- Islandora Repository
- Archives and Manuscripts Collections
- Peña, José Enrique de la, collection
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Copia de un apunte suelto de la campaña de Tejas, que principia en 18 de marzo de 1836 [. . .] [Manuscript pages describing the death of David Crockett]
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Lt. Col. Nicolás de la Portilla presided over the garrison at Goliad when Santa Anna ordered the mass execution of prisoners there. Portilla's notes were lost and, thus, were never incorporated into the Mexican army's general report on the Texas campaign. Peña's narrative includes his account of the execution of David Crockett following the assault on the Alamo. The account, translated, reads as follows: Some seven men had survived the general carnage and, under the protection of General Castrillón, they were brought before Santa Anna. Among them was one of great stature, will proportioned, with regular features, in whose face there was the imprint of adversity, but in whom one also noticed a degree of resignation and nobility that did him honor. He was the naturalist David Crockett, well known in North America for his unusual adventures, who had undertaken to explore he country and who, finding himself in Bejar at the very moment of surprise, had taken refuge at the Alamo, fearing that his status as a foreigner might not be respected. Santa Anna answered Castrillón's intervention in Crockett's behalf with a gesture of indignation and, addressing himself to the sappers, the troops closest to him, ordered his execution ... Though tortured before they were killed, these unfortunates died without complaining and without humiliating themselves before their torturers., 3w22, Texas History, Focus on Texas history
