Key Facts
- Expedition departure date
- 22 October 1732
- Spanish cavalry soldiers
- ~160
- Auxiliary native allies
- ~60
- Apache tipis encountered
- ~400 (four rancherías)
- Apache captives taken
- 30
- Duration of San Sabá battle
- 5 hours
Strategic Narrative Overview
Governor Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos led roughly 160 cavalry and 60 mission natives northward from San Antonio on 22 October 1732. After expected Teyas allies failed to appear at the San Gabriel River, the column pressed on, crossing the Colorado River into Apacheria. On 8 December, scouts located four Apache rancherías near the San Sabá River. The next morning, 100 soldiers attacked the camps; after five hours of fighting, Spanish leather armor and musketry proved decisive and the Apaches withdrew.
01 / The Origins
After a period of relative peace, Lipan and Natagé Apache raids on the Spanish province of Texas intensified from 1731 onward, threatening Spanish settlements and missions. In response, the Viceroy of New Spain, the Marquis of Casa Fuerte, authorized a punitive expedition on the recommendation of captain Fernando Pérez de Almazán, governor of San Antonio de Béjar, to strike Apache camps and deter further incursions into Spanish-held territory.
03 / The Outcome
The Spanish force seized 30 Apache captives and a large horse herd before beginning the return march to San Antonio. Apache warriors harassed the column throughout its withdrawal. The expedition arrived back at San Antonio on 22 December 1732. While the raid inflicted material losses on the Apaches, it did not end hostilities, and frontier raiding continued in subsequent years.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos, Fernando Pérez de Almazán.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.