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Post by bobdurham on Jul 9, 2008 13:17:19 GMT -5
I think it would be highly unlikely for anyone but the battalion C. O.'s staff and the higher level company officers to be quartered in the same structure. Rank has its perks and I believe they would have made a point to make those perks obvious. The higher ranking officers would probably have been quartered in the better structures in Bexar and La Villita; the rank and file would have taken what was left over, including jacales, etc.
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Post by dimbo33 on Aug 15, 2008 14:48:34 GMT -5
Sorry to have responded to this so late in the game but I just found this thread. Several points that I would like to make
From what I can tell it was commonplace for the armies of the time to have camp followers. I agree that it would have been almost unthinkable for Santa Anna's army in Texas not to have had these folks.
I would argue that we need to quit using the term soldaderas. this term is more appropriate for the females of the Mexican revolution (and other times) where the females actually participated in the battles. I have never seen the term soldadera in the period documents. These females (soldaderas) that were fighters were the focus of the book by Elizabeth Salas. I do not agree with her information on the death rates of the camp followers of Santa Anna. She got that information from a poor source and I have never seen anything like it in the Mexican sources. There were without a doubt, fatalities among these women and children, especially from heat and thirst while traversing the wilderness that separates Mexico and Texas.
Filisola was very upset about what a burden they were. In my book there is a long diatribe from him about how bad they were for the army but he also noted that they were necessary and it was to be expected that the soldiers were more worried about the women than the battle.
De la Pena was not so kind. He as many negative comments about them and calls the group as a whole "locusts." It is also interesting the de la Pena did not take his girlfriend on the trip to Texas as he got a dear John letter just after he crossed the Colorado, during the retreat.
There is good evidence that the angel of Goliad was not the wife of Col. Alavez but was a "partner". Alavez was married at the time but his wife had a different name which is found on his military records.
I think that the camp followers consisted of wives, children, sutlers, wagon drivers, mule skinners and yes, prostitutes. Filisola even mentions that these women bring all types of diseases to the army.
It is important to note that Santa Anna left his camp followers at Fort Bend when he crossed the Brazos. For that reason the camp followers were not at San Jacinto, thus there were one or two females killed and reportedly six captured.
Because he not only had the camp followers of his troops, but also those of Santa Anna, Filisola had a double burden of female camp followers which would have greatly hindered his advance upon Houston after the Battle of San Jacinto. I estimate that after he was united with Urrea, he had 1200-1500 camp followers. He was convinced, and I agree with him, that leaving the females at Fort Bend and advancing against Houston would not be acceptable to his men.
I have not seen any reference to using the females as medical personnel but I am sure that it was done. On the other hand, every Mexican officer that wrote of the campaign, bitterly complained that they were lacking in doctors and medical supplies. One needs to be very careful in not putting too much weight on the one letter that was written by one of the Mexican doctors, after the fact, about all the great work the doctors did at San Antonio. I have found a letter to him from his superior telling him that the Medical corps is looking bad and that he needs to set the story straight--thus his glowing letter about all the great work they did--Even Dr. Bernard said the Mexicans had very few and very bad doctors.
I have several documents that mentions the officers being in tents. I have not seen anything about the enlisted men having tents and there are several references to them having to sleep in the open in the elements. I agree that it is likely that when they were in or near a town they would tend to assimilate into the town. We have good evidence, archeologically and in documents that the units would not encamp near the headquarters units.
Both my books have quite a bit of information on the conditions of the Mexican army and both of them have quite a few mentions of the camp followers.
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Post by elcolorado on Aug 16, 2008 8:31:46 GMT -5
Greg
Thanks for your insight. I had a feeling the death rate among the camp followers as stated by Ms. Salas seemed rather high.
The additional information and comments you provided have been very helpful. I appreciate the "education."
Glenn
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