Texas Rising

by Stephen L. Moore

  David Crockett had won early fame as a militiaman in the Creek Indian War serving under Andrew Jackson. He was elected into the Tennessee legislature in both 1821 and 1823. During the next decade, he would be elected three times to the U.S. Congress, where his reputation as a storyteller, sharpshooter, and bear hunter captured national attention. He was the model for the hero of a play that opened in New York City in 1831, and two years later a book on Colonel Crockett’s life and adventures was published. He would even be immortalized in a series of comic almanacs beginning in 1835. Most of the adventures therein were merely tall tales, but the literature forever branded him with the public nickname of “Davy” versus David.12

  Crockett published an autobiography in 1834 to help correct some of the stories previously written of his life’s adventures. He was marketed as an anti-Jackson candidate in his 1835 congressional campaign but Tennessee voters abandoned him over peg-legged Jackson favorite Adam Huntsman in what Crockett felt was a rigged election. Crockett’s pride was wounded and his finances were tapped, so he decided he would move his family to Texas if the prospects there proved pleasing to him. He headed west on November 1, 1835, with three companions in tow. Reaching Memphis the first evening, the foursome enjoyed a farewell drinking party with other friends. Before the night was over, Davy Crockett uttered a soon-to-be famous declaration: “Since you have chosen to elect a man with a timber toe to succeed me, you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.”

  Crockett played up his public image before departing Memphis the next day. He kept his dress clothes tucked into his saddlebag and instead donned his hunting shirt and a fur cap, to the pleasure of the crowd. He and his companions journeyed down the Mississippi River, made their way to Fulton, Arkansas, and then moved across the Red River into Texas. Two of his friends headed for home once they had reached San Augustine, but Crockett, William Patton, and others pushed on toward Nacogdoches in late December. The ladies of the town threw a banquet in his honor, where Crockett was not afraid to use his story that concluded with “you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.” He was pleased with the opportunities he saw in Texas, calling it “the garden spot of the world.” In the same letter, penned to his oldest daughter on January 9, Crockett added, “I am rejoiced at my fate.”13

  The legendary Davy Crockett felt that Texas offered him the chance to start a new chapter in his political career. He opted for military service despite being nearly fifty years of age and took the oath of allegiance on January 12 before Nacogdoches judge John Forbes. He then signed the printed document, promising his allegiance to the provisional government of Texas or any future “republican” government that may be thereafter declared—Crockett carefully adding the word republican to his paper.

  The former Tennessee congressman soon headed west along the Old San Antonio Road to report to General Houston. He rode with about sixteen other new volunteers, many of whom had been lawyers and professionals in Tennessee and Kentucky. They began to refer to themselves as the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers. When they arrived at Washington-on-the-Brazos some 125 miles later, they found that Sam Houston was absent during his efforts to control the Matamoros expedition. Crockett and his men were directed to report to San Antonio. The men of the Alamo threw an impromptu fandango when the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers arrived on February 8 and they requested a speech from the much-celebrated Davy Crockett. The coy politician quickly won over the Béxar Texians by saying that he had come to aid their noble cause. He said he had no desire to be a senior officer. He wished to fight alongside them as a mere private soldier for “the liberties of our common country.”14

  TEXAS REMAINED WITHOUT CLEAR leadership during February.

  James Robinson continued to serve as the acting governor since the General Council had impeached Henry Smith—who continued to send orders of his own to those loyal to him. There was, however, hope for an end to the bitter feuding, as elections were held throughout Texas on February 1 for delegates to represent all municipalities one month later at a formal convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos. The interim General Council at San Felipe would thus cease to exist as the new convention went to work drafting a formal declaration of independence and organizing a proper government body for Texas.

