The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 101, July 1997 - April, 1998 Page: 150
574 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
there are also tracings by Lt. John Pope, Lt. Calvin Benjamin, Capt.
Joseph Mansfield, and other engineers attached to General Taylor's com-
mand. Unfortunately, none of these tracings are full-scale replicas of
Arista's map, but the Pope copy drawn under the direction of Capt. T. B.
Linnard comes the closest; it will herein be termed the National Archives
Arista map. Other specimens concentrate on specific regions or areas of
operation, such as the march from the Rio Grande to Monterrey as seen
on the published maps by C. R. Glynn and S. A. Mitchell.
Most of the latter variants did not reach Washington until late in 1846
(after Monterrey was taken), but Meade's tracing titled "Sketch of the
Country between the Rio Bravo del Norte and the Sierra Madre as high
as Monterey, copied from the map found among the papers of Genl.
Arista" was received by the adjutant general on July 23. Pope's aforemen-
tioned "Trace of a copy of the Map Captured at the battle of Resaca de la
Palma" probably was also at the disposal of the War Department before
General Taylor's march southward from the Rio Grande. Nor did the
importance of the captured map diminish with the victories at Monterrey
and Buena Vista, as demonstrated by Captain Mansfield's slightly revised
version that is dated October 1847, long after the major fighting was
over. Clearly the U.S. military viewed Arista's map as an important tool
for the administration of this territory, as well as its subjugation."
General Arista, of course, did not lose his only copy of the map, as sev-
eral copies of such an important document were customarily made for
the use of staff officers under his command, and others to impress his
superiors at the capital. Features usually varied from copy to copy,
depending on the individual maker's ability and the purpose for which a
particular copy was rendered. The most interesting manuscript copy so
far located bears a date of February 1840, done in "Caderita"
(Cadereyta) by Jos6 Juan Sanchez, an Army colonel and the assistant
inspector of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Le6n. Though Sanchez notes that
the map was drawn by Arista's order and differed in certain minor
respects from his official map of the Eastern Interior Department, this
particular copy he dedicated to Arista's second in command, Gen. Isidro
Reyes. This original map is presently in the Benson Latin American
Collection (BLAC), with no clue to its provenance.18 At bottom center
17 NA, RG 77, Ama 90o-1 (Pope/Linnard); 9o-2 (Meade); 9go-3 (Meade); Ama 163
(Mansfield); Ama 105, items 1-5. Maps in the first two files, 90 and 163, specify General Arista's
map as their source; the third centers on "operations resulting in the capture of Monterey" and
item Ama 105-1 by Pope/Meade is very similar to the Glynn lithograph, also having an inset
plan of Monterrey much like the Mitchell imprint.
18 The Sinchez map is filed under Mexico, Tamaulipas (state), Historical 1840 "Rare," Section
5, Drawer 5, Rare Books division (Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at
Austin; cited hereafter as BLAC). It measures 18 x 30o inches (46.5 x 77.3 cm.) and is done onOctober
150
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 101, July 1997 - April, 1998, periodical, 1998; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117155/m1/202/: accessed May 31, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.