David B. Kent, son of Alamo defender Andrew Kent. David had been part of the Alamo garrison but was sent out to gather cattle just before the arrival of the Mexican army. His father insisted he stay in Gonzales to care for their family. (Courtesy of Chester Wilkes)
Attorney Robert “Three-Legged Willie” Williamson, good friend of William Travis and commander of an early ranging corps at the time of the Alamo siege.
Colonel James Walker Fannin, well-meaning but dilatory, commanded the men at Goliad.
Sam Houston, the six-foot-two force of nature who was unanimously voted commander in chief of the Texas armed forces.
Susanna Dickinson, wife of artillery captain Almeron Dickinson, survived the battle of the Alamo only to beg Santa Anna to allow her to keep her daughter, Angelina.
The Mexican dictator was charmed by the pretty, blue-eyed child and expressed his desire to adopt her for his own. Angelina was fifteen months old at the time of the Alamo battle.
The first known sketch of the Alamo, executed during the 1836 siege by Captain José Juan Sánchez-Navarro. (Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following individuals and institutions were unfailingly gracious and generous with their time and knowledge: Jim Bradshaw of the Haley Memorial Library and History Center, who directed me to the late historian Marguerite Starr Crain, who told me of the circumstances surrounding the Clarinda Pevehouse Kegans account mentioning Travis and Bonham; Casey Greene, head of special collections at the Rosenberg Library, Galveston and Texas History Center; Pat Mosher at the Gonzales County Archives, who many times went above and beyond the call of duty; Alfred Rodriguez at the Bexar County Archives; Matt De Waelsche, archivist at the San Antonio Public Library; Donald Hoffman of Nixon, Texas, and Pat Meyer of La Vernia, Texas, for their generous assistance regarding the major crossings and parajes on the old Bexar–Gonzales road, and for their bonhomie while trudging through brush, grass, forest, and mud in search of historical sites; Steve Davis, Mary E. García, Connie Todd, Katie Salzmann, and G. G. Mortensen at the Southwestern Writers Collection, Texas State University.
At the Dallas Public Library, the seventh floor’s fabulous Texana department, overseen by manager Carol Roark (whose presence, helpfulness, and friendship will be missed) and her excellent staff—Beth Anderson, Brian Collins, Rachel Howell, and Steve Gaither—was very helpful.
I would also like to thank my friend Rick Barrick, for his constant encouragement; my brother, Brian Donovan, and his wife, Bridget, for their forbearance; and my good and longtime friends Pat Ryan and his wife, Julie Lebrun, for the same.
To Jennifer Ohlson and the employees and patrons of the White Rhino coffee house in Cedar Hill, Texas, who provided a suitable level of white noise and plenty of great tea—thank you.
Gratitude is also due to Elisabeth Kimber, who read this book from fore to aft and made it better; to Mike O’Keefe, Melissa Shultz, Rick Barrick, Jim Boylston, Todd Hansen, and Jeff Guinn, who read portions and did the same; to Mark Gardner, for the title; and especially to Tom Kailbourn, whose assistance on many subjects, from the Mexican army to many of the translations from Spanish, was invaluable.
The following people helped in ways too numerous to mention: Roger Borroel, Jim Boylston, Bruce Castleman, Wallace Chariton, Bill Chemerka, Craig Covner, Frank de la Teja, William DePalo, Gregg Dimmick, Bill Groneman, Todd Hansen, Stephen L. Hardin, Alan C. Huffines, Paul Hutton, Jake Ivey, Mike Koury, Mark Lemon, Timothy Matovina, Stephen L. Moore, Joseph Musso, Tim Niesen, Raymond Powell, Richard G. Santos, Skipper Steely, Herb True, Gary Zaboly, and especially Kevin Young, whose steady encouragement and assistance were more valuable than he knows.
My thanks to Catherine Best, Don Carleton, Sarah Cleary, Matt Darby, Evan Hocker, Kathryn Kenefick, Stephanie Malmros, Linda Peterson, Margaret Schlankey, and John Wheat at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin; to Russell Martin and his crew of helpful assistants at SMU’s DeGolyer Library; to John Molleston, Kevin Klaus, and Alex Chiba at the Texas General Land Office in Austin; to Jean Carefoot, Sergio Velasco, and particularly Donaly Brice, a fine historian who went out of his way to help a fellow writer, at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission; to Lisa Struthers at the San Jacinto Museum of History’s Herzstein Library; to Brenda McClurkin at the special collections section of the University of Texas at Arlington Library; to Michael Toon and John Wilson and their excellent staff, particularly Ellen Kuniyuki Brown, at the Texas Collection at Baylor University; to Christian Kelleher at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin; to Samuel Duncan, library director at the Amon Carter Museum; to Susan Eason, archivist at the Catholic Archives of Texas; to Leslie Stapleton, Stephanie D. Boothby, Caitlin Donnelly, Rusty Gámez, and Martha Utterback at the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library in San Antonio; and to Doris Wilkes, Elise Kidd, and Mildred Duhon, all Alamo defender descendants, and to Doris’s husband, Chester Wilkes, who were all extremely helpful in answering questions and supplying information and materials.
