At its creation, the Colonial Guard was composed of 430 European and indigenous personnel, which meant an increase of more than 12% in the number serving in the colony over the sum of the three bodies it replaced. The establishment of this first composition was set at 1 captain, 3 first lieutenants, 7 second lieutenants, 14 sergeants, 42 corporals and 1 cornet (all of them Europeans living in the colony and from the Civil Guard), 1 senior musician, also of European origin, as well as 12 cornets, 6 1st guards, 320 2nd guards, 6 1st musicians, 12 2nd musicians and 6 music learners (all of them indigenous).
