Dominican Army

The Dominican Army, is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Navy and the Air Force.
The Dominican army with 28,750 active duty personnel consists of six infantry brigades, a combat support brigade, a combat service support brigade and the air cavalry squadron.

History

The island of Hispaniola was an important enclave throughout the colonial period and hosted the Court of Santo Domingo, the first in America, whose jurisdiction extended over the entire Caribbean. In 1697, by the Peace of Ryswick, it was divided into two communities: the Spanish in the eastern area and the French in the western; remaining this way until 1795, with the transfer of sovereignty over the west of the island to France by the Treaty of Basel, Spanish sovereignty being recovered in 1809. Years layer, it was proclaimed independent in 1821, occupied by Haiti in 1822, liberated again in 1844, and incorporated back into Spain in 1861 by decision of its own rulers until it was definitively established as an independent republic in 1865.
Due to these political ups and downs and its position and strategic situation, the war history of the Dominican Republic is long and complex. In the 18th century, the island was marked on the outside by a rational defense and by a certain calm regarding international conflicts fought on its soil. However, in the interior of the island along the border between the Spanish and French possessions, a North-South line, not at all clear and poorly defined; It constituted an area of continuous friction and problems.

Colonial army

Distribution of the militia corps of the General Captaincy of Santo Domingo for 1721:

Infantería		Capitanes	Alféreces	Sargentos	Of. Reforms.	Cabos	Soldados	Total
Santo Domingo	5	5	5	5	36	18	439	508
San Carlos	2	2	2	2	3	9	119	137
San Lorenzo de los Negros Mina	2	2	2	2	8	8	96	118
Santiago	6	6	6	6	28	19	561	626
La Vega	2	2	2	2	8	8	312	334
Cotuí	2	2	2	2	1	7	135	149
Hincha	2	2	2	2	1	8	190	205
Bánica	2	2	2	2	2	3	127	138
Azua	3	3	3	3	4	7	206	226
Higüey	1	1	1	1	0	3	54	60
El Seibo	2	2	2	2	4	9	162	181
Bayaguana	1	1	1	1	0	5	78	86
Monte Plata	1	1	1	1	2	2	60	67
Total	31	31	31	31	97	106	2539	2835
Caballería		Capitanes	Alféreces	Sargentos	Of. Reforms.	Cabos	Soldados	Total
Santo Domingo	2	2	2	2	2	7	74	89
Santiago	1	1	1	1	1	2	49	55
Azua	1	1	1	1	1	3	53	60
Total	4	4	4	4	4	12	176	204
Total General								3039

In 1738, the Regulations for the garrison of the Plaza de Santo Domingo, on the island of Hispaniola, Castles and Forts under its jurisdiction, were promulgated. This was intended to correct many of the defects noted in the army located on the island, such as: inequality in the strength of the companies, in some there were too many soldiers and in others they were lacking; different salaries for officers of identical rank, even giving rise to the paradox that some soldiers earned more than sergeants; diversity in the way each soldier dresses; few orders to ensure discipline, etc. In order to remedy these deficiencies, the Regulation established, among others, the following provisions:

Creation of the Fixed Battalion, with six hundred and thirty-seven men, including sergeants and drummers, "which are those considered for a vigorous defense." There would be seven companies of Infantry, one of Artillery and two of Cavalry, which replaced the North and South Troops.

Equal and corresponding salaries according to rank and command, plus additional bonuses for Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers, if their companies remained with a certain number of soldiers. No person belonging to a Class or Troop could hold two positions or receive two salaries.

Authorization so that half of the men in each company could be natives of the island, if they met the requirements of descending from peninsular Spaniards, being single, not exercising any other trade, stay in the barracks and do the same service as those coming from Spain.
Enrollment age: sixteen years for those born in Spain and twenty for Creoles.
The militia cavalry was under the command of the most senior Captain of the two newly formed border horse companies.
Unification of uniforms. Each company's would have different badges.
Requirement of a certain cultural level, to be able to be a non-commissioned officer.
Creation of an academy to train soldiers, in order to have well-prepared soldiers. It had to teach military architecture, defense and attacks of squares, handling of weapons, formation of battalions and squadrons, geometry, trigonometry, cosmography, nautical and other faculties useful in the service of sea and land, as specified in said Regulations.

