Date: 12/25/98
From: W.L. McKeehan
Concerning the first and most important battle for the Alamo, a grievance letter of 1875 to the Texas state legislature by Tejano veterans of the Texas War of Independence , suggests that possibly 180+ individuals of the successful battle that established Texas as forever independent from Coahuila and a centralist Mexican government were native born Tejanos (160+ under Capt. Juan Seguin including Leal's and Flores' recruits, 20+ with Aldrete and Collinsworth from Goliad and an unknown number with Neill and Dimmit from Goliad making a total of 180+). Estimates from battle reports are generally considered to be around 300 that took the town and caused the capitulation of Gen. Cos following Milam's call to action. Is the 180+ included in the ca. 300 total (meaning Tejano contribution was 60%), or was the 180+ generally ignored meaning the taking of Bexar was done by ca. 500 men (Tejano contribution 40%)?
Is there merit to the statement that Seguin mustered the largest company (primarily Tejanos) at Gonzales after the Alamo defeat (greater than 100) (companies at San Jacinto varied from 14-50 in final battle reports)? I have read that the estimates of the Tejano and Anglo population of Texas early 1836 was about 4000 and 35,000, respectively. What percentage of each were active participants in resistance to centralista dictatorship and independence?
W.L. McKeehan
Bellaire, TX
1990), pp. 67-68. The Bottom line is that the battle took place in that part of Texas where Tejanos were in a majority, many Tejanos, both civilian and military, had been alienated by General Cos, and the size of the Texan army was in constant flux for a number of reasons. Given all of this, it is not unreasonable to estimate the entire Texan army at about 700 to 800 men of whom 160 to 180 were Tejanos.
J. F. de la Teja
Associate Professor of History
Southwest Texas State University
Kevin Young agrees:
Not trying to duck an answer here, but Paul Lack addresses all
of this in his book, The Texas Revolutionary Experience. It may
not answer all your questions, and you may not agree with some of his interpretation,
but it is a good start and using his footnotes and sources, you can go
from there. The book is available in paperback from Texas A&M Press.
Kevin Young
 | The Texas Revolutionary Experience by Paul D. Lack |
Subject: Re: Native Tejano
Patriots
Date: 12/29/98
From: W.L. McKeehan
If one takes the simple rounded numbers suggested above and from Lack and Barr, the following emerges (plus or minus) using a Texas population of 4000 Tejanos and 40000 Anglos of 1835-36:
1. The Siege and Battle of Bexar. If one takes 800 as the total, 200 of which were Tejanos and 600 of which were Anglos, then the Tejano contribution was 5% of population and the Anglo contribution was 1.5% of that population. The percentage of contribution of Anglo "residents" was even less if the percentage of newly arrived US Anglo volunteers is subtracted from the total Anglo contribution.
2. Total Texians in the service, fall 1835-spring 1836. Lack estimates 3685 of which 40% were US volunteers. Again using a Tejano contribution of 200 equals a 5% contribution (200/4000). Subtracting the Anglo new arrivals, Anglo resident contribution was 1800 or 4.5% of the 40000 population.
3. San Jacinto. Assuming an army of 1200, 40% of which were fresh US volunteers, Tejano contribution with 100 was 2.5% of their minority population. Anglo resident contribution of 620 equals 1.6% of population.
Bottom line: Tejano resident's contribution as a percentage of population was over three times that of the Anglo resident majority at Bexar, even 1.5 times higher at San Jacinto and about equal during the whole struggle for independence. Is this conclusion valid?
Contribution above does not include personal property, either willingly or unwillingly. Some historians imply that native Tejanos were "short-shifted" both during and after the rebellion in terms of land titles and personal property. Is there any evidence by a systematic study of all land titles in Texas and their fate as well as confiscation of personal property that Tejanos suffered any more than immigrant Anglo residents or the "Old Anglo Settlers" who were invited by the Republican Mexican government to develop the country?
W.L. McKeehan
Bellaire, TX
Actually, a population of 40,000 "Anglos" is an overestimate. Although there are no reliable numbers, the white English-speaking population should be considered to be closer to 30,000.
As for a systematic study of land grants to determine treatment of Tejanos vs. Anglo settlers, that would be a daunting task. There are not only thousands of titles at the General Land Office, but an innumerable number of deed records at county court houses. Some work has been done selectively on the activities of the county land commissions, which was the mechanism employed by the Republic to investigate claims arising from the Mexican period. Although a lot more work remains to be done on the subject, a general sense of the number of titles and their distribution can be found in the works of Thomas Lloyd Miller. "The Public Lands of Texas, 1519-1970" (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972) and "Bounty and Donation Land Grants of Texas, 1835-1888" (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967). There is also a very large body of materials regarding war of independence claims, including many from Tejanos, in the Texas State Archives. To my knowledge, this record group has not been systematically studied, although it has been used by many scholars on a more selective basis.
J. F. de la Teja,
Associate Professor of History
Southwest Texas State University
San Marcos, Texas
