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LS in Spanish, signed “A. L. de Sta. Anna,” one page, 8.25 x 10.5, Secretaria Particular del Presidente de la Republica letterhead, 1843. Written from the Palace of Tacubaya during Santa Anna's third presidential term, this letter addresses – and firmly declines – an appeal for the release or favorable treatment of a prisoner. The text, in part (translated): “the right of saving a prisoner according to the laws of war. In these circumstances I as chief executive can without great responsibility, and without compromising the prestige and popularity of the administration repeat the examples unless an exchange takes place in the manner that is prescribed by…law. I have been very…to answer the letter from G. because my benevolent sentiments and indulgences are in opposition with what he informs me presently. I calculate both the gravity of the sacrifice and the deep pain from which my heart is suffering in this moment, not being able to attend to the desires of so many respectable citizens who intercede on behalf of [prisoner]. I hope these distinguished men reveal these compromises employing their high character and their prestige so these Texans fulfill their duty and end the bloody scenes that are represented by sustaining a bad cause that does not enjoy the support of justice nor the sympathy of generous and illustrious men.” In very good to fine condition, with odd old repairs to small areas of paper loss and fold splits.
The 1843 date places this letter within a volatile phase of Mexican-Texan relations following the Texas Revolution. Santa Anna, ruling under the centralist Bases Orgánicas, directed renewed military pressure on Texas in 1842, including the Vasquez and Woll raids, which resulted in the capture of numerous Texan prisoners. The failed Mier Expedition of December 1842 further intensified the crisis when Texan forces crossing the Rio Grande were captured by General Pedro de Ampudia. In March 1843, Santa Anna ordered the decimation of these prisoners—the infamous Black Bean Episode—executing one in ten by lottery. The letter’s references to “the laws of war,” prisoner exchanges, and appeals from “respectable citizens,” along with Santa Anna’s characterization of the Texan cause as “bad,” strongly suggest it relates to this broader prisoner controversy dominating Mexican policy in 1843.
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