Del Pilar's diary was recovered among the possessions looted by the victorious Americans, who had stripped him bare of his military decorations, his uniform and his personal belongings, leaving him, as the eyewitness, correspondent Richard Henry Little wrote, "We carved not a line and we raised not a stone, But we left him alone with his glory". The exact wording of its poignant final entry, written on the night of December 1, differs somewhat between sources quoting it. Two versions are: