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Post by rayjr on Dec 27, 2013 19:10:44 GMT -5
Rich, Very good assumptions indeed! I did find in "The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905" on page 339 an article on the Municipal Government of San Fernando de Bexar, in which a translation of a dispatch in Appendix 3 commands the governor to survey the settlement for the 15 families from the Canary islands: "The governor, after having examined the elevation and the plateau, shall survey the land, lay off the streets, the town blocks, the main plaza, and the site for the church, the priest's house, the public hall, the and the other buildings, shown on the map which is sent to the end that, observing the measurement in feet and varas indicated in each direction for each block and street, and for the plaza, church, and public hall, he shall mark these out with a cord." This was likely given prior to 1731 for in Appendix 4 there is a translation of the record of the division of the distribution of the lands among the 15 families dated July 11th, 1731. I would like to share a couple of thoughts based on this, of which you may have already deduced: The "Plaza de las Islas" or "Main Plaza", indicates the Plaza of the villa of "Islanders" likely to be the Canary islanders. The allotment of this land was very specific to families in order of which lots were drawn. It is certainly likely this property changed hands between 1731 and 1835 due to marriage, land sales etc. Lastly, I find it interesting that the order was given to the governor prior to the arrival of the families - lots not being drawn at least until their arrival, prior to the construction of the church, prior to the construction of the plaza or assignment of the blocks, even prior to the construction of the public hall within which the town council was to be elected - and yet it specifies that he establish a location for the "priest's house". So now I wonder: is it possible that there is only one "priest house" and that as the priests changed tenures that they merely inherited the pre-established structure? Might it be that the priests did not really own the dwelling in which they resided, but merely took advantage of the dwelling prescribed by law while they were in the role as the priest? Might it be that De La Garza, was in the same house previously occupied by De La Fuentes?
Granted these kinds of restrictions might have changed before 1835, but it seems the Spanish and even derivative Mexican Laws were very specific in these areas. For example, further in Appendix 3, is great detail regarding the means by which the lands were partitioned and the nature of the constructions permitted, and the direction from which winds were to be fostered, and the locations of where trees were to be planted, etc. As with the document from the Bexar Archives it seems that De Las Fuentes needed to petition the governor to transform his structure from the norm - a single story residence into a 2-story residence. Edward does make a good point about these structures potential for change over the years - but an important aspect of many of the structures within San Antonio held by the more privileged classes - they were made of stone - and lasted a long time. It seems that the most devastating form of destruction in San Antonio did not really occur until the revolution of 1835/36 - where cannon balls finally were thrown against these structures. Even the Battle of Medina was outside of town... Anyway - more food for thought...I wonder if we can find the plat that was attached to the original dispatch. Regards, Ray
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Post by rayjr on Dec 27, 2013 22:13:43 GMT -5
Rich,
If I might offer an additional suggestion. Perhaps it would make sense to expand your model just a bit to show the full flow of the 2 divisions as they advanced day by day. For example, it is unclear to me at this point where you have placed the Yturri house, the Navarro House, or Zambrano Row. It seems that members of either of these divisions occupied these houses during the course of the siege.
Johnson in Texas and the Texans might not be correct but he says (my comments in parenthesis):
"...the force should be divided into two divisions...the first under Colonel Milam...to enter town by the first street running north from the public square, and occupy the De La Garza house..." "...the second, led by Colonel Johnson...was to march near the river and take possession of the Veramendi house."
"The church is situated about the center of the two plazas. The priest's house in the northern boundary is nearly opposite to the church. The Navarro house on the same line further west. The Zambrano Row is in the street entering the Military Plaza at its northwest angle. (On Yoakum's map, is not the Zambrano Row depicted as being on the Northeast angle?)"
"The second day...We also took two advanced positions, one in front (I assume of the Veramendi house), and the other in advance of and on the right flank of the first division (in front and to the right of the Garza house if moving south). The first was affected by Henry Carnes, who crow-bar in hand, broke down the door (I assume breaking through a door implies a separate structure),...the second was affected by Lieutenant McDonald...who took possession of a strong house, and held it."
"on the morning of the third day...it was on this day, instead of the second, that Carnes found the house in front and in advance of the first division. (here Johnson seems to be correcting his previous statement, and Carnes was under York so he would have been moving from the Garza house not the Veramendi house - Yoakum seems to have this right - he says this happened about noon.)"
"the fourth day...early in the day, the companies holding the Navarro house, aided by the Grays, advanced and took possession on the Zambrano Row, which led to the Military Square...(when did either of the divisions get to the Navarro house? or was this one of the advanced structures taken on day 2 or 3?; note Yoakum says this happened in the evening after Milam was shot, being taken by companies of the first division."
"Our brave boys fought their way from house to house...they evacuated the whole row and their position in the square...gave the detachment command of the Military Square...this important point was reinforced by Captains Swisher, Ally, Edwards, and Duncan's companies,...Captain Peacock, who subsequently died...(are we to assume that the second division furthest to the east, near the river, diverted, crossing the line of the first division which was closer to the Military Plaza to the west, to reinforce the square taken after clearing Zambrano Row? Yoakum concurs that this reinforcement occurred after the row was taken by the first division.)"
"Near midnight the Captain of the Grays and Captain Patton...were ordered to storm the priest's house, a strong position on the north side, and near the northeast angle, of the civil square. (This house seems to have moved?)...which gave us command of both squares."
But - I think Yoakum is quite clear when he says: "On the north side, and opposite the centre of the main plaza, stood a strong building known as the "Priest's House." It commanded the plaza, and its capture was considered the crowning work of the assault."
And you do show a 2 story structure on the northwest corner of the plaza - could this have been the former priest's house of old? Or do you consider this as someone else's house?
Regards, Ray
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jan 20, 2014 1:50:05 GMT -5
And you do show a 2 story structure on the northwest corner of the plaza - could this have been the former priest's house of old? Or do you consider this as someone else's house? You've got it! Bingo! That's my interpretation of the Priest's House and that is where I believe it was. Sorry it took me so long to focus on your wonderful posts, but I first read them when I was in Pennsylvania for Christmas and just couldn't delve into to them at that time. To say the least, the primary accounts from Johnson, Burleson, Stiff, and one or two others are like trying to translate Latin, but I am now still confused by only one or two details. Everything else is beginning to fit together when plodding it out on the model (and I do mean plodding, not plotting). When you get down at eye-level and see what they were seeing from the Veramendi and De la Garza houses, the descriptions make more sense -- although, as I said, still not perfectly. You are right about the error on the Zambrano Row. Both the Yoakum and the Corner plats show it to be along the east side of Flores Street north of the N.E. corner of Plaza de Armas. What I haven't been able to figure out is the flow of the assault on these and the Navarro house -- and the objective. From the latter-day (1890) illustration on the Corner map, it appears that the Texians crossed west from the Veramendi house and broke into the northern end of the row. They then proceeded to break through partition walls and captured the whole row room by room until they achieved the prize -- the Navarro House fronting on Presidio street between the plazas (now W. Commerce). On the Corner plat, this made sense -- but not to capture Main Plaza as implied. The participants' accounts however seem to say that the Texians captured the Navarro house first and THEN broke into the south end of the Zambrano Row and went north through the walls. To what point? What advantage would that give them? I'd love to see deed records for the Zambrano Row and Navarro House, because I'm now beginning to believe that their relationship was different -- that the row came down Flores St. all the way to the Plaza and that the Navarro house butted up against its S.E. corner. In other words, the row was the N.E. corner of the plaza (and the junction of Flores and Presidio) and the Navarro was one lot east. Thus, coming through the Navarro and into the row and then north through the row would make more sense. Why would they need to even go into the row to reach the Plaza de Armas if the Navarro house was on the corner as in Corner (pardon the double-talk)? So, right now, this may be an error on my model (because I followed Corner's interpretation). The Yoakum Map. The Navarro House is "J" and the Zambrano Row is "K". He correctly (IMO) shows the Priest's House as "I". The William Corner Plat. He labels both the Navarro House and the Zambrano Row as being in line going north on Flores Street from the corner, and, as you can see, his line of assault comes from the Veramendi, down through both the row and the Navarro -- and then across to the west to capture the "Priest's House" which he places at the N.W. corner of the Plaza de Armas, and refers to it as the house of Padre Maines (the presidial chaplain and occasional substitute for Refugio de la Garza). Yoakum show a Mexican battery where Corner places his mythical Priest's House. This might have been a goal for the Texians, as were the two masked batteries on the plaza end of Soledad and Acequia Streets, but the Priest's House on the north side of Plaza de las Islas was clearly the access to that plaza and the rear of the two cannon positions -- and the munitions in the church yard.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jan 20, 2014 2:28:26 GMT -5
