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Post by stuart on Jun 25, 2008 7:56:00 GMT -5
Spinning off the Jacales thread:
Rich wrote "just checked my copy of Jenkins' Papers of the Texas Revolution, Vol. 4 (page 60), for a more accurate printing of Jameson. .. In "letter B," he says, "Temporary redoubts of stakes on end and rocks and dirt between, the long one is in front of the house in which Col. Mendoza now lies wounded."
What happened to him?
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Post by Herb on Jun 25, 2008 10:46:18 GMT -5
Spinning off the Jacales thread: Rich wrote "just checked my copy of Jenkins' Papers of the Texas Revolution, Vol. 4 (page 60), for a more accurate printing of Jameson. .. In "letter B," he says, "Temporary redoubts of stakes on end and rocks and dirt between, the long one is in front of the house in which Col. Mendoza now lies wounded." What happened to him? I went to Hansen and looked at Jameson's letter there - it seems to match what Rich says about Jenkin's version. One other interesting thing, I found was Jameson mentioned that another two wounded officers were currently being housed in the Alamo HQs (Trevino House). From the so called Jameson plat, I could only find one area marked "B" and that was the small battery just inside the gate. I wonder if Mendoza was perhaps being held in the remaining room of the Northern Castenada House? Looking at the Surgeon's report on page 378 he lists treating what appears to be 3 battalion commanders. As we know, he is including the wounded left in Bexar in December by Cos, I assume one of those three is Mendoza and he was one of the December wounded. Sadly, I don't have ready access to many first hand accounts on the December fighting. One of the other wounded commanders, is probably Duque, wounded on March 6th, but who is the third? This raises another question to my mind, that I've never seen addressed, what became of the Mexican wounded being held by the Texians? Was there some sort of an exchange early in the siege? It would seem to have been in both sides interest to have done so.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Jun 25, 2008 10:52:58 GMT -5
It's never been clear to me how many Mexican wounded from Cos's force remained in Bexar and were (or may have been) in the Alamo during the siege. None of the Mexican accounts mentions them or any prisoner exchange.
I'm also not clear on how much of the improved defenses were constructed by Cos and how many (or few) by the Texians.
I found this interesting post by Jake Ivey on the Dewitt Colony website. Is this the same Col. Mendoza referred to by Jameson?
"Col. Domingo de Ugartechea, assisted by Col. José María Mendoza, directed the construction of the defenses of the Alamo in the period from October 12 to November 3, using the troops of the Morelos Infantry Battalion and the Alamo de Parras and Béxar cavalry companies. During that time virtually all the defenses of the Alamo used by the Texans in 1836 were built. Only a few changes to the defensive structure can be attributed to the Texans, and most of these are simple cannon movements (the 18-pounder that Ugartechea put up on top of the church battery was put in the southwest corner battery, and three cannon took its place in the church, for example). The Texans attempted some trenching along the north wall, but never finished it. Cos himself was actually in the Alamo only something like two days, when he was forced out of Béxar and made it into the Alamo, only to surrender on December 10."
Jake Ivey, Archaeological Consultant Alamo de Parras
AW
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Post by TRK on Jun 25, 2008 12:01:06 GMT -5
Sadly, I don't have ready access to many first hand accounts on the December fighting. Oh, yes you (and we) do: numerous webpages worth of primary documents on the Siege of Bexar Starting right here: www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/musterbexar.htmCol. José María Mendoza, secretary to Gen. Cos, had his lower leg shot off during a cannonade exchange between the Mexicans and Texans on December 2, 1835. Lindley's Alamo Traces has several pages on him, pp. 258-62 and notes, pp. 286-87, but Lindley gives no firm information on Mendoza's fate. (He does mention that a roll of officers in Bexar in 1836 listed Mendoza as a member of the Permanent Infantry, General Command of Coahuila y Texas.)
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Post by Herb on Jun 25, 2008 15:59:58 GMT -5
Amazing isn't it, how sometimes you forget the most obvious things!
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jun 25, 2008 20:06:01 GMT -5
Since the discrepancy between Nelson's and Jenkins' printing of the Jameson letter has been uncovered, I was going to type the corrected Jameson list and post it, but since you reminded me (MY feeble brain at work now) that it is in Hansen, I'll compare the versions and it may save me the trouble.
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Post by dimbo33 on Jun 25, 2008 20:22:55 GMT -5
I looked into my various Mexican sources on Mendoza and was able to find the following on him.
--Pena says that he was a Lt. Col. who, after the capitulation, was saved by Dr. James Grant and later lost a limb while defending the Alamo. Pena mentions that Grant saved other officers as well.
--Filisola called him a Lt. Col. who was in command at the Battle of Concepcion. In the same source, different page he called Mendoza a Captain and Adjutant of the 2nd Nuevo Leon Company who was wounded and unable to leave Bexar when Cos left.
Sanchez Navarro wrote that he was commander of the troops at Concepcion and that he was wounded in that battle. He also noted that a Texan, Morris, gave him some gold to give to Mendoza to compensate him for gear that he had lost.
--Sanchez Navarro wrote that they left Lt. Colonel Mendoza, Captain Zenea, Second Lieutenant Solís and more than thirty soldiers in Béjar. These men were wounded and could not be moved. These two could be the other two officers you are looking for.
--In the March 1836 roll call from Bexar he was listed as Lt. Col. of the Permanent Infantry Staff—of the Command Staff of Coahuila Y Texas. He was marked as present at the roll call.
