Subject: de la Peña at the Alamo
Date: 05/17/2000
From: Jim Ewing
I just read Lieutenant Colonel de la Peña's account of his experiences with the Mexican Army of Operations in Texas. Which unit was he with? During the assault on the Alamo, he is apparently with the Aldama battalion and General Cos, but I had always thought he was with the zapadores. At one point, after they were inside the plaza and the Texians had retreated inside different buildings, he says he suggested to Cos to sound a cease-fire to stop their men from shooting each other; this seems to suggest that de la Peña is near Cos during the fighting. Another time, he refers to the "sappers" of the Aldama and Toluca battalions, when they were ordered to force their march to Béjar. Did these units have sappers, or were they regular infantry battalions (with six companies of fusilieros, one of cazadores and one of grenaderos)? I'm trying to get a better picture of exactly what went on at the Alamo.
Jim Ewing
Mansfield, Texas
I think the problem might lie in the Perry translation of the Sánchez-Garza transcription. De la Peña, who is apparently quoting the adjutant's log book of the Activo San Luis Battalion (see the latest issue of the Journal of the Alamo Battlefield Association) actually wrote"...el tres a la plaza los batallones de zapadores Aldama y Toluca." This can be found on page 55 of the Sánchez-Garza edition. Ms. Perry translated that as "the engineers of Aldama and Toluca" but should have translated as, "the Zapadores (Engineers), Aldama and Toluca." Perhaps not understanding the make up of a Mexican infantry battalion, she confused this reference of Zapadores to being part of the Permanente Aldama and the Activo Toluca instead of the seperate battalion which it was.
Kevin R. Young
Subject:: de la Peña papers
Date: 05/30/2000
From: Jim Ewing
What are the future plans for the de la Peña papers? I read that the manuscript is about 620 loose pages, including not just personal experiences, but also newspaper articles and copies of other writings. I'm guessing that only one third to one half of his papers were used for the book With Santa Anna in Texas; are there any plans to translate the whole thing, or to separate his diary entries from the rest of the collection? I also saw that there is a book about the history of the Zapadores that hasn't been translated yet. Is anyone planning to translate it into English?
Jim Ewing
Mansfield, Texas
Though nothing has been officially decided, the expectation among those of us who have been working with the manuscripts over the past few years is that the Center for American History at UT-Austin, which now owns the papers will sponsor a complete new translation (hopefully annotated) of all of the materials that comprise the De la Peña Papers.
Most of the loose pages you refer to consist of the diary entries as transcribed by de la Peña in Matamoros in the summer of 1836 (109 pages) and the more-than-400-page memoir — a memoir that was crafted from, and heavily relied upon, that diary. Therefore, a lot of editing will be necessary in order to avoid repetition while at the same time providing complete information about the manuscripts.
One possible option that Center Director Don Carleton is actively exploring is that of digitizing both the Spanish originals and a new English translation, and putting the entire collection online. The search for funds for such a project is just beginning, but I believe that we will know more about the possibilities within a year or so.
In the meantime, specialists should keep in mind that the entire original manuscript collection is now available on microfiche on Interlibrary Loan from the University of Texas at San Antonio. I have used some of these images recently, and they are of excellent quality. The existing English translation by Carmen Perry covers somewhat more than half of the manuscripts, but the 1955 Mexico City edition, edited by Jesús Sánchez Garza, has another 100 pages or so of anexos (or appendices) that the Perry edition did not translate. So there is a lot out there to work on now, if the use of Spanish is not a barrier. The new English translation, I would guess, is still two to four years away.
I know of no one with plans to translate the volume on the history of the Zapadores.
For Alamo de Parras
James E. Crisp, N. C. State University
Concerning the microfiche copy of the Peña manuscript in the UTSA special collection, I've asked, and, at present, they don't have copies available for purchase. However, there's nothing to prevent you xeroxing the whole thing.
Jake Ivey, Archaeological Consultant
Alamo de Parras
