The Alamo Remembered

Tejano Accounts and Perspectives

Timothy M. Matovina

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780292751866
• eBook ISBN:
  9780292759909
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

A collection of all known Tejano accounts of the Battle of the Alamo.
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Juan N. Seguín's funeral oration at the interment ceremony of the Alamo defenders, conversations with local Tejanos, unpublished petitions and depositions, and published accounts from newspapers and other sources.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.
"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." —Paul Hutton, Executive Director, Western History Association
"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]." — Review of Texas Books
"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." — Southwestern Historical Quarterly

INDEX

Acuña, Rodolfo, 121–122, 124

Alameda, 75–77, 103–107, 116

Alamo defenders, interment ceremony for, 2, 19–21, 115, 123, 126n.5

Alamo mission, feast day celebrations at, 3, 25

Alamo Plaza, 31, 60, 65, 69, 93

Alamo Street, 31, 75–76, 87, 104

Alamo survivors, lists of, 5, 65, 83

Alazán Creek, 73

Alsbury, Horatio Alexander, 33, 45, 81–82

Alsbury, Juana. See Navarro Alsbury, Juana

Alsbury, Perry, 64

Alsbury, Tom, 64

Amador, Juan Valentín, 44

Andrade, Juan José, 44

Anonymous Tejano witnesses, 2–3, 25–26

Arciniega family, 91

Arciniega Street, 90–91

Arocha, José María, 17

Atascosa County, 67

Austin, Stephen F., 59, 73

Austin, Texas, 78

Aztecs, 97, 100

Badillo, Juan A., 70

Barcena, Andrés, 1–2, 8, 9n.1, 17–18, 42

Barnes, Charles Merritt biographical sketch of, 72–73

—interviews Tejano Alamo witnesses, 77, 89, 95–96, 101, 106–107

Barrera, Agustin, 2, 32

Barrera, Juan E., 12n.13

Battle of the Alamo (painting), 2, 27

Beethoven Hall, 87

Benavides, Placido, 68, 118

Benevolencia Hall, 94

Bergara, Anselmo, 1–2, 8, 9n.1, 17–18, 42

Béxar County, 31–37

Biesenbach, August, 105

Bledsoe, Felicia, 90, 92

Bollaert, William, 2–3, 25

Bonham, James Butler, 51, 105

Bowie, James

—announces armistice and offers troops chance to leave Alamo, 81–82

—carried across line, 60, 81

—conducts Crockett into San Antonio, 118

—Crockett encourages, 60–61

—at dance in honor of Crockett, 118

—death of, 2, 18, 52–53, 58, 62, 85

—enters Alamo fortress, 43

—female slave of, 48

—heroism of noted, 5, 20, 59, 81, 121

—leaves Navarro Alsbury in care of Travis and Crockett, 45

—married to [Ursula] Veramendi, 45, 59

—men of use old convent as barracks, 84

...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• First Reports
• Conversations with Local Tejanos
• Unpublished Petitions and Depositions
• Published Accounts
• Tejano Alamo Accounts: Collective Legacy
• Bibliography
• Index