Un militar realista en la independencia de México

Claudia Guarisco has given us a gem of a book by publishing the diary of the Spanish officer Modesto de la Torre, who accompanied the last Spanish governor, Captain General Juan O'Donojú, on his trip to New Spain in 1821. The diary covers one year, beginning with the long ocean voyage from Cádiz to Puerto Cabello and on to Veracruz, the five months he spent traveling in New Spain just as it became independent, and his return to the mother country, with a three-month stopover in Havana. This document fills a major gap because there are so few texts by foreign observers for this momentous period—the diary written by Spanish official Miguel de Beruete (published in 1974 as Elevación y caída del Emperador Iturbide) and the travel account by US envoy Joel Poinsett (published in 1824 as Notes on Mexico, Made in the Autumn of 1822) begin after Torre left Mexico in January 1822. Written only for himself with no eye to future publication, his “Apuntaciones” contain the private observations of a curious 28-year-old as he encountered strange lands and unexpected political developments.In four introductory chapters based on careful research, Guarisco provides context on Torre's life in Spain before and after his voyage, the formation and values of Spanish soldiers, a brief history of Mexican independence and nationalism, and the identity crisis that Spain's loss caused for its military. She includes the documents that Torre appended to his diary, such as the Treaty of Córdoba and letters between O'Donojú and Agustín de Iturbide. The real star of the book, however, is the diary itself.That it exists at all is noteworthy. The keeping of personal diaries was rare in early nineteenth-century Iberoamerica, though not as rare as we once thought. The real rarity was their survival. Torre's “Apuntaciones” is a case in point. Because it was written in fading pencil, he prudently copied it by pen a few years after returning to Spain. The copy then turned up in the holdings of a Spanish bookseller in the middle of the twentieth century. Although no buyers were found in Spain or Latin America, it was fortuitously purchased by the bibliophile Bernardo Mendel, who donated it to the Lilly Library of Indiana University, which houses his valuable collection.The diary starts slowly, as Torre records the weather and distance they traveled each day. The monotony is only broken by occasional descriptions of luminous waves or evenings when the officers and “distinguished” passengers pass the time singing, drinking, and playing cards—always separately from the lowly sailors and “riffraff” on board (pp. 97, 93).The pace picks up when they reach America. After Torre is grounded in “infernal” Veracruz for three weeks with yellow fever, he continues by horseback to Puebla and Mexico City (p. 118). His vivid descriptions of people, places, and political developments, as well as his mixed feelings about what he observes, make for fascinating reading.Torre's colorful vignettes illuminate many aspects of daily life. He recounts how people of different classes and races dressed, lived, and enjoyed themselves—from elegant tertulias where ladies played the piano and harp to popular bailes de platillo where male attendees paid women for each dance. He describes local food and medical practices, including explanations of how pulque and tortillas were made and how monkey meat was used to treat venereal disease. He depicts evenings at the theater, bullfights, and rowdy religious processions by drunken léperos.Torre also provides details about the political scene that are usually glossed over in patriotic narratives. For example, he notes how O'Donojú managed to obtain amicable treatment for himself and his forces: the captain general took a position in the new government, though he died soon thereafter; he was given a sumptuous funeral, with members of all Mexico City corporations rendering tribute; and the Mexican army not only offered to employ the royal soldiers if they chose to stay but paid the way for those who preferred to return to Spain. The break with the past was thus not as sharp as often thought, since Iturbide was willing to give Spaniards a place in the new nation.Iturbide's generosity did not appease Torre, who portrays the future emperor as a vain, superficial, and incompetent ruler surrounded by corrupt opportunists. Ever the Spanish patriot, Torre defends Spain's wise rule and denounces the degeneracy of the criollos. And he disparages Mexican nationalists as hypocrites who trace their lineage to the Aztecs while exploiting the Indigenous people around them with great cruelty. Indeed, his descriptions of the mistreatment of Indigenous workers in Mexico are quite memorable, as are those of African slavery in Cuba, which, as a Spanish liberal, he abhorred.Torre's diary is thus a treasure trove for those who study the early nineteenth century, with much to offer specialists in social, cultural, and economic as well as political history

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