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Title:
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Letter from James Cramp, December 1835 |
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Author:
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Cramp, James |
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Abstract:
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The Tampico expedition of 1835 was an episode of the Texas Revolution that followed Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's rise to power in Mexico and the revolutions that arose to resist his dictatorship. Mexican refugees George Fisher and José Antonio Mexia organized the attack on Tampico in an attempt to restore the federal system and prevent the arrival of Santa Anna's troops in Texas. The expedition failed and thirty-one soldiers were taken prisoner. Three died of battle wounds and the remaining were executed on December 4th, 1835 in an attempt to send the message that insurrections against the centralist government would not be tolerated. The prisoners, though, claimed that most of the one hundred and fifty soldiers aboard the "Mary Jane" had been tricked into fighting in Tampico. They asserted that they were told they were being taken to Texas and their participation in the war was optional. The prisoner James Cramp outlines these claims in a letter that all the prisoners signed and in a personal letter to his brother. While these letters are probably an exaggerated account, it is likely that there was some element of deceit during the expedition. |
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Description:
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Handwritten document, 2pp, (incomplete). Letter, manuscript fair copy, in Cramp's hand, of the Declaration and Petition of the American prisoners who were subsequently executed at Tampico. |
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URI:
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http://hdl.handle.net/1911/9233
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Date:
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1835 |