The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959 Page: 504
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
whether they were emphasized in accounts or not. A comment in
Colonel Juan N. Almonte's diary on February 22 implied that
desertion was not unusual. "The troops cleared their arms and
dryed their clothes; no desertions whatever or sickness.""' Surely
he would not have considered such a day's record worthy of note
had it been the routine state of things.
The disorganized state of the army is further indicated by pil-
laging which occurred along the way. Such acts, especially those
committed by the group under Ramirez y Sesma, left vivid and
sad memories for people in the areas passed by the army. It even
caused some of the people to consider the troops as their enemies.
Jose Enrique de la Pefia points out that the women, the children,
the mule drivers, and the sutlers were responsible for most of
the irregularities committed, although the army and its chiefs
received the blame.62
Despite extreme hardships and other disruptive effects, the bulk
of the Mexican army reached the Alazan Creek on February 23,
a half-league from B6xar. General Ramirez y Sesma also arrived
the same day, but he did not advance. Santa Anna and his staff
led the march on B6xar that afternoon.83 The Texans in B6xar
fled into the shelter of the Alamo. The subsequent encounter of
the two forces, however, lies outside the scope of this article.
The Mexican army had completed the first stage of its opera-
tions upon reaching Bexar, and the primary purpose of the in-
vaders in essence changed with the siege of the Alamo. Before
the battle, the army had devoted its energies primarily to reach-
ing Bexar, not to engage the enemy but to establish a base of
operations from which to launch an attack. The unanticipated
defense of the Alamo by the Texans undoubtedly gave Santa
Anna reason for surprise, for he probably expected to find a loyal
Mexican citizenry in Bexar. Whatever the caudillo thought, he
surely did not anticipate an immediate encounter at the end
of his march from Saltillo. After the Alamo, therefore, the Mex-
ican army sought primarily to engage the Texan army and to
defeat it. The attitude ostensibly was changed from a relatively
OlAlmonte, "Private Journal," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XLVIII, 16.
42De la Pefia, La rebelidn de Texas, 34-35.
6aAlmonte, "Private Journal," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XLVIII, i6.504
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959, periodical, 1959; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101173/m1/601/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.