The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985 Page: 38
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38 THE TEXAS GULF HISTORICAL & BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
Zavala's illness continued and on one unfortunate cold November day,
his small son was in a boat on the Buffalo Bayou, which overturned. Zavala
immediately and heroically swam to the aid of his son. As a result of the
exposure and his ill health, he contracted pneumonia and died, November
15, 1836. He was buried at his home on Buffalo Bayou.
Later, Justo Sierra of Merida, Yucatan, as quoted by Bancroft, wrote
as follows:
Zavala served his country loyally, and yet for his defense of
the Texans he was branded a traitor by those who could not see
the justice and wisdom of his purpose. He died on the 15th of
November, 1836, and his remains were conveyed by four friends
to a plain grave prepared by his son in a small cedar forest on the
banks of the river San Jacinto in Texas. There they lie in a foreign
country till such time as his countrymen, remembering his services,
may do justice to his memory. Zavala was not only a distinguished
statesman and journalist, but also a historian and writer of
travels.32
However, these feelings were not shared by other Mexican leaders, and
even after Zavala's death, Jose Maria Tornel, Mexican Secretary of War
at the time of the Texas Revolution, wrote:
The death of this Mexican [Zavala] who, because of his great
talent and vast knowledge might have been the glory and pride of
his country, would keep me from referring to his censurable con-
duct if the obligation which I have taken upon myself did not force
me to recount the facts as they took place. He exaggerated to them
[the colonists] the importance of the republic to oppose their plans
and he himself began to recruit troops and to organize the insur-
rection. History reserves a place in its pages for Zavala, but this
place is the same one.that has been accorded to Count Julian, Monk,
the American General Benedict Arnold, and to Moreau. A glorious
death in battle did not save the last of these from the shame of hav-
ing used his genius against the interest of his country. (Who by pro-
phesying such things . . . could refrain from tears?)33
32Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Mexico (New York, 1886), Vol. IV, 87-88.
33Castaneda, op. cit., pp. 346-347.[Vol. XXI, No. 1
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Texas Gulf Historical Society. The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record, Volume 21, Number 1, November 1985, periodical, November 1985; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1433656/m1/40/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Gulf Historical Society.