Supplement to Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.

For the first time that I know of, we present here the original Texas Declaration of Independence in English – as performed by a direct descendant of the men who brought about that independence back in 1813!

1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 7 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.

On April 6, 1813, Texas declared its independence, having momentarily rid the province of all traces of Spanish control. Eleven days later, the new Texas government promulgated a constitution, drawing from both Spanish civil and Anglo-American natural law traditions. Unfortunately, a horrific series of executions of captured Spanish officers nearly ripped the Republican Army apart at its seams, just as a Royalist army of retribution came sneaking up the Camino Real.

The research team starts digging at the suspected site of the Republican camp the night before the battle. What they learn while digging may be even more important than what they find!

Selected Bibliography
1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.
Anonymous. “Memoria de las cosas más notables…”
Bernsen, James A. The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites, and the Texas Revolution of 1811 (2024).
De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).
Folsom, Bradley. Arredondo: Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain (2017).
Martínez De Vara, Art. Tejano Patriot (2020).
Menchaca, Antonio. Memoirs (1937).
Navarro, José Antonio. “The Memoirs of José Antonio Navarro, Originally Appearing in the San Antonio Ledger in 1853.”
Schwarz, Ted, and Robert H. Thonhoff. Forgotten Battlefield of the First Texas Revolution: The Battle of Medina, August 18, 1813. (1985).
Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 6 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.

In February of 1813, Spanish Royalist forces under Texas Governor Manuel Salcedo stormed the Republicans besieged in Goliad – and were resoundingly repulsed. The Republicans broke out of Goliad and pursued the Royalists all the way back to San Antonio, where Salcedo and Gutiérrez de Lara met in one final battle.

We finally lay our hands on maps from the early 1800’s that might tell us where contemporaries believed that the Battle of Medina had taken place.

Selected Bibliography
1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.
Anonymous. “Memoria de las cosas más notables…”
Bernsen, James A. The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites, and the Texas Revolution of 1811 (2024).
De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).
Folsom, Bradley. Arredondo: Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain (2017).
Martínez De Vara, Art. Tejano Patriot (2020).
Menchaca, Antonio. Memoirs (1937).
Navarro, José Antonio. “The Memoirs of José Antonio Navarro, Originally Appearing in the San Antonio Ledger in 1853.”
Schwarz, Ted, and Robert H. Thonhoff. Forgotten Battlefield of the First Texas Revolution: The Battle of Medina, August 18, 1813. (1985).
Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 5 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.

In 7th grade Texas history textbooks, Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara figures only peripherally in the events covered in this series. In reality, he may have been the great unifying figure for the Tejano, Native American, and Americans volunteers marching across Texas in the fall of 1812. Texas Governor Manuel Salcedo certainly took notice of his movements and rode out to ambush the revolutionary commander on the road to San Antonio in October 1812. It would be Gutiérrez de Lara, however, who had a surprise in store for Salcedo.

The research team takes to the air to look for the “canyon” chosen by Republicans to later ambush the Royalist Army before the Battle of Medina.

Selected Bibliography
1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.
Anonymous. “Memoria de las cosas más notables…”
Bernsen, James A. The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites, and the Texas Revolution of 1811 (2024).
De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).
Folsom, Bradley. Arredondo: Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain (2017).
Martínez De Vara, Art. Tejano Patriot (2020).
Menchaca, Antonio. Memoirs (1937).
Navarro, José Antonio. “The Memoirs of José Antonio Navarro, Originally Appearing in the San Antonio Ledger in 1853.”
Schwarz, Ted, and Robert H. Thonhoff. Forgotten Battlefield of the First Texas Revolution: The Battle of Medina, August 18, 1813. (1985).
Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 4 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.

Before Father Miguel Hidalgo was captured by Royalist forces in March of 1811, he commissioned a modest but vocal supporter from the Rio Grande Valley as his emissary to the United States. With a dozen or so loyal followers, that emissary - José Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara - escaped Royalist capture and crossed over the Sabine, where he would spend the next two years rallying recruits and resources to the cause of Mexican independence.

Multiple contemporary accounts of the Battle of Medina relate the Republican army's route to the battlefield. Unfortunately, they almost all relate it differently or contradict each other in some material point. Despite their contradictions and ambiguities, what details might they have in common?

Selected Bibliography
1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.
Anonymous. “Memoria de las cosas más notables…”
Bernsen, James A. The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites, and the Texas Revolution of 1811 (2024).
De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).
Folsom, Bradley. Arredondo: Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain (2017).
Martínez De Vara, Art. Tejano Patriot (2020).
Menchaca, Antonio. Memoirs (1937).
Navarro, José Antonio. “The Memoirs of José Antonio Navarro, Originally Appearing in the San Antonio Ledger in 1853.”
Schwarz, Ted, and Robert H. Thonhoff. Forgotten Battlefield of the First Texas Revolution: The Battle of Medina, August 18, 1813. (1985).
Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 3 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.

After capturing Father Miguel Hidalgo, Texas Royalist Governor Manuel Salcedo returned to San Antonio in a less-than-magnanimous frame of mind. San Antonio, after all, was the town that had deposed him and the town to which Father Hidalgo had been fleeing. Governor Salcedo took it upon himself to impress upon San Antonians the true cost of disloyalty to the Crown…and to him. 

The battlefield search team, meanwhile, combines the results of modern technology (LIDAR) and the grunt work of a dedicated UTSA researcher (Bruce Moses) to map out the roads into San Antonio in 1813 and locate General Arredondo’s camp and line of march on the morning of the Battle of Medina.

