Agustín de Ahumada y Villalón
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Don Agustín de Ahumada Caballero de Santiago |
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| Viceroy of New Spain | |
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In office 10 November 1755 – 5 February 1760 |
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| Monarch | Ferdinand VI |
| Preceded by | The Count of Revillagigedo |
| Succeeded by | Francisco Cajigal de la Vega |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1715 Ronda, Andalusia, Spain |
| Died | February 5, 1760 (aged 44–45) Mexico City, Mexico |
Agustín de Ahumada y Villalón (1715 – 5 February 1760) was a Spanish military officer and Viceroy of New Spain from 1755 to 1760. He is better known as the Marquis of Amarillas.
Agustín de Ahumada was the son of Bartolomé Félix de Ahumada y Ahumada and of Luisa Gertrudis Fernández de Villalón y Narvaez. He was named 1st Marqués de las Amarillas by the Spanish crown. He married Catalina de Vera y Leyva.
The Marqués de las Amarillas had a distinguished military career and gained renown in the wars in Italy, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Royal Guards. He was serving as governor of the city of Barcelona at the time of his appointment to the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
He entered Mexico City as viceroy on November 10, 1755. He celebrated the designation of the Virgin of Guadalupe as patron of New Spain (1756). He tried to suppress the irregularities of priests in Puebla (1756), where they were involved with the manufacture of aguardiente, gambling houses, and the selling of holy orders.
He intervened in the lawsuits involving the newly discovered deposits of silver in Nuevo León, trying to get the parties to settle. He tried to pacify the Indians of Coahuila, in conjunction with Governor Miguel Sesma. He continued work on the drainage system in Mexico City.
He sent aid to the Philippines against non-Christians, and to Florida against the British. The French were also trying to establish posts on the coast of Texas, and English pirates still threatened Spanish shipping and coastal settlements in the Caribbean.
More than 1,000 Comanches rose in revolt in Texas, committing various depredations on non-Indian settlements. Viceroy Ahumada sent armed assistance to the presidio of San Sabás, near San Antonio de Béjar, when it was besieged by the rebels. The president and other Spanish defenders were killed, but the reinforcements put down the uprising.
In 1757 the army of New Spain consisted of 2,897 men organized into 15 corps consisting of 61 companies. The main forces were concentrated in Mexico City and Veracruz, with small groups of 7 to 100 soldiers at various places in the interior.
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