Herman Ehrenberg wrote the longest, most complete, and most vivid memoir of any soldier in the Texan revolutionary army. His narrative was published in Germany in 1843, but it was little used by Texas historians until the twentieth century, when the first--and very problematic--attempts at translation into English were made. Inside the Texas Revolution: The Enigmatic Memoir of Herman Ehrenberg is a product of the translation skills of the late Louis E. Brister with the assistance of James C. Kearney, both noted specialists on Germans in Texas. The volume's editor, James E. Crisp, has spent much of the last 27 years solving many of the mysteries that still surrounded Ehrenberg's life. It was Crisp who discovered that Ehrenberg lived in the Texas Republic until at least 1840 and spent the spring of that year as ranger on the frontier. Ehrenberg was not a historian, but an ordinary citizen whose narrative of the Texas Revolution contains both spectacular eyewitness accounts of action and almost mythologized versions of major events that he did not witness himself. This volume points out where Ehrenberg is lying or embellishing, explains why he is doing so, and narrates the actual relevant facts as far as they can be determined. Ehrenberg's book is both a testament by a young Texan "everyman" who presents a laudatory paean to the Texan cause, and a German's explanation of Texas and its "fight for freedom" against Mexico to his fellow Germans--with a powerful subtext that patriotic Germans should aspire to a similar struggle, and a similar outcome: a free, democratic republic.

Herman Ehrenberg wrote the longest, most complete, and most vivid memoir of any soldier in the Texan revolutionary army. His narrative was published in Germany in 1843, but it was little used by Texas historians until the twentieth century, when the first—and very problematic—attempts at translation into English were made. Inside the Texas Revolution: The Enigmatic Memoir of Herman Ehrenberg is a product of the translation skills of the late Louis E. Brister with the assistance of James C. Kearney, both noted specialists on Germans in Texas. The volume’s editor, James E. Crisp, has spent much of the last 27 years solving many of the mysteries that still surrounded Ehrenberg’s life. It was Crisp who discovered that Ehrenberg lived in the Texas Republic until at least 1840, and spent the spring of that year as ranger on the frontier. Ehrenberg was not a historian, but an ordinary citizen whose narrative of the Texas Revolution contains both spectacular eyewitness accounts of action and almost mythologized versions of major events that he did not witness himself. This volume points out where Ehrenberg is lying or embellishing, explains why he is doing so, and narrates the actual relevant facts as far as they can be determined. Ehrenberg’s book is both a testament by a young Texan “everyman” who presents a laudatory paean to the Texan cause, and a German’s explanation of Texas and its “fight for freedom” against Mexico to his fellow Germans—with a powerful subtext that patriotic Germans should aspire to a similar struggle, and a similar outcome: a free, democratic republic.

"Historically, wars and revolutions have offered politically and socially disadvantaged people the opportunity to contribute to the nation (or cause) in exchange for future expanded rights. Although shorter than most conflicts, the Texas Revolution nonetheless profoundly affected not only the leaders and armies, but the survivors, especially women, who endured those tumultuous events and whose lives were altered by the accompanying political, social, and economic changes.

The discovery of an additional week's worth of entries in the diary of José Enrique de la Peña has opened another chapter in the longstanding controversy over the authenticity of the Mexican officer’s account of the Battle of the Alamo. In this expanded edition of With Santa Anna in Texas, Texas Revolution scholar James E. Crisp, who discovered the new diary entries in an untranslated manuscript version of the journal, discusses the history of the de la Peña diary controversy and presents new evidence in the matter. With the “missing week” and the perspective Crisp provides, the diary should prompt a new round of debate over what really happened at the Alamo. When it was first translated and published in English in 1975 by Carmen Perry, With Santa Anna in Texas unleashed a fury of emotion and an enduring chasm between some scholars and Texans. The journal of de la Peña, an officer on Santa Anna's staff, reported the capture and execution of Davy Crockett and several others and also stated the reason behind Santa Anna's order to make the final assault on Travis and his men. Whether or not scholars agree with de la Peña's assertions, his journal remains one of the most revealing accounts of the Texas Revolution ever to come to light.

An interpretative study of the Texas Revolution of 1835-36.

Hardly were the last shots fired at the Alamo before the Texas Revolution entered the realm of myth and controversy. French visitor Frederic Gaillardet called it a "Texian Iliad" in 1839, while American Theodore Sedgwick pronounced the war and its resulting legends "almost burlesque." In this highly readable history, Stephen L. Hardin discovers more than a little truth in both of those views. Drawing on many original Texan and Mexican sources and on-site inspections of almost every battlefield, he offers the first complete military history of the Revolution. From the war's opening in the "Come and Take It" incident at Gonzales to the capture of General Santa Anna at San Jacinto, Hardin clearly describes the strategy and tactics of each side. His research yields new knowledge of the actions of famous Texan and Mexican leaders, as well as fascinating descriptions of battle and camp life from the ordinary soldier's point of view. This award-winning book belongs on the bookshelf of everyone interested in Texas or military history.

The History of the Revolution in Texas’ can be pronounced a clear and rapid narrative of the different events which have attended that piratical outbreak. Taking the story, however, as he tells it, it is quite clear that the revolution was a naked victory of might over right. Outcasts of all kinds obtruded themselves into the province in opposition to the fundamental colonization regulations of the Mexican Government; when they increased and waxed strong, they took up arms without even colourable pretexts, and at last proceeded to open war. Besides an account of the incidents and actors in these scenes, the Texan divine draws a flaming picture of the beauties and advantages of the new state.