Soldados: [with:] Oficiales, Sargentos, Cabos y Soldados Mejicanos [with:] Habitantes de Nueva-España [caption titles]

[Havana]: Imprenta del Gobierno y Capitanía General por S.M., 1829. Very good plus.. Three broadsides: 10.75 x 7.25 inches; 12 x 8.5 inches; and 13 x 8.5 inches. Old folds, some very minor soiling. Habitantes with light edge wear and a few small holes in paper along folds, without loss. All signed in type by Isidro Barradas, with date on Soldados accomplished in manuscript. A group of three remarkably rare and important broadsides, printed by Isidro Barradas' Spanish vanguard in Cuba just before setting off to attempt to reconquer Mexico in 1829, representing Spain's last gasp to reclaim the colony and, in some ways, marking the true (truncated) end of the Mexican independence movement. While Mexico achieved practical independence in 1821 with the Treaty of Córdoba, it was not formally recognized by Spain. Several attempts to retake New Spain for the crown ensued through the rest of the decade, with the Barradas Expedition in the summer of 1829 being the final effort. Pursuant to a royal order of Ferdinand VII given in April, plans were swiftly made for a force to invade Mexico and return it to Spanish control.

Barradas sailed to Havana in secret, arriving in early June of 1829. With a combination of troops from the continent and local forces (many of them Spanish citizens who had recently been exiled from Mexico), he built up an expeditionary force of nearly 4000 men within the month. On July 1, these three broadsides were printed in Havana under his name. One was addressed to his soldiers, encouraging them for the task ahead, a second was addressed to the soldiers of the Mexican army, imploring them to defect, and the third to the people of New Spain, assuring them of their personal safety and of the righteousness of the Spanish cause. Barradas left for Mexico four days later, bringing these broadsides with him. After being blown off course by a violent storm, the army landed at Cabo Rojo at the end of the month and commenced their march up the coast towards Tampico, occasionally skirmishing with Mexican forces along the way. On reaching the city, Barradas found it evacuated and stripped of defenses and supplies. Santa Anna arrived with Mexican reinforcements shortly after the Spanish occupied the city, and a brief siege quickly reduced Barradas' men through disease and lack of supplies. Barradas surrendered to Santa Anna on September 11, and he and his soldiers were allowed safe passage back to Cuba in return for signing an oath not to take up arms against Mexico ever again. The event was the capstone on Mexican independence, and Santa Anna was celebrated as a hero for his role at Tampico. Public opinion in Spain turned against reconquest after Barradas' failure, though despite making no other material attempts Spain still did not officially recognize its former colony's independence until 1836.

These three exceedingly rare broadsides, all dated July 1, 1829 and signed in type by Barradas, represent the culmination of Spain's ideology regarding the Mexican independence movement. Notably, they evidence a considerable misunderstanding of events in New Spain -- perhaps led astray by exiled loyalists and Spanish citizens, it appears that Barradas fully believed that most Mexicans wished to return to the relative safety and stability of Spanish rule after the turbulent years of the independence movement, and expected them to provide significant aid and substantial reinforcements to his admittedly small expeditionary force.

The first broadside, beginning "Soldados:...," is addressed to the troops gathered in Cuba on the eve of their departure for Mexico. The text begins (in English translation): "Soldiers, you are about to depart for New Spain, that theatre where, three hundred years past, those ancient and venerable Spaniards commanded by Hernan Cortés were immortalized. They were the conquerors of that beautiful country; you will pacify it...and reestablish the paternal government of the greatest of Kings. The Mexicans are not our enemies, they are our brothers; some of them deluded, others subjugated by tyrants." He braces his men for the grueling marches on the horizon, and "perhaps even combat with the enemy," but exhorts them to "remember that you are Spaniards," and remain always orderly and disciplined. Barradas reiterates the importance of treating the Mexicans with respect multiple times, noting that "the first quality of the strong, is to be indulgent with the vanquished," and admonishing that "pillaging enriches only a few, but heaps infamy on all; it destroys resources and makes enemies of the people whose friendship we are here to win." Notably, this is the only one of these three broadsides with an imprint, which reads "Imprenta del Gobierno y Capitania general por S.M." It is dated at Headquarters ("Cuartel de Regla") on July 1, with the number of the day accomplished in manuscript.

The second broadside, headed Oficiales, Sargentos, Cabos y Soldados Mejicanos, addresses the loyal "officers sergeants, corporals, and soldiers of the Mexican army." Barradas asks them to welcome the Spanish forces with open arms: "After an absence of eight years, you finally see the return of your comrades, by whose side you fought with such valor to uphold the legitimate rights of your august and ancient sovereign, King Fernando VII. His majesty knows you are not at fault for what has happened in this kingdom, and remembers that you remained loyal and constant. Betrayal sold away you and your companions." Members of the Mexican military are promised complete amnesty and encouraged to rejoin the Spanish army, where they will maintain whatever rank they currently hold. Rank and file will be given pay based on their entire period of service (including in the independent Mexican army), and will additionally be given half an ounce of gold should they defect now with their rifle. Barradas appeals to both body and soul, with a healthy dose of xenophobia for good measure: "When you served the King, you were well outfitted, well paid, and better fed. The one you call your Government has kept you naked, without land or pay. Before, you served under the rule of order, which safeguarded your homes, tranquility, and religion; today you are the plaything of a smattering of partisan leaders, who incite the passions and provoke the people to raise up a general, overthrow a president, and prop up the disgusting temples of the British and Scottish Freemasons.... To serve under the command of this anarchy is to serve against your country, and against the holy religion of Jesus Christ. You are empowering, without knowing it, heresy and impiety, tearing down the Catholic religion bit by bit."

The third broadside is addressed to "the People of New Spain." Here, Barradas informs the Mexican people in no uncertain terms that Spanish victory is guaranteed: "His excellency the Captain General of the island of Cuba addresses you in the name of our King at the same time that I come to your shores with the first division of the Royal Army, which will occupy this kingdom in order to restore order and the paternal governance of the greatest of Kings." Barradas also reassures the people that the army does "not come to avenge outrages, nor to satisfy our passions for all that has happened here. Everything will be forgiven, for this is the Royal will of our ancient and august sovereign.... In the midst of calmer passions, you will be able to see the difference between the previous three hundred years of happiness and the last seven of frightening disharmony with which you have experimented, and for the grace of divine Providence, you will be delivered from this terrible scourge." He also reiterates his message to the soldiers, affirming that the Mexicans' persons and property will be guarded as sacred.

These significant broadsides are decidedly rare. OCLC records only one copy each of Soldados and Oficiales, both at Yale. As far as we know, Habitantes is unrecorded. Rare Book Hub records a single copy of any one of the group. Note: the text of these broadsides was printed in the August 14 issue of the periodical Diario Mercantil de Cadiz, with a date of July 1. A very rare and important group of documents, representing Spain's last desperate attempt to recover its oldest and largest colony on mainland North America, which ultimately provided the final victory of the Mexican independence movement. (Inventory #: 5901)