This makes it seem as though he rejoined the army at some point prior to the storming of the Alamo. If he had a limb missing it seems unlikely he would have continued in active service and I have no further record of him. Gregg
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Post by Rich Curilla on Jun 25, 2008 20:55:57 GMT -5
The Handbook of Texas Online says this about Mendoza at the Battle of Concepcion:
"Cos seized the opportunity to attack the separate force the next day, sending out Col. Domingo de Ugartechea with 275 men and two cannons before dawn. The 200 Mexican cavalry drove in the Texan guards in early morning fog and formed on the west side of the river. Lt. Col. José María Mendoza led the smaller infantry and artillery forces across the stream to attack from the east."
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Post by stuart on Jun 26, 2008 0:49:41 GMT -5
I did come across the Grant connection - which the late Tom Lindley disputed - before, and as for his later career there were plenty of staff officers with wooden legs; Santa Anna himself being an onvious case in point.
What interested me here was that Jameson clearly records him lodged in the Alamo before the siege, possibly with a couple of other wounded officers, so what I was really wondering is how he (and they?) got out.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Jun 26, 2008 9:00:34 GMT -5
That's my question, Stuart. What happened to the Mexican wounded from the battle of Bexar who were left behind? Were they moved to Bexar and were they still there when the Mexicans arrived on February 23, 1836?
Incidentally, Santa Anna's artificial limb was made of cork, not wood. It has a history of its own as it was taken "captive" during the battle of Cerro Gordo during the Mexican War. Santa Anna had to flee the battlefield so hastily that he left it behind in his coach, along with other personal belongings. According to one source, the leg resides to this day in the Illinois State Military Museum in Camp Lincoln. An inscription on the shin of the leg reads: "General Santa Anna's cork leg, captured at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Mexico, by Private A. Waldron, First Sergeant Sam Rhoades, Second Sergeant John M. Gill April 18, 1847, all of the Fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers of the Mexican War."
I had heard that offers were made to trade the leg for the New Orleans Grays flag, but it was no deal.
Songs were actually written about the dictator's lost prosthesis, including "The Leg I Left Behind Me," sung to the tune of "The Girl I left Behind Me."
AW
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Post by stuart on Jun 26, 2008 9:57:55 GMT -5
My understanding is that they were, for the most part at least, lodged in Bexar. As I recall one of the Mexican doctors' reports refers to them. Mendoza was presumably being held in the Alamo as being a more secure place to keep someone of his rank, but as you rightly asked earlier, was he moved out before February 23 or still there on March 6? None of the available documentation (and all things considered there's plenty) mentions any kind of exchange/release during the siege.
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Post by bobdurham on Jun 26, 2008 10:45:02 GMT -5
" Songs were actually written about the dictator's lost prosthesis, including "The Leg I Left Behind Me," sung to the tune of "The Girl I left Behind Me." "
A good teaser for your new book Allen -- another reason I can't wait 'til it comes out!!!
Bob
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Post by Allen Wiener on Jun 26, 2008 10:46:32 GMT -5
Me too, Bob; me too! We're looking at a February release, in time for HHD 2009.
AW
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Post by Allen Wiener on Jun 26, 2008 10:50:20 GMT -5
My understanding is that they were, for the most part at least, lodged in Bexar. As I recall one of the Mexican doctors' reports refers to them. Mendoza was presumably being held in the Alamo as being a more secure place to keep someone of his rank, but as you rightly asked earlier, was he moved out before February 23 or still there on March 6? None of the available documentation (and all things considered there's plenty) mentions any kind of exchange/release during the siege. Although it's a minor point, this really is puzzling. Not that the wounded were left behind, but that there's virtually no mention of them either by the Texans or Mexicans. Were there any post-Bexar battle reports by either side that might shed some light on this? From Jameson's remark about Mendoza being housed in the buildings north of the Convento, it would seem he was there at least at the start of Texan occupation of the fort. It seems most likely that they were moved to Bexar some time prior to the siege, or I'd have expected Travis to mention it. Did the Texans miss another opportunity here of possibly holding some hostages who could have been used in bargaining with Santa Anna (not that it would have done them much good, I expect). AW
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Post by elcolorado on Jun 28, 2008 10:33:11 GMT -5
This is a very interesting subject with equally interesting questions. What did became of the Mexicans wounded in the battle for Bexar? Where were they housed? If the Texan wounded were re-cooperating in the convento, would there have been room for the many Mexican wounded? How were they treated? Did any die during convalescence? Were they still in Bexar when Santa Anna occupied the town? Were they free to go when they were able? Unfortunately, history has not been able to shed much light on these questions.
Amos Pollard, who was in charge of the medical department during and after the siege of Bexar, mentions nothing in his letters to Gov. Smith about the disposition of the Mexican wounded. Rather, he opines about political concerns and the lack of medical resources. Which makes me wonder if the Texans took responsibility for Cos's wounded or if Cos sought out sympathetic tejanos to provide care for the men he left behind.
The Texans couldn't adequately treat their own wounded. So would they have taken on the additional burden of the Mexican wounded? Would Cos have left any one behind to ensure their care?
Given that Cos and his surviving officers loathed the "crude bumpkins," I'm inclined to believe that Cos preferred to make arrangements with local tejanos rather then leave his dying and wounded soldados in the care of the "proud and overbearing" Texans. The exception may have been those who's wounds were too serious and could not be moved - like Mendoza.
During the ten weeks that would pass before Santa Anna would arrive, it's safe to assume some of the injured soldados recovered sufficiently enough to allow them to depart San Antonio. But where would they go? Would they try to return to Mexico on their own. Or did they simply blend in with the local population and remain in Texas. Did any switch sides and join up with the tejanos (like Seguin) in revolt? Did any return to service when Santa Anna entered Bexar? And lastly, would the Texans have been concerned about the convalescing Mexicans becoming spies later on? Would the Texans have monitored their (soldados) status and movements?
Glenn
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