NINE: THE BACKWOODSMAN
This sketch of Crockett is based on the following sources: Crockett’s A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett; James Shackford’s David Crockett; Joseph Arpad’s dissertation “David Crockett”; Mark Derr’s The Frontiersman; James R. Boylston and Allen J. Wiener’s David Crockett in Congress; Manley F. Cobia’s Journey into the Land of Trials; and William C. Davis’s Three Roads to the Alamo.
The epigraph, Crockett’s famous line about Texas, can be found in Shackford, p. 212.
Crockett in his autobiography claimed that his father was of Irish descent (Crockett, p. 14). His quotes regarding his acquaintance with hard times, and his father being “hard run,” are also from his book (p. 22), as is his quote about family and fortune (p. 68). Recent scholarship points to some French ancestry also.
The description of Elizabeth Crockett is found in Ellis, The Life of Colonel David Crockett, p. 58.
Crockett’s quote concerning his method of justice is from his autobiography, p. 135.
The description of Crockett at the ventriloquist’s show is in a letter from Helen Chapman to Emily Blair dated May 1, 1834 (box 2C433, William W. Chapman Papers, BCAH). She also mentions his “drawling accent.”
Crockett’s quote about supporting measures and principles rather than men is in Boylston and Wiener, David Crockett in Congress, p. 217, as is his quote about leaving the United States (p. 319), and his still being a Jackson man (p. 112).
Cobia, in Journey into the Land of Trials, p. 15, makes a convincing case that Crockett most likely made a public pronouncement in which he said his opponent could go to hell and he would go to Texas—or something similar to it.
The details of the scene of Crockett coming home after receiving the election results is from an 1882 newspaper interview with his daughter Mrs. Matilda Fields in the David Crockett file, DRT, as are the details of his barbecue and bran dance. “Bran dance” has usually been regarded by twentieth- and twenty-first-century historians as a misspelling of “barn dance,” and corrected accordingly—and almost surely in error. A bran dance was a frequent occurrence on the southern frontier, where the absence of a proper building or plank floors obliged dancing to be performed outdoors. Here is one definition: “A plat of land was cleared off and leveled down hard and smooth, after which a layer of one or two inches of wheat bran was scattered over the surface, and the ‘ballroom’ was declared completed, and ready for the dancers” (History of Newton, Lawrence, Barry and McDonald Counties, Missouri, p. 124). An account and description of a bran dance is rendered in the anonymously written 1833 biography of Crockett, Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett, of West Tennessee (London: O. Rich, 1834), p. 148, and there is an illustration of a bran dance on p. 157 of Sherwood Bonner’s Dialect Tales (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1883).
The quote from the letter Crockett wrote on the eve of his departure is in Shackford, David Crockett, p. 210. Crockett’s description of William Patton is quoted in Boylston and Wiener, David Crockett in Congress, p. 285.
Crockett’s daughter Matilda remembered, many years later, that he wore his coonskin cap, and she did not talk of it as if it were something new (1882 newspaper interview with Mrs. Matilda Fields in David Crockett file, DRT). A young man who saw Crockett in Memphis a few days later confirmed this costume, writing: “He wore that same veritable coon-skin cap and hunting shirt” (as quoted in Cobia, Journey into the Land of Trials, p. 36). A woman who saw him a few weeks after that in Texas wrote, years later: “Crockett was dressed like a gentleman, and not as a backwoodsman. He did wear a coonskin cap” (Dallas Morning News, January 6, 1894). Several other descriptions of Crockett later in his journey also mention his coonskin cap. That Crockett took his trusted Betsy with him is confirmed by an account written by John Swisher, a young man living in Texas at the time, who spent a few days in Crockett’s company. Years later, Swisher wrote: “His rifle I well remember. It was ornamented with a single silver plate, let into the stock, upon which was engraved ‘David Crockett’; and he called it ‘Bessie’ ”—clearly meaning “Betsy” (Colonel John M. Swisher, The Swisher Memoirs [San Antonio, TX: The Sigmund Press, 1932], p. 19).
