Finding Medina

Brandon Seale
  • 4.9 (42)
  • HISTORY

"Finding Medina" weaves together the events surrounding the Battle of Medina with the modern-day search for the battlefield itself. Despite being the largest, bloodiest battle in Texas history, the Medina battlefield has eluded archaeologists for more than a century. By the end of this podcast series, we hope to change that.

  1. 08/18/2019

    Episode 12: Is this the Battlefield of Medina?

    The trauma of 1813 stuck with Tejanos…and it emboldened them. What lessons did they draw from the Battle of Medina? What lessons should we draw today? And at long last, we point our finger to the map and ask, "Is this the Battlefield of Medina?"

    37 min

  2. 08/12/2019 · BONUS

    The Most Important Primary Account of the Battle of Medina

    Sometime in the 1820's or 30's, an anonymous survivor of the Spanish Royalist occupation of San Antonio in 1813 wrote down his (or her?) memories of those tragic events. As far as I know, it is the only contemporary Spanish-language account of these events from the Republican perspective, and our friend Joe Arciniega joins us once again this episode to read it into the historical record.

    36 min

  3. 08/05/2019

    Terror in Texas

    (WARNING: This episode contains graphic language) After defeating the Republican Army of the North at the Battle of Medina, Spanish Royalist General Joaquín de Arredondo entered San Antonio intent on teaching its citizens a lesson they would never forget. The subsequent Sack of Béxar, the execution of hundreds of Tejano men, and the imprisonment and assault of just as many Tejana women marked Texans for many generations to come…though not, perhaps, in the way that Arredondo intended. The research team makes one last effort to high-grade the various leads they have compiled over the course of the previous year to map the battle site, based sol

    36 min

  4. 07/22/2019

    The Battle of Medina Revisited

    After a year of research and interviews, we sum up everything we've learned over the last year to recreate what happened on August 18, 1813, when 1,830 Spanish Royalists under the command of General Joaquín de Arredondo finally met up with the unbeaten 1,400 man Republican Army of the North twenty miles or so south of San Antonio. Additionally, the battlefield search team attempts to validate the artifacts they have uncovered. The results are simultaneously disconcerting, exhilarating, and confusing.

    43 min

  5. 07/08/2019

    Artifacts at Last

    On August 4, 1813, after months of plotting, José Álvarez de Toledo personally arrived in San Antonio and overthrew Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara as commander-in-chief of the Republican Army of the North. Just as the Republicans found themselves more divided than ever, their most fearsome opponent to-date – Joaquín de Arredondo – began his march up the Laredo Road to challenge them. At long, long last, our research team uncovers artifacts from the battle. Even better, we find cannonballs! And once we plot them on the map, a pattern begins to emerge…

    27 min

  6. 06/24/2019

    The Battle of Alazán Creek

    After the Republican victory at the Battle of Rosillo and Texans' bold declaration of Independence in April of 1813, a Royalist commander from Veracruz decided to take charge of the situation. While he began assembling an army to reconquer Texas, he sent forth a force of 700 men to pin down the Republicans and reconnoiter their movements. In command of that force was the flip-flopping Colonel Ignacio Elizondo, whom our listeners may remember from his ambush and capture of Father Miguel Hidalgo. The Republicans didn't let pass the opportunity to use Elizondo's impulsiveness against him. Back in the present, the search team uncovers our first body from the Battle of Medina.

    32 min

  7. 06/17/2019

    The Original Texas Declaration of Independence

    For the first time that I know of, we present here to the public the original Texas Declaration of Independence in English – as performed by Joe Arciniega, a direct descendant of the men who were declaring that independence back in 1813!

    21 min

  8. 06/10/2019

    The Free and Independent State of Texas

    On April 6, 1813, Texas declared its independence, having momentarily rid the province of all traces of Spanish control. Eleven days later, the new Texas government promulgated a constitution, drawing from both Spanish civil and Anglo-American natural law traditions. Unfortunately, a horrific series of executions of captured Spanish officers nearly ripped the Republican Army apart at its seams, just as a Royalist army of retribution came sneaking up the Camino Real. The research team starts digging at the suspected site of the Republican camp the night before the battle. What they learn while digging may be even more important than what they find!

    35 min
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About

"Finding Medina" weaves together the events surrounding the Battle of Medina with the modern-day search for the battlefield itself. Despite being the largest, bloodiest battle in Texas history, the Medina battlefield has eluded archaeologists for more than a century. By the end of this podcast series, we hope to change that.

Information

  • Creator
    Brandon Seale
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Brandon Seale / Rivard Report
  • Show Website
    Finding Medina