"Peña's diary was stored away after his death - no one knows where - and resurfaced in 1955 when it was self-published by one Jesús Sanchez Garza, who never disclosed where he had obtained the manuscript or where it might have been since circa 1840. Published in Spanish in Mexico in 1955, the work received no attention from English-speaking scholars, who did not even know it existed."
"The work was translated into English in 1975 by Carmen Perry and published by Texas A&M University Press under the title With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution. The book was instantly met with controversy, primarily because of its claim that David "Davy" Crockett did not die fighting to the last on the walls of the Alamo but was captured and executed, by order of Santa Anna, immediately afterward."
Peña kept a diary during the Texas Campaign of 1836 and continued it through 1838 while imprisoned after supporting a revolt by General José de Urrea. Peña and Urrea blamed Santa Anna for the loss of Texas. Peña served two years and was released in 1840 in failing health and appears to have died soon after. The diary resurfaced in 1955 in a Spanish self-publication by Jesús Sanchez Garza and remained unknown to English-speaking scholars until a 1975 English translation by Carmen Perry. The translation sparked controversy over a claim that Davy Crockett was captured and executed. In October 2001 Professor David B. Gracy II and his team declared the manuscript authentic. The passage provided recounts the Alamo assault on 6 March 1836 from pre-dawn to about an hour later and precedes Peña's account of Crockett's death.
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