  During the delegate election in the town of Tenoxtitlan, the citizens also cast ballots for a new company of rangers to patrol their district to replace the outgoing company of Captain Daniel Friar. They elected Captain Louis Franks, a surveyor and former lieutenant colonel of artillery during the December Béxar assault. The Franks rangers operated during February and March from the Falls of the Brazos area in Robertson’s Colony. A second volunteer ranging company was formed on February 1 under thirty-six-year-old Captain Stephen Townsend in the Colorado River settlements to deal with recent Indian violence.15

  The General Council did address pressing issues, some of them aimed at bolstering the Texas Ranger system. With the Texas Army grappling over who was in command and whether it was more important to defend Béxar or assault Matamoros, frontier protection was still crucial to the settlers. The council found during early February that the two previously authorized ranger systems had not been fully developed due to the state of affairs in Texas. One of the four regional ranger superintendents had yet to raise a company in his district, while only two-thirds of Major Willie Williamson ranger battalion had been raised.

  The companies of Captains John Tumlinson and Isaac Burton were still not fully manned as of February. Williamson’s third captain, William Arrington, had not raised his company at all. The General Council’s special advisory committee informed Governor Robinson that two main reasons seemed to curb ranger recruiting efforts: the volunteers were not pleased with the rate of pay offered and they were unwilling to serve in Williamson’s battalion since the government had already appointed the ranger officers for them.16

  The council thus proposed to add two new ranger companies to help overcome the recruiting deficit. Mathew Caldwell, Byrd Lockhart, and William A. Mathews were named ranger-raising commissioners for the Municipality of Gonzales. In the Municipality of Milam, Daniel Friar, David Faulkenberry, and Joseph Parker were charged with drumming up new frontiersmen. The council directed the field recruiters to let the men elect their own officers, to help appease them. Once twenty-eight men were raised, the rangers could elect a lieutenant to muster them into service. The commissioners were to then recruit another twenty-eight rangers, at which time the collective fifty-six men were to elect their captain and two lieutenants. Privates would be paid the same $1.25 per day rate as the previous rangers were being paid, but there was now an extra five dollars per month thrown in to offset personal expenses for provisions.17

  The new ranger commissioners soon became aware of the two ad hoc ranging companies under Captains Franks and Townsend but did nothing to oppose them. They decided that Townsend’s company was necessary and should be stationed at the head of Mill Creek, a recommendation seconded by Major Williamson. Since Townsend had not raised a full fifty-six rangers, however, the commissioners believed that he should be considered a first lieutenant for the time being.

  The council further prodded Willie Williamson to get involved in the recruiting of his own companies and to build blockhouses at points on the frontier deemed best suited for defense. The peg-legged leader would maintain his ranger headquarters at Mina and was to make regular reports to the governor and the council of the actions of his men. The rangers would prove vital to both the frontier settlers and to the Texas Army in the weeks ahead. A new challenge was entering the rebel nation that would challenge all the defenses it could muster.

  JOSÉ ENRIQUE DE LA Peña was not prepared for such a blizzard.

  As the Mexican Army pushed northward from Monclova during the second week of February, it was greeted by the most severe winter on record. Vicente Filisola recorded that the blizzard encountered on the evening of February 13 dumped more than fifteen inches of snow on the ground. The green trees the men coul
d find to burn for fires smoked heavily and were soon extinguished by heavy snowfall. “At dawn it was knee-deep,” said Peña. “One could not remain standing or sitting, much less lying down. Those not taking care to shake their clothes frequently soon were numb with cold.”18

  The Tampico Regiment left its mules and horses fully loaded. Many of the animals were badly injured or killed as they slipped and fell on the icy grounds. “The snow was covered with the blood of these beasts, contrasting with its whiteness,” Peña recorded. In spite of such great hardships, the Mexican Army valiantly pushed forward during the ensuing days. Santa Anna crossed the Rio Grande at Paso de Francia with his staff on February 16. His plan was to surprise the Texians by driving up the Camino Real to approach Béxar from the west. One day later, General José Urrea moved across the river at Matamoros with 550 men. His orders were to sweep the coastal prairies and then retake Goliad.19

  Santa Anna’s force caught up with Ramirez y Sesma’s Vanguard Brigade as the weather began warming. The commanding general turned forty-two on February 21, a day that his combined forces reached the Medina River, the official boundary between the Mexican states of Texas and Coahuila. Santa Anna made camp twenty-two miles east of Béxar to rest his exhausted troops and pack animals. They had covered some five hundred miles through torturous conditions, but their goal was now close at hand. Mexican sympathizers rode into his camp on February 22 and provided El Presidente with the latest intelligence on the Texians holed up in Béxar.20

  Santa Anna ordered the 160 lancers of the Dolores Cavalry Regiment to mount up on the best horses they could obtain. He believed that they might just catch the rebel defenders off guard before they could take shelter in the old Spanish Alamo garrison.