Matilda Crockett Fields’s account refutes the claim, frequently accepted as fact, that Crockett was estranged from his wife and family and lived elsewhere, a claim that was first mentioned, at least to my knowledge, in Shackford, David Crockett, p. 149, where the author based his assumption on the fact that no known letters from Crockett to his second wife, Elizabeth, survive (though she was almost surely illiterate). Shackford further states that “when [Crockett] was at home his letters were generally written from Weakley County, though his wife and children were living in Gibson County…. [This] is evidence that he maintained a dual residence and suggests unamicable relations between Crockett and his wife and a consequent dwelling under separate roofs. However, there is no positive evidence for this conclusion.” This despite a footnote in Shackford’s book referring to the 1831 sale of Crockett’s land in Weakley County: “The land deed was certified for registration in both Weakley and Gibson Counties, and we have another indication that David was living in two counties or that the land sold lay first in the one and then in the other” (p. 306, n. 32). Further evidence of this confusion is supplied by Mark Derr in his Crockett biography, The Frontiersman, pp.108–09: “As the population grew, the legislature created Gibson and Weakley counties, whose boundary with Carroll [county] cut through the Patton-Crockett farms. David and Elizabeth also purchased additional land and built new homes in each of the jurisdictions, leaving census takers, local officials, and the Crocketts themselves confused over which county was theirs, a circumstance that over the years has led some scholars to conclude erroneously that they maintained separate residences.” Another possible source of confusion, based on the various Weakley/Gibson County addresses on Crockett’s correspondence, is that Crockett lived in one county and used a post office in the other. In short, there is no reliable evidence at all that there was an estrangement, and Mrs. Fields’s account makes clear the fact that the family, including Davy, was living together when he left for Texas. (Thanks to Crockett expert Jim Boylston for his information and opinions regarding this subject.)
Robert P. Crockett discusses his father’s departure in a letter to Smith Rudd dated December 30, 1879 (Rudd Manuscripts, Lilly Library, Indiana University). There is no hard evidence that they rode to Dyersburg first, but there are several good-size rivers and creeks south of Rutherford, and no roads through the area at the time; since they were planning on exploring Texas, and not southwest Tennessee, I believe the Dyersburg route is much more likely. See also Zaboly, “Crockett Goes to Texas.”
Crockett’s Memphis speech containing his reference to “a man with a timber toe” is quoted in Shackford, David Crockett, p. 212. The newspaper quote concerning Halley’s Comet is in Cobia, Journey into the Land of Trials, p. 26, as is the quote from Crockett’s Little Rock speech in which he discussed Texas independence (pp. 44–46).
The Houston call to arms is reprinted in PTR 2, p. 47.
Crockett’s final letter home, dated January 9, 1836, is reprinted in McLean, Papers, vol. 12, p. 618 (punctuation added).
Crockett may have signed the oath of allegiance a few days earlier than the date given here, which is the accepted one; contemporary and reminiscent accounts disagree as to the exact date. See Cobia, Journey into the Land of Trials, pp. 106–10, for a cogent summary of potential explanations. The oath was reprinted in Niles’ Register on June 23, 1838.
Crockett’s letter to his daughter Margaret is the same January 9, 1836, letter referenced above.
Judge Forbes’s description of Crockett’s comrades is quoted in Cobia, p. 128.
Crockett’s exact route from Nacogdoches to Béxar, and the identity of whom he traveled with and when, is not clear, but the best evidence indicates that Crockett traveled from Washington to Bastrop and thence to Béxar—the route of El Camino Real, though he ma
y have made a detour or two along the way. Noah Smithwick, in Evolution of a State, p. 81, writes: “I was taken down with fever while in Bastrop, but was convalescent when Crockett came on, and wanted to return with him to San Antonio, but seeing I was not in condition to do so, he persuaded me to wait for another party to arrive a few days later”; further evidence is found in Leonie Rummel Weyand and Houston Wade, An Early History of Fayette County (La Grange, TX: La Grange Journal, 1936), p. 283 (see note concerning John Lott and the advisory committee below). See also Cobia, Journey into the Land of Trials, pp. 121–64.
