. Judges accused Ciriaco Consuegra , first corporal in Havana’s moreno battalion, of using subversive language to help foment the conspiracy and had him expelled.1 They also sentenced African-born Francisco Abrahantes, a lieutenant in the moreno militia, to banishment, but he died in prison before he could be sent into exile. Because of Félix Barbosa’s position as a sublieutenant in the pardo battalion, his status as a wealthy and well-known mortician, and his regular contributions to charities, authorities arrested and detained him for almost a year before finally acquitting him.2 Convinced of the black and mulatto militiamen’s complicity in the Escalera revolts, Cuban authorities dismantled the institution in June. In September 1844, Spain finalized the process by issuing a royal order authorizing the extinction of the militia of color in Cuba.3 These actions ended the participation of libres de color in a centuries-old military practice until its reinstatement a decade later. A colonial corporate body, the military had come to symbolize privilege and prestige for Spaniards, creoles, and free people of color who served. Within the free community of African descent in particular, colonial militia service offered imperial benefits, social status, and the public acknowledgment of free blacks and mulattoes as valuable defenders 118 / the rise and fall of the militia of color of the Spanish empire, despite their racial background. In turn, these attributes helped shape the social and cultural identities of libres de color by infusing military service with colonial honor and imperial loyalty, which they used to pursue upward social mobility and advance racial pride.4 As the language of freedom and equality circulated throughout the Atlantic, however, free pardos and morenos began demanding rights beyond those tied to military service. By the early nineteenth century, black soldiers would take a leadership role in challenging colonial hierarchies of race and social status. Meanwhile, arming libres de color remained a point of contention in the Spanish empire. Prominent creoles, including Viceroy Revillagigedo of New Spain and Cuban planter Francisco Arango y Parreño, characterized militias of color on a sliding scale from the most reliable to the most dangerous soldiers.5 Spain’s 1812 constitution, informed by debates over nationality, slavery, citizenship, and imperial unity, chipped away at free blacks’ previous colonial recognition for proven fidelity to the empire. In addition, the build-up of regular Spanish troops in Cuba after the loss of mainland American colonies in the early 1820s, meant to prevent the spread of revolution and abolition in the Spanish Caribbean, also contributed to the erosion of colonial militias.6 Fears gave way to reality as pardo and moreno officers, such as Juan Nepomuceno Prieto, José Dabares, José del Monte del Pino, and León Monzón, led a series of revolts in the 1830s.7 The indictment of numerous soldiers of color in the Escalera rebellions escalated these concerns to a breaking point; colonial authorities banned military opportunities for men of African descent and, simultaneously, expanded the existing number of permanent Spanish troops in Cuba “to conserve order and tranquillity.”8 The demise of the militia of color during the Escalera repression would have a damaging impact on its representation a decade later, when Captain General Juan de la Pezuela reestablished pardo and moreno units in 1854. De la Pezuela’s decision not only rekindled previous arguments about the risks of arming men of African descent but it also fueled unexpected defiance from the free community of color. Although authorities insisted free blacks and mulattoes were “obligated to armed service,” difficulties in filling the rosters prompted the government to institute a draft for all young, male libres de color.9 In response, in the 1850s hundreds of draftees and their parents objected to compulsory enlistment. Using established exemption rules, mothers like Ursula Viviana, quoted in the opening...

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