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Cardenas was released from house arrest to stand as interim governor of SA

Source: The Governorship of Spanish Florida #122

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Alonso de Cardenas, the last interim governor of the first Spanish period, took office in December, 1761, under special circumstances. Like Ayala he was a sergeant major at Saint Augustine and merited the appointment because of his position in the colony; but before his death, the ruling governor, Lucas de Palacio y Valenzuela, had placed Cardenas in house arrest for disobeying a gubernatorial order. With Cardenas under arrest the senior military officer had priority on the interim governorship; but instead, the acting sergeant major, the treasurer, and the governor’s secretary—the three most important officials left in Florida—decided on Cardenas. They dismissed the charge against him, released him from house arrest, and swore him in as the interim governor. Not long after, in the spring of 1762, the king’s permanent appointee arrived to relieve Cardenas.
...Interim governors had the same wide military experience as their permanent counterparts. Like Ayala, Alonso de Cardenas (1761-1762) was a veteran of many years’ service in Florida. His reward was the sergeant major’s post and the interim governorship in 1761.
(Tepaske GSF)