Juana Navarro Alsbury - Texas Revolution

Texas Revolution

In the early to mid-1830s, the political situation in Mexico underwent much upheaval. Federalists wished to delegate many powers to the individual Mexican states, while centralists wished to consolidate power at the national level. In 1835, several interior Mexican states, angry at the increasingly dictatorial policies of Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna, took up arms against the Mexican government. Texians launched their own armed rebellion, known as the Texas Revolution, in October 1835. Over the next two months, Texians successfully removed all Mexican troops from the region. Their actions infuriated Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who immediately began preparations to invade Texas. Most of the Navarro family supported the Texian cause. An exception was Juana's father, who joined Santa Anna's new Army of Operations in Texas as an officer. Although he remained loyal to Mexico, José Ángel Navarro had been very vocal in his disagreement with Santa Anna's overthrow of the 1824 Constitution of Mexico.

In January 1836, Juana married again, to Dr. Horace Alsbury. The couple had known each other for some time; Alsbury had many meetings in Béxar with James Bowie, the widower of Juana's cousin Ursula. Alsbury was a Texian spy, gathering information about the Mexican army.

Rumors soon flew that Santa Anna and his army were coming directly toward Béxar, location of the Alamo Mission, one of two Texian garrisons. Many local residents fled the town. On February 23, Horace Alsbury left for East Texas, either to find a safe place to bring his wife, her son, and her sister Gertrudis, or to gather reinforcements for the undermanned Texian garrison. Alsbury left his family with Bowie, a colonel in the Texian militia.

Later that afternoon, the vanguard of Santa Anna's army arrived. Bowie moved the women and children into the Alamo. The women and child were given a room in "the northwest corner of the fort", near the quarters of Texian commanders Bowie and William Barret Travis. By the end of the day, more than 1,500 Mexican troops had entered Bexar and initiated a siege of the Alamo.

At some point on the second day of the siege, Bowie collapsed from illness. He was confined to his bed and Juana acted as his nurse. Throughout the siege, the Mexican army kept up a continual bombardment, while the Texians were forced to conserve their ammunition and rarely respond. Conditions were difficult for the women and children in the fort. There was little food, and the constant noise made it difficult to sleep.

On March 3, an additional 1,000 Mexican soldiers arrived in Bexar. The Texians were vastly outnumbered, although between 32 and 80 additional men were able to break through Mexican lines to join them in the Alamo, bringing Texian numbers to approximately 250.

The following evening (March 4), Travis sent Juana to negotiate an honorable surrender for the Alamo defenders. Fellow survivor Susanna Dickinson misinterpreted Juana's mission and, years later, accused her of deserting the Texians to provide information about their defenses to her father, who served on Santa Anna's staff. Historians place no credence in the theory that Juana spied for the Mexican army, but acknowledge that her visit likely increased Santa Anna's impatience to end the siege. As historian Timothy Todish noted, "there would have been little glory in a bloodless victory". The following morning, Santa Anna announced to his staff that the assault would take place early on March 6.

The Mexican army attacked the Alamo just before 6:00 am on March 6. During the battle, Juana and her son and sister hid in one of the rooms along the west wall. Juana dressed her son as a girl "in the hope that Mexican troops would not harm him". As the battle approached their rooms, Gertrudis Navarro opened the door to signal that they meant no harm. When Mexican soldiers threatened them, a Texian defender charged into the room to defend them; he was quickly killed, as was a young Tejano who took refuge in the room. Soldiers rifled through Juana's trunk and confiscated most of its contents, including her clothing, coins, jewelry, and even "the watches that Travis and other officers had given her for safekeeping."

A Mexican officer entered the room and forbade the soldiers from harming the women and child. When the battle ended, almost all of the Texians were dead. Seven women and seven children survived. Juana and her family were escorted out of the Alamo by her former brother-in-law, Manuel Pérez, who was a soldier in Santa Anna's army. Pérez took them to the home of her father.

Santa Anna personally interviewed each surviving noncombatant on March 7. He was most impressed with Dickinson, and offered to adopt her young daughter and educate the child in Mexico City. No similar offer was extended to Juana, whose son was approximately the same age. Each woman was given a blanket and two silver pesos. The survivors requested permission to find the bodies of their loved ones and give them a proper burial, but were denied by Santa Anna.

Juana and her sister were in an awkward situation. Many Anglos in Béxar considered all Mexicans traitors to the Texas Revolution. Many of those in Béxar still loyal to Mexico considered Juana and her sister traitors for being in the Alamo. The Texas Revolution ended in April 1836, when the Texian army captured Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. Juana's father died several months later, leaving each of his daughter 25 head of cattle.