The Alamo Remembered
The Alamo Remembered
Tejano Accounts and Perspectives
As Mexican soldiers fought the mostly Anglo-American colonists and volunteers at the Alamo in 1836, San Antonio's Tejano population was caught in the crossfire, both literally and symbolically. Though their origins were in Mexico, the Tejanos had put down lasting roots in Texas and did not automatically identify with the Mexican cause. Indeed, as the accounts in this new collection demonstrate, their strongest allegiance was to their fellow San Antonians, with whom they shared a common history and a common plight as war raged in their hometown.
Timothy M. Matovina here gathers all known Tejano accounts of the Battle of the Alamo. These accounts consist of first reports of the battle, including Juan N. Seguín's funeral oration at the interment ceremony of the Alamo defenders, conversations with local Tejanos, unpublished petitions and depositions, and published accounts from newspapers and other sources. This communal response to the legendary battle deepens our understanding of the formation of Mexican American consciousness and identity.
The first full-scale collection offers a rich insight into the formation of Mexican American identity in San Antonio. . . . [The book] speaks eloquently to a general audience trying to gain a more balanced perspective of the storied conflict [at the Alamo].
Matovina's message is that historians who concentrate on the question of which side [Tejanos] joined or did not join miss the larger point: for the Tejanos themselves, the choice of sides during the revolt was not the overriding issue of their lives, nor was it the touchstone of their identity. What the Tejano accounts of the Alamo show, Matovina argues, is that the divisions engendered by the revolution failed to destroy what remained 'an amazingly cohesive community' in which families, friends, and neighbors split apart by the war reunited in harmony in its aftermath.
Matovina's collection of Tejano memories of the Alamo not only proves essential in shedding light on the battle and its aftermath but, more importantly, contributes to an understanding of an understudied culture and that culture's effect on the most romanticized story of Texas history.
A valuable addition to the already abundant [Alamo] literature. . . . Ordinarily, the battle of the Alamo is considered in a traditional adversarial manner—Santa Anna and his troops against the band of defenders. But there were many other people in the area, primarily Tejano citizens of San Antonio. These accounts both directly and indirectly deal with what was inevitably an ambivalent and uncertain dilemma of these people who were caught in circumstances beyond their control. It is an aspect of the battle of the Alamo too long ignored.
A fascinating and much needed anthology of Tejano accounts of America's most storied battle.... There are no books like it in the field, despite considerable publishing on the Alamo and the Texas revolt.
Timothy M. Matovina is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. His previous publications include Tejano Religion and Ethnicity: San Antonio, 1821-1860 (UT Press).
- Preface
- Introduction
- First Reports
- 1. Andrés Barcena and Anselmo Bergara, Examination by Texas Military Officials, 11 March 1836
- 2. Andrés Barcena and Anselmo Bergara, Letter of E. N. Gray, 11 March 1836
- 3. Juan N. Seguín, Letter to General Albert Sidney Johnston, 13 March 1837
- 4. Juan N. Seguín, Columbia (later Houston) Telegraph and Texas Register, 4 April 1837
- Conversations With Local Tejanos
- 5. Anonymous Local Tejanos, Diary of William Bollaert, 19-20 September 1843
- 6. José Antonio Navarro, Diary of Josiah Gregg, 23 September 1846
- 7. Antonio Cruz Arocha, Papers of Theodore Gentilz, no date
- Unpublished Petitions and Depositions
- 8. Gabriel Martínez, Petition, 1 January 1850
- 9. Damasio de los Reyes, Deposition, 4 September 1856
- 10. Juana Navarro Alsbury, Petition, 1 November 1857
- 11. Francisco Esparza, Deposition, 26 August 1859
- 12. Candelario Villanueva, Deposition, 26 August 1859
- 13. Brigidio Guerrero, Petition, 4 January 1861
- 14. Francisco Antonio Ruiz, Deposition, 16 April 1861
- Published Accounts
- 15. Juan N. Seguín, Personal Memoirs of John N. Seguín, 1858
- 16. Francisco Antonio Ruiz, The Texas Almanac for 1860
- 17. Juana Navarro Alsbury, John S. Ford Memoirs, c. 1880s
- 18. Juan N. Seguín, Clarksville Standard, 4 March 1887
- 19. Juan N. Seguín, Letter to William Winston Fontaine, 7 June 1890
- 20. Andrea Castañón Villanueva, San Antonio Express, 6 March 1892
- 21. Eulalia Yorba, San Antonio Express, 12 April 1896
- 22. Andrea Castañón Villanueva, San Antonio Light, 19 February 1899
- 23. Enrique Esparza, San Antonio Light, 10 November 1901
- 24. Enrique Esparza, San Antonio Express, 22 November 1902
- 25. Pablo Díaz, San Antonio Express, 1 July 1906
- 26. Enrique Esparza, San Antonio Express, 12, 19 May 1907
- 27. María de Jesús Delgado Buquor, San Antonio Express, 19 July 1907
- 28. Juan Díaz, San Antonio Light, 1 September 1907
- 29. Juan Antonio Chávez, San Antonio Express, 15,22 December 1907
- 30. Pablo Díaz, San Antonio Light, 31 October 1909
- 31. Juan Vargas, San Antonio Light, 3 April 1910
- 32. Enrique Esparza, Pablo Díaz, and Juan Antonio Chávez, San Antonio Express, 26 March 1911
- 33. Juan Díaz, Enrique Esparza, and Juan Antonio Chávez, San Antonio Express, 27 August 1911
- 34. Trinidad Coy, As Recalled by His Son Andrés Coy, San Antonio Light, 26 November 1911
- 35. José María Rodríguez, Rodríguez Memoirs of Early Texas, 1913
- 36. Juan Antonio Chávez, San Antonio Express, 19 April 1914
- 37. Antonio Menchaca, Memoirs, 1937
- Tejano Alamo Accounts: Collective Legacy
- Bibliography
- Index
