Santa Anna’s Army in the Texas Revolution, 1835

The history of the Mexican Army’s activity in the Texas Revolution is well documented but often hidden away. Many important primary sources have been lost or destroyed, but an impressive amount of period documentation has survived. And yet many of these handwritten, Spanish documents have been shelved in the back rooms of museums and libraries long enough to have been forgotten. Various archives are scattered in locations across Spain, Mexico, and the United States, with very few documents having been translated into English until now. Little can be found in Texan sources that addresses the actions, motivations, and opinions of the Mexican participants in the Texas Revolution. What does exist in Texan accounts was either added in passing or, worse, grossly fabricated. In short, the Texan side of the story has been told, and often at the expense of the perspective of Mexican participants. Author Gregg J. Dimmick makes available this new perspective, including a consideration of the many external forces affecting the Mexican government and its military leaders. At the same time Texans were fighting for independence, Mexican officials faced revolts across several states, battled each other for political control, responded to Spain’s attempts to reacquire Mexico, and contended with numerous foreign powers, including the United States and Britain. In Santa Anna’s Army in the Texas Revolution, 1835, Dimmick sheds new light on the complex motivations of the Mexican Army facing the Texas Revolution.

GREGG J. DIMMICK is the author of Sea of Mud: The Retreat of the Mexican Army after San Jacinto, An Archeological Investigation, 2007 winner of the San Antonio Conservation Society’s Publications Award, and editor of General Vicente Filisola’s Analysis of Jose Urrea’s Military Diary: A Forgotten 1838 Publication by an Eyewitness to the Texas Revolution. An independent scholar, he has given lectures across the state, appeared on the Discovery and History channels, and serves as chair of the archaeology committee of the San Jacinto Battleground Association.