José Anastasio Torrens

José Anastasio Torrens began as an officer in the independence forces of José María Morelos. Morelos sent him to the United States for further education with a group that included Juan Nepomuceno Almonte. Torrens later became secretary of José Manuel Zozaya's mission and took charge when Zozaya withdrew in 1823. Short of money and official information, he worked from Philadelphia and depended in part on merchants' letters for news from Mexico. ¹

From the United States he repeatedly warned about the future of Texas. He urged Mexico to avoid allowing American settlers to become predominant and sought confirmation of the boundary established with Spain in 1819. His formal note of 15 February 1824 asked Washington to appoint commissioners to mark the line. The unanswered request remained an issue as his mission gave way to Pablo Obregón's. ²

Torrens went on to Colombia, arriving early in 1825. He distrusted Simón Bolívar's political ambitions and recorded his concerns in confidential reports. By 1829 he and other foreign representatives were suspected of assisting José María Córdova's revolt. The Colombian government sought their recall, and Torrens left in 1830. In his diary, Torrens recorded suspicions, conflicting reports, and his own hostile assessment of Bolívar. ³

His partly encrypted Diario reservado no.18 covers September–October 1829 and preserves the daily conversations and intelligence on which he relied. Later military records place General Anastasio Torrens as second-in-command in Michoacán in February 1854. He died in 1857. ^{3, 4}