Here is Zambrano Row on my model, looking south down Flores to the Plaza de Armas. This shows the William Corner interpretation with a hole in the north end where the Texians made their entry. The pink building at the far end is the Navarro House. Here we look east over Zambrano Row as on the Corner map. The yellowish building in the left background is the De la Garza house and the other yellowish building with the light blue trim is the Veramendi. The small stone building with the single door directly behind Zambrano Row along Acequia Street is my conjectural structure (but located on a possible 1877 Sanborn Map location)for the stepping stone forward and to the right from the De la Garza used by the column from the Veramendi in reaching the Navarro house.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jan 20, 2014 2:50:40 GMT -5
Looking at the north side of Plaza de las Islas and the northern portion of Bexar, we see the Antonio de la Garza house (1), the Veramendi house (2) and the Padre Refugio de la Garza's house (the Priest's House) (3). The blue arrows point to Cos' street batteries aimed up Acequia Street (left) and Soledad Street (right). Looking the opposite direction at the rear of the Priest's House (center), it is easy to see why it became a primary goal for the Texians, because its zaguan passage led right onto the plaza. However, these buildings were fortified with loopholes and, by the second day, a sandbag parapet on the roof. This was the "fort" as Johnson and Milam's men saw it. The house to the right of the Priest's is the Yturri house which later became Santa Anna's headquarters for the Siege of the Alamo. A closer view of the Priest's House below. Attachments:
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Post by rayjr on Jan 20, 2014 10:48:14 GMT -5
Rich,
This is very exciting! I think you have cleared up the flow to a large extent.
To the right of the Yturri house, across Acequia street, the 2-story house belongs to _________?
Also you depict a cannon in the square, loosely placed, is this to represent the cannon that the company attempted to first pull into the house, and that was spiked by the company member that lost an eye when returning through the door? Or do you think they were trying to grab one from one of the emplacements located at either corner located by your arrows?
I think you are right - they break into the north end of the Zambrano row and move south towards Navarro House. It is a risky move to get to this end over the open space, even when beginning at the "stepping tone", particularly if there were loopholes cut in the back of Zambrano row - not to mention if there are soldiers on top of the 2 story structure belonging to _______?
Best regards, Ray
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Post by rayjr on Jan 20, 2014 10:50:56 GMT -5
Rich,
Ooops - you are depicting a cart - not a cannon.
Ray
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Post by rayjr on Jan 20, 2014 10:57:54 GMT -5
Rich,
Alwyn Barr does say they rushed "across open space" to break into Zambrano row. He also says they initially attempted to break into the Yturri house but it was too strong, so they moved along the outside wall very close to the cannon emplacement and jumped the wall into the plaza (holy cow!) and entered the Priest House from the front. Pretty scary...Plus again that mysterious 2-story looking right down on them the whole time?
Best Ray
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jan 20, 2014 19:44:21 GMT -5
Rich, Ooops - you are depicting a cart - not a cannon. Ray Hahahaha! Gotcha! I was about to correct your mistake. Some artilleryman you'd make. "Siento, mi capitan! I thought it was a cannon." Back on shortly with observations.
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Post by edward on Jan 21, 2014 0:35:37 GMT -5
Here we look east over Zambrano Row as on the Corner map. The yellowish building in the left background is the De la Garza house and the other yellowish building with the light blue trim is the Veramendi. The small stone building with the single door directly behind Zambrano Row along Acequia Street is my conjectural structure (but located on a possible 1877 Sanborn Map location)for the stepping stone forward and to the right from the De la Garza used by the column from the Veramendi in reaching the Navarro house. The small stone building with the single door you show would be the home of Martinez. Taking up about a fourth of the lot from East to West facing Acequia. Bounded on the West would be the lot of Francisco Flores fronting on Flores street. To the North of Francisco Flores the residence of Juan Seguin fronting Flores street (Zambrano row).