Some of the units were part of the garrison of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, during the colonial period were:

The Fixed Battalion of Santo Domingo made up of 6 Companies of Riflemen, 1 of Grenadiers, 1 of Artillerymen, 2 of Cavalry with a total of 637 men and in 1771 increased by a 7th and 8th companies of Riflemen and in 1773 to 12 companies. His uniform was a white jacket, jacket and underwear, with blue cuffs and collar. Black three-cornered hat with white braid and red rosette with insignia.
The Artillery Company, this unit was raised on the island at the beginning of the 18th-century and remained until the withdrawal of the Spanish troops from Santo Domingo. Throughout this entire period its troops underwent several modifications, initially being called the "Artillery Company", without its leader having the prerogatives of a true Captain of the Artillery Weapon until 1716, the year in which Diego de Figueroa was appointed. as Captain of the Company.
The two Cavalry Companies that existed in 1720 on the north and south coasts of the border with the French part of the island, were made up of "patricians" from those lands, but they enjoyed a salary equal to that corresponding to the Soldiers of the Presidio. from Santo Domingo.
The Santo Domingo Militias, White Companies of Volunteer Infantry Militias of Santo Domingo, together with the Manning forces, the Volunteer Militia Companies, existing since the beginning of the century, contributed to the defense of the island. They did not serve in a specific place, but were sent to different places on the island in case of alerts, dangers or real conflicts, or to complete the complement in case the veteran troops were excessively depleted. This ancient militia, like all its kind before the reform, was initially quite disorganized and lacked instruction and regulation and therefore poorly and poorly uniformed.

Companies of Morenos Volunteer Infantry of Santo Domingo, entry to the manning companies was prohibited to those Americans who were not of Spanish descent and of white race, except for the Drummers who had to be people of color. Although this rule prevailed for these regular troops, the recruitment in the militias was very different, where the entry of men of races other than the white was allowed, rather obligatory, of course, maintaining the differentiation of the units separately according to the skin color of the men who were to enroll in it, without mixing them among themselves, or at least between white women and those of other racial origins. Therefore, the same division that so markedly characterized colonial society remained intact when it came to raising and regulating the militias and classifying them into units of whites, blacks and mixed-race. Another different issue was the participation of the Taínos in the militias, an issue quite regulated and taken care of by the military authorities of areas of or with a large population of said origin, an issue that was not the case in Santo Domingo.

Santo Domingo Cavalry Volunteers: in 1774, 6 Companies of Cavalry Volunteers remained in Santo Domingo with a total of 300 men. They were intended for garrison services and, when the time of campaign came, around the border with the French side. These Companies were founded in the jurisdictions of Dajabón, Santiago, San Miguel de la Atalaya and San Juan de Bany. Later in 1784 these companies were reorganized and were instructed to carry out their service to "the Dragon", that is, to use the horse to move quickly to the place of operations and once there they would set foot on the ground and fight like the infantry.

In 1757, there was an uprising by the troops of the fixed battalion of Santo Domingo who locked themselves in the Primate Cathedral and threatened to murder their officers for non-payment of their salaries, with the mediation of the Archbishop they were paid the only amount that the royal funds can contribute and the rest is requested from Mexico as extraordinary, forgiveness is also granted. Because of this, the militias were reorganized in 1769 and were made up of 15 Companies of Infantry Volunteers and 6 of Cavalry in 1784.
In 1772, the two Border Companies were ordered to be replaced in service by three Infantry Companies belonging to the Fixed Battalion of Santo Domingo. These three Companies would alternate with the remaining nine every 6 months to defend the northern and southern borders. In addition, the Company of Faithful Practicals of the Border was created, a type of Baquian experts with good knowledge of the area, the passes and the relief, who had to act as support for the normal infantry troops. They were made up of natural neighbors of the region and were extremely useful for border control.
However, the Spanish troops on the island were gradually reduced and it lost importance in colonization, which more easily led to the French occupations of 1801 and 1805. In 1795 Santo Domingo was ceded to France by the Treaty of Basel, but the French Army of Toussaint Louverture did not take possession of the territory until 1801. At the beginning of 1810, the Auxiliary Battalion of Spanish Troops of the Island of Santo Domingo was created by the viceroy Francisco Javier de Lizana, to reinforce the aforementioned island with the intention of stopping any attempt at Napoleonic expansion towards the American continent. The strength of this body consisted of 2 companies of riflemen and 1 of grenadiers, of 100 men each.
The reconquest army led by Brigadier General Juan Sánchez Ramírez, Diego Polanco in Cibao and Ciriaco Ramírez in the south are supported by the national militias commanded by Captain Tomas Ramírez Carvajal. But his troops, mostly hatera, were only about 1,700 men, so Ramírez negotiated with the British forces in Jamaica and with the captain general of Puerto Rico to send more men to take Santo Domingo. In August 1809, Juan Sánchez Ramírez triumphantly entered the city as governor of the island. With the new government, two infantry battalions were created to cover the military positions that are called: one "fixed battalion of Santo Domingo" under the command of Lieutenant Colonel José María de Foxa and the other "battalion of free morenos" under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Pablo Ali. In addition to these corps, the artillery corps was organized under the command of Colonel José Massot; battalions of disciplined militias, of which Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Conti was superior leader; cavalry squadrons and urban and rural militia companies and Italian pickets formed by 4 captains, 3 lieutenants, 2 second lieutenants, 6 sergeants, 3 drummers, 4 corporals and 62 soldiers.