  8

  “I SHALL NEVER SURRENDER

  OR RETREAT”

  LIEUTENANT COLONEL TRAVIS WAS beginning to doubt himself.

  He and many of his men had not expected the Mexican Army to reach San Antonio before mid-March. When some of the local Béxareños began packing their belongings and evacuating town on February 20, he began to feel there might be some truth to the intelligence reports of the enemy’s advance from the Rio Grande.

  William Barret Travis had reached the Alamo on February 3 with his small group of volunteers and his twenty-one-year-old slave, Joe. He found that engineer Ben Jameson had done solid work in placing cannon about the fortress walls, shoring up the battered north wall, and piling felled trees to create a barrier along the most exposed area of the three-acre compound. Small parties of volunteers under Philip Dimitt, David Crockett, and others had arrived at Béxar in the days that followed.

  The command situation suddenly shifted when Colonel James Neill departed on a twenty-day leave from the Alamo to tend to family matters. He transferred command of the fort to twenty-six-year-old Travis, who held a proper commission in the army. Jim Bowie had a colonel’s title given to him by volunteers and Crockett had expressed his desire to remain a private soldier. Formal commissions mattered little to the volunteers of the Alamo, many of whom resented having regular officer Travis forced upon them. They insisted on an election, to which Travis had little choice but to agree. The volunteers voted for Bowie while the regulars generally preferred Travis.

  Bowie became the people’s choice, and he proceeded to celebrate his victory with an embarrassing two-day drinking binge. In his stupor, he ordered the release of all prisoners being held in town and had his men detain any families from leaving Béxar. He also had some of his drunken soldiers parade around Main Plaza under arms to defy the authority of Juan Seguín in trying to return one convict to jail. Travis was outraged with the behavior, particularly when word arrived from Seguín’s spies that a thousand Mexican troops were on the move near the Rio Grande. He wrote to Henry Smith, begging to be relieved of his command. “I am unwilling to be responsible for the drunken irregularities of any man,” Travis relayed. He suggested he would remain only until Smith could send a regular artillery officer to return order to the Alamo.1

  Bowie soon sobered up on February 13 and expressed remorse for his wild behavior. He and Travis then reached a compromise: Bowie would command the volunteers and Travis the regulars, with both men signing all official papers until Neill could return. Bowie would not be in shape to command for long, however. His health declined over the next few days due to a respiratory ailment deemed to be typhoid fever by some or even tuberculosis or pneumonia by others. In any event, he was soon spending most of his time confined to bed in the Veramendi house while Travis slowly took over the duties of running their garrison.

  The Alamo defenders continued fortifying their position until February 22, the birthday of American hero George Washington. The men held a fandango that night, eating, drinking, and dancing with the local Béxar women into the early morning hours. As they awoke the next morning feeling the effects of their corn liquor, tequila, and mescal, the Texians found the townspeople scurrying about in a frenzy. Some of the Béxareños explained that they were merely going out to work in their fields, but Travis ordered a halt to any further exodus. One of the friendly Mexicans finally informed Travis near noon on February 23 that the Mexican cavalry had arrived within a few hours of the town while the soldiers were partying into the night.2

  Travis had the main horse herd driven back into town and posted a sentry in the bell tower of the San Fernando church, the highest position in town. The garrison commander surveyed the area from this point and then climbed back down, leaving the sentry with orders to ring the bell if enemy soldiers were spotted. A half hour later, the lookout rang the church bell and cried, “The enemy is in view!”