At Little, Brown, thanks are due to my editor, Geoff Shandler—the Sultan of Structure—who helped me make this book better; his assistant, Liese Mayer, a fine editor herself; marketing and publicity wizards Heather Fain, Nicole Dewey, Amanda Tobier, Carolyn O’Keefe, Morgan Moroney, and Amanda Brown, who handle so many of the thankless yet important tasks attendant to publishing a book properly; jacket designer Julianna Lee, for the wonderful jacket; and Michael Pietsch, the smartest man in publishing, for believing in me. Thanks also to copyeditor Barbara Clark for her great work; Howard David Johnson for the striking cover painting; Jeff Ward for the excellent maps; Marty Brazil for the fine Alamo illustration; Melissa Shultz, for assistance with the photos; my daughter, Rachel, who transcribed some of my handwritten chapters; my wife, Judith Price, for putting up with me; and my literary agent, B. J. Robbins, a whiz of an agent, a good friend and colleague, and a hell of a two-stepper.
Finally, a special thanks to Steve Harrigan, who was supportive of this undertaking from the start, and who spent a great deal of time discussing it, critiquing parts of it, and supplying contacts, ideas, and support: “He could feel his heart beating against the pine-needle floor of the forest….”
To all these people, my sincere gratitude. Thank you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As a literary agent over the past nineteen years, James Donovan has sold several bestselling nonfiction titles; previous to that he was a buyer for a chain of bookstores and a trade book editor. He lives in Dallas with his wife, Judith, and his daughter, Rachel.
ALSO BY JAMES DONOVAN
A Terrible Glory:
Custer and the Little Bighorn—the Last Great Battle
of the American West
Custer and the Little Bighorn:
The Man, the Mystery, the Myth
APPENDIX ONE
Mexican Army of Operations
Principal Officers
General Staff, Mexican Army of Operations in Texas
General Antonio López de Santa Anna, commander in chief
General Vicente Filisola, second commander in chief
General Juan Valentín Amador, general staff
General Manuel Fernández Castrillón, aide-de-camp
General Martín Perfecto de Cós, general staff
Colonel Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, general staff
Colonel José Batres, general staff
Colonel Ricardo Dromundo, commissary general
Colonel Esteban Mora, general staff
Lieutenant Colonel Marcial Aguirre, general staff
Lieutenant Colonel Pedro de Ampudia, artillery commander
Lieutenant Colonel José Vicente Miñón, first adjutant, cavalry
Captain Marcos Barragan, cavalry
Ramón Martínez Caro, personal secretary to the commander in chief
Brigade Commanders
General Juan Jos�
� Andrade, Cavalry Brigade
General Antonio Gaona, First Infantry Brigade
General Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma, Vanguard Brigade
General Eugenio Tolsa, Second Infantry Brigade
General José Urrea (division moving against Goliad)
Battalion/Regiment Commanders
General Ventura Mora, Dolores Cavalry Regiment
Colonel Agustín Amat, Zapadores Permanente
Colonel Nicolás Condelle, Morelos Infantry Permanente
Colonel Francisco Duque, Toluca Infantry Activo
Colonel Juan Morales, San Luis Potosí Infantry Activo
Colonel José María Romero, Matamoros Infantry Permanente
Colonel José Mariano de Salas, Jiménez Infantry Permanente
Lieutenant Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla, commander, Yucatán Infantry Permanente
Lieutenant Colonel Gregorio Uruñuela, Aldama Infantry Permanente
Others
Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea, military commander, Coahuila y Texas
Lieutenant Colonel José Enrique de la Peña, Zapadores Permanente
Lieutenant Colonel Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Zapadores Permanente
Captain José Juan Sánchez (Navarro), aide-de-camp to General Cós
Lieutenant Francisco de Castañeda, commander, Alamo presidial company
APPENDIX TWO
Alamo Defenders
Official list compiled by the Daughters of the Texas Revolution (alternate spellings of surnames appear in parentheses)
Abamillo, Juan
Allen, Robert
Andross, Miles DeForrest
Autry, Micajah
Badillo, Juan
Bailey, Peter James III
Baker, Isaac G.
Baker, William Charles M.
Ballantine, Richard W.
Ballentine, John J.
Baugh, John J.
Bayliss, Joseph
Blair, John
Blair, Samuel
Blazeby, William
Bonham, James Butler
Bourne, Daniel
Bowie, James
Bowman, Jesse B.
Brown, George
Brown, James
Brown, Robert
Buchanan, James
Burns, Samuel E.
Butler, George D.
Cain, John
Campbell, Robert
Carey, William R.
Clark, Charles Henry
Clark, M. B.
Cloud, Daniel William
Cochran, Robert E.
Cottle, George Washington
Courtman, Henry
Crawford, Lemuel
Crockett, David
Crossman, Robert
Cummings, David P.
Cunningham, Robert
Darst, Jacob C.
Davis, John
Day, Freeman H. K.
Day, Jerry C.
