El Diario del Supremo Gobierno de la Nacion del Dia 13 de Abril Ultimo, Inserta las Plausibles e Interesantes Noticias Que Siguen... [caption title]

[Mexico City: April 13, 1836. Very good.. [10]pp. Folio. Stitched as issued. Previously folded. Stabholes at gutter margin, not affecting text. Minor wear and dampstaining at edges. An important Mexican publication devoted entirely to news and reports of the war in Texas. Most significantly, the present work contains a contemporary Spanish translation of William B. Travis' "Victory or Death" message. The letter, written before the fall of the Alamo and justifiably famous for its dramatic final line, is also a detailed description of the situation in San Antonio. In some 600 words, Travis advises Texans that the Alamo is surrounded by Mexicans 400 yards to the east, 300 yards to the south, 1000 yards to the southeast, 800 yards to the northeast, and 800 yards to the north, and goes on to describe the forces arrayed against them and the Texans' own situation. At the climax of his missive, he reports that, despite constant fire from these troops and bombardment from four canon across the San Antonio River some 400 yards distant, the Texans have not lost a single man -- "Una bandera encarnada flamea desde la iglesia de Bejar; y en el campo arriba de nosotros, en señal que la guerra contra nosotros es guerra de venganza contra los rebeldes, pues asi nos llaman, y se nos ha ordenado que nos rindamos á discrecion, que de lo contrario esta guarnacion sera pasada á cuchillo. Sus amenazas no han tenido ninguna influencia en mi ó en mis soldados, si no es para hacerlos pelear á todos con desesperacion y el valor denodado que caracteriza al patriota que desea morir en defensa de la libertad de su pais, y de su propria honor...." ["A red flag flies from the church of Bejar..."].

Additionally, there are four reports signed in type by Santa Anna, dated March 18, 26, 27, & 28. In the last message of March 28, Santa Anna writes that he is enclosing an issue of the Texas Telegraph & Register (#19, March 3, 1836), "En el que se encuentra la terminanate declaracion de independencia que hizo la llamada convencion antes de saber la toma del fuerte del Alamo. Este documento es interesante, pues en él está compendiada la causa justificativa de la guerra que sostieno la nacion en defenso de su territorio. Unos aventureros impulsados por la negociados de tierras, residentes en el Norte, han venido á unirse á los malos colonos, y con solo el derecho de bandidos quieran apropriarse terrenos que no les pertencen...." In the same message, Santa Anna also makes reference to the appearance of Travis' letter in the enclosed paper, saying, "En el sitado periódico y parte dicho del comandante Travis, se nota tambien la arrogancia y desprecio con que estos foragidos insultaban el acreditado valor del ejército mexicano; y si bien pelearon hasta la desesperacion, tambien se ha dado á sus compañeros una terrible leccion de la suerte que les está reservada á los que como ellos atenten á la integridad de la repúblico, provocando su justa venganza."

Santa Anna's March 28 report is not described by Streeter in his Texas bibliography in any form, nor are the three prior, briefer messages. Streeter does describe two other, much shorter collections of reports that were printed when, "The goose was hanging high for the Mexicans" (See Streeter Texas 896 & 897, [4]pp. news sheet & [2]pp. broadsheet respectively). The latter of these contains the translation of the Travis message, but that version is known in only two institutional copies, one at Yale and the other at the Tecnológico de Monterrey. In total, there are fifteen reports from Santa Anna and the Mexican Army in the present, much more extensive ten-page compilation that cover both the Goliad campaign and the battle for the Alamo, and it also includes the March 20 instrument of surrender at Goliad by James Fannin. An extra printed report on the final leaf verso, dated April 28, 1836, prints a letter delivering the news of the capture of San Felipe de Austin, also not noted by Streeter. This significant compendium of reports on two of the three major campaigns of the Texas Revolution is not recorded by OCLC, nor is it described in any of the relevant bibliographies. Rare.