Selected Bibliography
1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.
Anonymous. “Memoria de las cosas más notables…”
Bernsen, James A. The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites, and the Texas Revolution of 1811 (2024).
De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).
Folsom, Bradley. Arredondo: Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain (2017).
Martínez De Vara, Art. Tejano Patriot (2020).
Menchaca, Antonio. Memoirs (1937).
Navarro, José Antonio. “The Memoirs of José Antonio Navarro, Originally Appearing in the San Antonio Ledger in 1853.”
Schwarz, Ted, and Robert H. Thonhoff. Forgotten Battlefield of the First Texas Revolution: The Battle of Medina, August 18, 1813. (1985).
Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 2 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.

On September 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla unleashed a cry of protest against centuries of Spanish exploitation of New Spain. San Antonians under a retired militia captain named Juan Bautista de las Casas took up the cry and attached themselves to his cause.

We start our search for the battlefield of Medina by examining the most primary account of them all: the post-action report of the Spanish Royalist commander, Joaquín de Arredondo., who gives us our first important clues for narrowing the search area.

Selected Bibliography
1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.
Anonymous. “Memoria de las cosas más notables…”
Bernsen, James A. The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites, and the Texas Revolution of 1811 (2024).
De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).
Folsom, Bradley. Arredondo: Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain (2017).
Martínez De Vara, Art. Tejano Patriot (2020).
Menchaca, Antonio. Memoirs (1937).
Navarro, José Antonio. “The Memoirs of José Antonio Navarro, Originally Appearing in the San Antonio Ledger in 1853.”
Schwarz, Ted, and Robert H. Thonhoff. Forgotten Battlefield of the First Texas Revolution: The Battle of Medina, August 18, 1813. (1985).
Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com

Episode 1 of Brandon Seale's podcast series on the Battle of Medina.

Texas in 1800 was defined by its isolation, which Tejanos felt all the more acutely because of Spain’s restrictive trade laws and general neglect towards its most distant colonies. Tejanos began to see themselves as a people apart and to crave more autonomy and control over their own affairs.

Three different battle markers claim to be the site of the Battle of Medina, though none has ever produced archaeological evidence of the battle. What can the markers tell us, however, about where the battle might have occurred? Listen to learn more.

Selected Bibliography
1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.
Anonymous. “Memoria de las cosas más notables…”
Bernsen, James A. The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites, and the Texas Revolution of 1811 (2024).
De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).
Folsom, Bradley. Arredondo: Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain (2017).
Martínez De Vara, Art. Tejano Patriot (2020).
Menchaca, Antonio. Memoirs (1937).
Navarro, José Antonio. “The Memoirs of José Antonio Navarro, Originally Appearing in the San Antonio Ledger in 1853.”
Schwarz, Ted, and Robert H. Thonhoff. Forgotten Battlefield of the First Texas Revolution: The Battle of Medina, August 18, 1813. (1985).
Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com

The first season of this podcast described the Battle of Medina as having taken place “somewhere in the area between modern-day Lytle, Somerset, and Von Ormy.” That was way off. But this podcast wasn’t the first to express confusion over the location of the battlefield. Today, three different markers dot the Bexar-Atascosa County line claiming to mark the spot where the largest, bloodiest battle in Texas history occurred.

What was the Battle of Medina and why was it fought? How do you lose a battlefield of this size and importance, particularly in a state like Texas that is so obsessed with its history? Might we be able to use modern technology to find this “Forgotten Battlefield” that has eluded searchers now for almost a century? Listen to the introductory episode of Finding Medina to find out.

Selected Bibliography
1813 Texas Declaration of Independence.
Anonymous. “Memoria de las cosas más notables…”
Bernsen, James A. The Lost War for Texas: Mexican Rebels, American Burrites, and the Texas Revolution of 1811 (2024).
De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).
Folsom, Bradley. Arredondo: Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain (2017).
Martínez De Vara, Art. Tejano Patriot (2020).
Menchaca, Antonio. Memoirs (1937).
Navarro, José Antonio. “The Memoirs of José Antonio Navarro, Originally Appearing in the San Antonio Ledger in 1853.”
Schwarz, Ted, and Robert H. Thonhoff. Forgotten Battlefield of the First Texas Revolution: The Battle of Medina, August 18, 1813. (1985).
Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.
Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com

The past lives in San Antonio.

Selected Bibliography
Alessio Robles, Vito. Coahuila y Texas en la época colonial (1978).

De La Teja, Jesús F., ed. A Revolution Remembered: The Memoirs and Selected Correspondence of Juan N. Seguín (2002).

De la Teja, Jesús F. San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier (1996).

De Zavala, Lorenzo. Journey to the United States of North America: Viaje a los Estados Unidos del Norte de América. Michael Woolsey, trans., and John-Michael Rivera ed. (2005).

Fisher, Lewis F. Saving San Antonio: The Preservation of a Heritage (2016).

Maverick, Mary A. Memoirs of Mary A. Maverick (2007).

McDonald, David R. José Antonio Navarro: In Search of the American Dream in Nineteenth-Century Texas (2013).

Poyo, Gerald Eugene, and Gilberto M. Hinojosa, eds.  Tejano Origins in Eighteenth-Century San Antonio (1995).

Ramos, Raúl A. Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861 (2010).

Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook of Texas Online.

Tijerina, Andrés. Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836 (1994).

www.BrandonSeale.com