  Others climbed up to see for themselves but could not make out anything. The sentry insisted that the soldiers he had seen had taken cover in the mesquite bushes, but many dismissed it as a false alarm. John Sutherland and garrison storekeeper John W. Smith then offered to ride out west about a mile and a half from town to survey the area. Sutherland advised Travis that if they were seen returning at any pace other than a walk, it was a sign they had encountered the enemy.

  Heavy rain had delayed the movements of the Mexican Army the previous evening, but they were on the move during the early hours of February 23. Just after noon, Santa Anna’s vanguard forces caught up to Ramirez y Sesma’s advance lancers at Alazan Creek, a mile and a half from the Alamo. El Presidente dispatched Colonel José Vicente Miñon with sixty cazadores from the Matamoros Battalion to ride ahead and seize the church. Santa Anna pulled on his finest uniform and ceremonial sword as his soldiers checked their weapons in preparation for battle.

  Sutherland and Smith arrived on horseback and peered down on Alazan Creek from a low hill. Below them were more than a thousand Mexican troops in uniform. The scouts raced for town along the muddy slope. Sutherland’s horse slipped, throwing him to the ground and injuring his right knee, left arm, and neck in the process. Smith helped him back into his saddle and they galloped into Béxar with their alarming signal. The sentry began clanging the church bell, sending townspeople and volunteer soldiers scurrying for cover in their homes and in the Alamo. It was 3 P.M.

  Lieutenant Colonel Travis was already scribbling a hasty note to Gonzales alcalde Andrew Ponton. He said that a large force of Mexican troops was now in sight, and he needed more men and provisions. “We have 150 men and are determined to defend the Alamo to the last,” Travis wrote. “Give us assistance.” He handed this note to thirty-five-year-old scout Launcelot Smither, who rode from Béxar around 4 P.M. for Gonzales.3

  John Sutherland, injured and unfit now to serve in able fashion, agreed to take another note from Travis on to Gonzales. He departed with his companion John Smith. Travis then selected cavalryman John B. Johnson to carry another note to Goliad with a similar request. He knew that James Fannin commanded hundreds of men at the La Bahía presidio in Goliad but had thus far been reluctant to move any of his forces to San Antonio. “In this extremity, we hope you will send us all the men you can spare promptly,” wrot
e Travis. “We have one hundred and forty-six men, who are determined never to retreat.” Johnson took the note, rode through the plaza, and turned northeast toward Goliad.

  Davy Crockett approached Travis and asked that his Tennessee boys be assigned a proper position in the Alamo to defend. The able marksmen under Crockett were given the most vulnerable part of the garrison’s perimeter—a 115-foot wooden palisade between the church and the low barracks. Mexican troops were already entering the west side of Béxar as they took station. Many of the Béxar citizens fled town. By late afternoon on February 23, Travis’s couriers were on their way and the majority of the Texian volunteers were inside the Alamo mission.4

  Mexican soldiers raised a red banner atop the bell tower of the Church of San Fernando. Its message was clear: degüello, or no quarter for anyone who defied the Mexican Army. The rebels were offered the chance to surrender unconditionally, to which Lieutenant Colonel Travis informed a Mexican courier that his answer would be given soon. His reply was one of blatant defiance. The Alamo’s eighteen-pounder erupted with a single shot as the garrison’s gunners cheered from their posts.5

  Mexican cannoneers responded with several rounds of howitzers fired at the mission’s adobe walls. The Texians who had carried out the siege against General Cos’s troops in Béxar months before were now the besieged. Several brief attempts at a parley ended when the Mexican Army refused to agree to any terms demanded by the rebellious foreigners inside the garrison. Travis thus made it clear to his men when he gathered them for a speech that evening: he would resist his enemy to the end.

  The Mexican Army began taking up positions within town that evening, but the Alamo defenders held out hope. Sam Houston, the new commander in chief of the Texas Army, was probably organizing new companies to come to their aid. James Fannin had four hundred men only ninety-five miles away who could make a big difference with the current situation. General Cos had endured the Texian siege in late 1835 for more than a month. Surely they could manage a few days until the Texian reinforcements arrived.