Full Description
Sometimes referred to as the first published manual of guerrilla warfare, Bernardo de Vargas Machuca's Indian Militia and Description of the Indies is actually the first known manual of counterinsurgency, or anti-guerrilla warfare. Published in Madrid in 1599 by a Spanish-born soldier of fortune with long experience in the Americas, the book is a training manual for conquistadors. The Aztec and Inca Empires had long since fallen by 1599, but Vargas Machuca argued that many more Native American peoples remained to be conquered and converted to Roman Catholicism. What makes his often shrill and self-righteous treatise surprising is his consistent praise of indigenous resistance techniques and medicinal practices.Containing advice on curing rattlesnake bites with amethysts and making saltpeter for gunpowder from concentrated human urine, The Indian Militia is a manual in four parts, the first of which outlines the ideal qualities of the militia commander. Addressing the organization and outfitting of conquest expeditions, Book Two includes extended discussions of arms and medicine. Book Three covers the proper behavior of soldiers, providing advice on marching through peaceful and bellicose territories, crossing rivers, bivouacking in foul weather, and carrying out night raids and ambushes. Book Four deals with peacemaking, town-founding, and the proper treatment of conquered peoples. Appended to these four sections is a brief geographical description of all of Spanish America, with special emphasis on the indigenous peoples of New Granada (roughly modern-day Colombia), followed by a short guide to the southern coasts and heavens. This first English-language edition of The Indian Militia includes an extensive introduction, a posthumous report on Vargas Machuca's military service, and a selection from his unpublished attack on the writings of Fray BartolomÉ de Las Casas.
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introductory Study xvii
Approvals, Dedications, and Sonnets 1
Book One of the Indian Militia 17
Book Two of the Indian Militia 55
Book Three of the Indian Militia 81
Book Four of the Indian Militia 133
A Brief Description of All the Western Indies 165
Hydrography of the Coasts and Seas of the Indies 213
Geography of the Most Distinguished Kingdoms and Provinces of the Indies 221
Compendium of the Sphere 229
Declaration of the Proper Names of this Book 235
Appendix One: A Posthumous Report on Bernardo de Vargas Machuca's Services, ca. 1622 239
Appendix Two: Selections from The Defense of Western Conquests, ca. 1603 245
Notes 259
Bibliography 281
Index 289