Daniel Cloud’s December 26, 1835, letter to his brother is reprinted in Groneman, Alamo Defenders, p. 132. Information on Autry is drawn from Looscan, “Micajah Autry”; “Sketch of My Life” by Mary Autry Greer, Autry’s daughter (box 32, James L. Autry Papers, Fondren Library, Rice University); and the letters he wrote home, reprinted in many books and articles. Autry’s January 13, 1836, letter to his wife is quoted in Looscan, pp. 319–20.
The information about the stands along El Camino Real is taken from Jenkins, The General’s Tight Pants.
The description of Washington, the town on the Brazos River, is in Gray, Diary of Colonel W. F. Gray, pp. 107–8. It was not referred to as Washington-on-the-Brazos at this time.
That John Lott was the provisional government’s local agent in Washington is evidenced from reports reprinted in PTR 3, p. 181, and PTR 9, p. 153. The advisory committee’s report concerning their determination that Béxar had enough troops is quoted in Binkley, Official Correspondence, p. 372, in a letter from the advisory committee to J. W. Robinson dated January 31, 1836: “The advisory Committee are of opinion that no further necessity exists of increasing the number of troops now at Bejar, beyond those that are already there, or on their way to that place,—and therefore advise that an express be sent immediately to the Town of Washington, requiring John Lott the Government [agent] at that place, to direct all volunteers from the United States or elsewhere, passing through that place, to proceed direct to Goliad or Copano, where the Government supplies are generally stored and where they will receive orders for their future movements.” Along the left-hand margin next to this recommendation is written “Order issued No. 15.” Another indication that the provisional government’s recruiting agents were sending men to Béxar, at least in January and early February, is this quote from Weyand and Wade, An Early History of Fayette County, p. 283, in a profile of area resident James Seaton Lester: “In January and February 1836, our hero was stationed at Bastrop where he was acting as a kind of recruiting agent for the garrison at Bexar, the object of which was to strengthen that outpost as much as possible. While acting in this capacity he met David Crockett and his men in the upper edge of Hill’s Prairie and sent them on to reinforce Travis and help defend the Alamo.” Lester’s ROT (Republic of Texas) pension claims, which can be found online at the Texas Library and Archives Commission website, support the fact that he was assigned by Sam Houston to duty in the recruiting service.
TEN: THE ROAD TO BÉXAR
The epigraph, from Santa Anna’s address to his army, is reprinted in PTR 4, pp. 373–74.
In Juan Almonte’s journal entry for February 22, 1836 (Asbury, “The Private Journal,” p. 16), he writes: “The troops cleared their arms and dryed their clothes; no desertions whatever or sickness.” This is the only entry during the army’s march north in which the lack of deserters is mentioned. Many of the details noted in this account of the march derive from Almonte’s journal; Sánchez’s journal; Filisola’s Memoirs, vol. 2; Santos, Santa Anna’s Campaign; de la Peña, With Santa Anna in Texas; Filizola, “Correspondence of Santa Anna”; and Castañeda, The Mexican Side of the Texan Revolution, which includes the memoirs of Santa Anna and his secretary, Ramón Caro.
Sánchez’s puzzlement over Santa Anna’s haste to leave his army behind is mentioned in his journal, translated in Huneycutt, At the Alamo, pp. 54–55.
The date of February 8 for the arrival of Santa Anna’s orders to Ramírez y Sesma is an estimate; the order was issued from Monclova, 120 miles away, on February 5. The details of telele and dysentery are found in Filisola, Memoirs, vol. 2, pp. 143, 160. The loss of more than a thousand women and children (1,300, actually) is mentioned in Salas, Soldaderas, p. 29.