Daymon, Squire
Dearduff, William
Dennison, Stephen
Despallier, Charles
Dewall, Lewis
Dickinson, Almeron
Dillard, John Henry
Dimpkins, James R.
Duvalt, Andrew
Espalier, Carlos
Esparza, Gregorio
Evans, Robert
Evans, Samuel B.
Ewing, James L.
Fauntleroy, William Keener
Fishbaugh, William
Flanders, John
Floyd, Dolphin Ward
Forsyth, John Hubbard
Fuentes, Antonio
Fuqua, Galba
Garnett, William
Garrand, James W.
Garrett, James Girard
Garvin, John E.
Gaston, John E.
George, James
Goodrich, John C.
Grimes, Albert Calvin
Guerrero, José María
Gwynne, James C.
Hannum, James
Harris, John
Harrison, Andrew Jackson
Harrison, William B.
Hawkins, Joseph M.
Hays, John M.
Heiskell, Charles M.
Herndon, Patrick Henry
Hersee, William Daniel
Holland, Tapley
Holloway, Samuel
Howell, William D.
Jackson, Thomas
Jackson, William Daniel
Jameson, Green B.
Jennings, Gordon C.
Jimenes (Ximenes), Damacio
Johnson, Lewis
Johnson, William
Jones, John
Kellogg, John Benjamin
Kenney, James
Kent, Andrew
Kerr, Joseph
Kimbell (Kimble), George C.
King, William Philip
Lewis, William Irvine
Lightfoot, William J.
Lindley, Jonathan L.
Linn, William
Losoya, Toribio
Main, George Washington
Malone, William T.
Marshall, William
Martin, Albert
McCafferty, Edward
McCoy, Jesse
McDowell, William
McGee, James
McGregor, John
McKinney, Robert
Melton, Eliel
Miller, Thomas R.
Mills, William
Millsaps, Isaac
Mitchell, Edwin T.
Mitchell, Napoleon B.
Mitchusson, Edward F.
Moore, Robert B.
Moore, Willis A.
Musselman, Robert
Nava, Andrés
Neggan, George
Nelson, Andrew M.
Nelson, Edward
Nelson, George
Northcross, James
Nowlan, James
Pagan, George
Parker, Christopher Adam
Parks, William
Perry, Richardson
Pollard, Amos
Reynolds, John Purdy
Roberts, Thomas H.
Robertson, James Waters
Robinson, Isaac
Rose, James M.
Rusk, Jackson J.
Rutherford, Joseph
Ryan, Isaac
Scurlock, Mial
Sewell, Marcus L.
Shied, Manson
Simmons, Cleveland Kinlock
Smith, Andrew H.
Smith, Charles S.
Smith, Joshua G.
Smith, William H.
Starr, Richard
Stewart, James E.
Stockton, Richard L.
Summerlin, A. Spain
Summers, William E.
Sutherland, William DePriest
Taylor, Edward
Taylor, George
Taylor, James
Taylor, William
Thomas, B. Archer M.
Thomas, Henry
Thompson, Jesse G.
Thomson, John W.
Thruston (Thurston), John M.
Trammel, Burke
Travis, William Barret
Tumlinson, George W.
Tylee, James
Walker, Asa
Walker, Jacob
Ward, William B.
Warnell, Henry
Washington, Joseph G.
Waters, Thomas
Wells, William
White, Isaac
White, Robert
Williamson, Hiram James
Wills, William
Wilson, David L.
Wilson, John
Wolf, Anthony
Wright, Claiborne
Zanco (Lanco), Charles
John ________
Additions and Deletions
After two decades of intensive investigation into probate records and archives throughout the United States and Mexico, longtime researcher Lee Spencer White (herself a direct descendant of Alamo defender Gordon C. Jennings and the founder of the Alamo Defenders Descendants Association, as well as t
he author, with Ron Jackson, of the book Alamo Survivors) has determined the following names as those of likely Alamo defenders:
Edwards, Nathaniel
Edwards, Samuel
Gordon, Pelitiah
Kedison, ________
McClelland, Ross
Another Alamo historian, Thomas Ricks Lindley, states in his exhaustively researched book Alamo Traces, and in the article “Alamo Sources,” that the following men are also worthy of inclusion on the list:
Anderson, A.
Andrews, George
Dickson, James
Edwards, Samuel
Eigenhauer, Conrad
Gordon, Pelitiah
Harrison, I. L. K.
Holloway, James
Hutchinson, Thomas P.
Kedison, ________
McClelland, Ross
Morgan (aka Washington), James
Morman, John
Roth, Jacob
Spratt, John
In addition, Lindley came to the conclusion that the following men on the official Daughters of the Texas Revolution list were probably not at the Alamo at the time of the battle:
Bowman, Jesse B.
Brown, George
Brown, James
Clark, Charles Henry
Day, Jerry C.
Guerrero, José María
Hannum, James
Kellogg, John Benjamin
Robertson, James Waters
Robinson, Isaac
Thompson, Jesse G.
NOTES
The following abbreviations are used in the notes; these and other sources are listed in the bibliography:
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