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Teodoro de Croix was born on June 20, 1730 in Prévoté Castle, near Lille, France. He was descended from a distinguished Flemish family, the third son of Alexandre-Maximilien-François de Croix, Marquis of Heuchin, and Isabelle-Claire-Eugène de Houchin.
He entered the Spanish army at age 17 and was sent to Italy as an ensign of grenadiers of the Royal Guard.
Before he was thirty years old Tcodoro received a colonel’s commission. Five years later (1765) he accompanied to New Spain, as captain of the guards, the new viceroy, his uncle, the Marqués de Croix.
Soon afterward the royal visitor, José de Galvez, appointed Teodoro to the important post of collector at Acapulco, the port of arrival and departure for the richly laden vessels in the Manila galleon service. His efficiency and administrative ability are attested by the fact that the port revenues increased greatly during his incumbency.
In 1767 Teodoro was entrusted with the supremely important task of collaborating with Viceroy Croix and Galvez in the execution of the king’s secret instructions for the suppression of the Jesuit Order in New Spain.
Three years later he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and in 1771 he returned to Spain to resume active military service. Meanwhile, at the suggestion of Galvez, it had been decided to detach the northern provinces of New Spain—Nueva Vizcaya, Coahuila, Texas, New Mexico, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Upper and Lower California—from the jurisdiction of the viceroy and create of them a new military and political entity, directly under the king, to be known as the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas.
This change, which was virtually equivalent to the creation of a new viceroyalty, was effected by a royal order, dated August 22, 1776, and the same day the king named Teodoro de Croix as the first commandant general.
As such he exercised supreme military and civil authority, and, in addition, was invested with the administration of the royal finances and the right, under certain limitations, to appoint to church offices. As commandant general Croix set a high standard for administrative efficiency.
Croix was promoted on February 13, 1783, to the rank of lieutenant-general; two days later he was relieved of his post as commandant general. Upon arriving in Mexico City on September 26, 1783, he learned that he had been named viceroy of Peru, the highest office within the gift of the Spanish monarch.
He assumed power on April 6, 1784, and ruled for five years. He left office virtually penniless and returned to Spain.
In 1791 he was made colonel in the king’s bodyguard and also was promoted to a commandership in the Teutonic Order.
He died in Madrid at the age of sixty-two.
He built up the strongest military force across the northern frontier from Texas to Sonora than had ever been seen in the area, revamping the whole border defense in the process. As viceroy of Peru, he decentralized the government through the creation of seven intendencias. He built the anatomical amphitheater and began the Botanical Garden of Lima. He adopted rigorous measures to suppress the thought of the Encyclopedists and revolutionaries in the United States and France. He improved the fortification of the coast and collaborated in the creation of the Junta Superior de Comercio and the Tribunal de Minería (1786).
Quotes from others about the person
De Burgos says: “Law, justice, and finance were thoroughly reformed: agriculture and mining were fomented; population increased; towns were founded; the army was reorganized; the paymasters were regenerated; Indian militia were established; home guards and minutemen were created; California was promoted; prisons were built and hospitals founded; crimes decreased; vagabondage diminished; and respect for Spanish institutions increased. ’’
