Born into a distinguished Saltillo, Mexico, family, José Juan Sánchez-Navarro was a professional soldier in the Mexican Army during the Texas Revolution. He served as Adjutant Inspector of the Departments of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas under the command of General Martín Perfecto de Cós during the Siege of Bexar in 1835 and the battle of the Alamo in early 1836.
Comprising military copybooks, notes and translations, and photographs, the José Juan Sánchez-Navarro Papers, 1831-1839, [ca. 1930s], document Sánchez-Navarro’s work as an inspector in the Mexican Army during the Texas Revolution and his observations at the sieges of Bexar (1835) and the Alamo (1836). The copybooks contain the provincial inventory Sánchez-Navarro prepared while adjutant inspector of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas as well as correspondence, decrees, printed orders, and personal notes. Additionally, Sánchez-Navarro used the ledgers’ blank pages to describe the two major encounters between the Mexican and Texan forces in San Antonio de Bexar. Photographs depict his carefully drawn plan of the Alamo, which show the positions of Mexican forces. Additionally, the collection contains notes and typescripts with English translations on Sánchez-Navarro’s descriptions, created by Carlos Sanchez-Navarro for his book,
This collection is open for research use.
José Juan Sánchez-Navarro Papers, 1831-1839, [ca. 1930s], Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.