The purpose of this article is to explain the logic of the appointment process for officer and commander of the National Guard in Chile, in the mid-nineteenth century. The study of the recommendations for these civic positions, reviewed in the General Archive of the Army and in documents of the Ministry of War, indicates that public order would not reside as much in the imposition of the State as in the willingness of decent men to collaborate. In effect, local powers assume the positions and mobilize their social resources, recommending those who have the capacity to ensure tranquility in their territories. This 'logic of the acquaintance' would explain the functioning of the National Guard in the diffuse boundaries between State and society and would show that this is not a consolidated State but one in construction that, despite its precariousness, well uses the strengths of the local social fabric.