By José Enrique de la Peña
College Station: Texas A & M University Press [1997]
Translated and edited by Carmen Perry.
Introduction by Llerena Friend.
Full Title:
WITH SANTA ANNA IN TEXAS: A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF THE REVOLUTION
Professor Llerena Friend described this volume as, “the detailed story by a participant observer who had military training and who also was well read, observant of the natural scene and human character, and passionately devoted to his country. It should help dispel some of the myths or answer some of the questions that challenge the research historian.” John Jenkins extoled it as “the most important eye-witness records of the Texas Revolution, and especially of the Siege of the Alamo.” I could not agree more. Seek out the 1997 “Expanded Edition,” which includes a remarkably erudite Introduction by Professor James E. Crisp. The new Introduction places the narrative solidly within its historical context and examines many of the fallacies and controversies that swirl around Peña’s account. The 1997 edition also includes an additional week’s entries from Peña’s Diario that had never before seen the light of day in either language.