Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/521

Rh civic or local militia is raised and equipped by the several states, and its disposition is under the control of their respective governments. The number of regular troops voted by the legislature may appear to be very small, but it has proved itself sufficient for the purpose of supporting the privileges and authority of the government throughout the internal disturbances with which the republic has been recently assailed.

When the supreme executive power was established, the army consisted of only two veteran companies of artillery, each of 120 men: the infantry was reduced to a fixed battalion of five corps, comprehending, in all, 565 men. There were also the fixed or permanent garrisons in Omoa, Truxillo, San Carlos, and Peten, amounting, together, to as many more. Thus the veteran force, on the declaration of the independence, amounted to about 1,400 men; small, indeed, for supporting the sovereign rights of a nation; but the supreme government