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Post by edward on Jan 21, 2014 0:57:17 GMT -5
Edward does make a good point about these structures potential for change over the years - but an important aspect of many of the structures within San Antonio held by the more privileged classes - they were made of stone - and lasted a long time. It seems that the most devastating form of destruction in San Antonio did not really occur until the revolution of 1835/36 - where cannon balls finally were thrown against these structures. Even the Battle of Medina was outside of town... Anyway - more food for thought...I wonder if we can find the plat that was attached to the original dispatch. Regards, Ray Ray, Sorry I did not get chance to respond earlier. - Flooding was a recognized hazard as early as the flood of 1724, which resulted in relocation of Mission San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo) to a safer site. Spanish records reflect that the flood of 1819 swept through many homes in its path (San Antonio River Authority). The inventory listed 55 homes destroyed with many women and children dead. From the San Fernando Burials #957, 9 Jul 1819, Dolores Ramirez, child , drowned with other children and adults in a flood. The property diagonally across the Granado old homestead was one of the many that was destroyed it was described as a stone house with a back wall of stone to the north. It belonged to the Travieso family (MSA). Also not all houses were kept up especially after the Battle of Medina as many were abandon. Not until around the flood time did pardons were issued so that the city could be repopulated. Military Plaza was in real bad shape even in the early 1800 that the Flying company de Alamo de Parras decided to stay at the 'Alamo' instead.
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jan 22, 2014 10:19:13 GMT -5
Here we look east over Zambrano Row as on the Corner map. The yellowish building in the left background is the De la Garza house and the other yellowish building with the light blue trim is the Veramendi. The small stone building with the single door directly behind Zambrano Row along Acequia Street is my conjectural structure (but located on a possible 1877 Sanborn Map location)for the stepping stone forward and to the right from the De la Garza used by the column from the Veramendi in reaching the Navarro house. The small stone building with the single door you show would be the home of Martinez. Taking up about a fourth of the lot from East to West facing Acequia. Bounded on the West would be the lot of Francisco Flores fronting on Flores street. To the North of Francisco Flores the residence of Juan Seguin fronting Flores street (Zambrano row). Boy am I gonna stick with you!
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Post by edward on Jan 23, 2014 13:57:26 GMT -5
Priest Locations:
Fuentes: Military Plaza west side of Flores street toward the South end (1780). Maynes: NE corner of Cameron and Commerce (1834).
De La Garza: North side of the Main Plaza (1835).
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jan 23, 2014 17:38:17 GMT -5
Priest Locations:
Fuentes: Military Plaza west side of Flores street toward the South end (1780). Maynes: NE corner of Cameron and Commerce (1834).
De La Garza: North side of the Main Plaza (1835).
Awesome! Are these all from deed records?
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jan 23, 2014 18:02:50 GMT -5
To the right of the Yturri house, across Acequia street, the 2-story house belongs to _________? I don't know who it belonged to. George Nelson identified it as the "Priest's House," but this clearly is not the case, and Edward's post nails the lid shut. Later (1868) photos show it as a 2-story, but now I highly doubt it -- otherwise it would have been an important feature in the battle (as it was when believed to be the Priest's House). So I would transfer all its alleged Battle of Bexar participation (if in fact you thought so) over to the Refugio de la Garza house in the middle of the north side of Main Plaza, and possibly knock off the second story. I think you are right - they break into the north end of the Zambrano row and move south towards Navarro House. It is a risky move to get to this end over the open space, even when beginning at the "stepping tone", particularly if there were loopholes cut in the back of Zambrano row - not to mention if there are soldiers on top of the 2 story structure belonging to _______? Hahaha! Thanks, but I don't even think I'm right. This Navarro house / Zambrano Row / Battle goal relationship still confuses me, or maybe I'm just dense and can't see the forest for the trees. Part of the problem is that participant accounts seem to agree that the Navarro House was captured first and then they started breaching the walls of the Zambrano Row from that point. This seems to suggest they went through the row from south to north, and I can't understand the goal -- unless simply to capture enemy-held houses (of which there were many others) or gain a vantage point from which to attack a Mexican battery behind the Maynes house one block to the west. I can't find any support for this though.
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