De la Peña recorded vivid details of the February 13 snowstorm. That the other units of the Army of Operations did not experience snow, or the same extremes of cold weather, is noted in several sources. De la Peña wrote: “This unexpected storm did not cause the other brigades the damage that it caused the cavalry” (With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 28); Juan Almonte, traveling with Santa Anna, noted in his diary on February 13: “weather stormy; thermometer 51°” (Asbury, “The Private Journal,” p. 14); and the February 13 entry in the logbook of the San Luis Potosí battalion, which was part of the Vanguard Brigade, states: “North with rain. Extreme cold” (Borroel, The Itineraries of the Zapadores, p. 17).
The deaths of four hundred men in a span of twenty-four hours is mentioned in a letter that Santa Anna wrote in 1852 (Valadés, México, Santa Anna, p. 166).
The mesquite grass that enabled the stock to survive is noted in Chariton, Exploring the Alamo Legends, p. 159.
Santa Anna’s friendship with the Navarro family is related in Lozano, Viva Tejas, p. 30.
Regarding Santa Anna’s plan to surprise the rebels early on the morning of February 23, it must be pointed out here that one or two of the sources for this plan state that the fandango occurred on the night of Sunday, February 21, and that Santa Anna ordered Ramírez y Sesma to advance with the cavalry that night. Santa Anna himself wrote, in a report dated February 27, 1836: “My objective had been to surprise them early in the morning of the day before, but a heavy rain prevented it” (quoted in Hansen, p. 332). But the bulk of sources mention the night of February 22—including Santa Anna himself, who wrote in his “Manifesto,” a defense of his handling of the Texas campaign published in 1837: “I entrusted, therefore, the operation to one of our generals, who with a detachment of cavalry, part of the dragoons mounted on infantry officers’ horses, should have fallen on Béxar in the early morning of February 23, 1836” (translated in Castañeda, The Mexican Side of the Texan Revolution 1836, p. 13). The Mexican secretary of war, José María Tornel, wrote an account of the campaign in 1837 in which he stated: “A division of the army was to surprise Béxar early the morning of the 23rd of February, 1836, but for some reason yet unknown the orders of the General were not carried out” (quoted in Castañeda, p. 351). Francisco Becerra, an infantry sergeant with the Vanguard Brigade of Ramírez y Sesma, wrote or dictated an account in which he said: “On reaching Medina river Santa Anna halted one day to reunite and rest his army. Señor Navarro and a priest met him there. He received them well. The priest told the President there were two hundred and fifty Americans in the Alamo; that they were at a fandango that night, and could be easily surprised. Santa Anna intended to make a forced march for that purpose. A wet norther had been blowing during the day, the Medina river had risen suddenly, the ammunition train had been left on the opposite bank, and could not be crossed. His Excellency was very mad, but there was no remedy, and he had to abandon the enterprise. The Medina had fallen the next evening, and every thing was passed over safely. The march was resumed the next day” (quoted in Hansen, p. 455). Clearly, since they marched from the Medina into Béxar on February 23 (“the next day”), the fandango was being held on the previous day, February 22—the actual birthday of George Washington and the day that Americans celebrated the occasion.
The fragile condition of the Alamo’s north wall is discussed in Ivey, Mission to Fortress, chapter 7, p. 26.
The four saints in the niches on either side of the Alamo’s main entrance are listed in Ivey, “The Search for the Saints.”
The two rows of timber stakes are mentioned in Jack Eaton’s 1980 excavation research report, quoted in Hansen, p. 737. John Sutherland also described the palisade as having two rows (Han
sen, p. 175). However, two leading Alamo researchers, James Ivey and Mark Lemon, have concluded that there was only one row of stakes.
The information supplied by the Tejano scout was forwarded by Bowie in his February 2, 1836, letter to Henry Smith, reprinted in Chariton, 100 Days in Texas, p. 204.
Robinson’s February 2, 1836, letter to Neill is quoted in Binkley, Official Correspondence, vol. 1, p. 372. Though the physical letter has disappeared, the council’s recommendation to Robinson is still extant, and has a note on it stating: “Col. Neill written to Feb 2d 1836.”
Crockett’s arrival and this portion of his speech are related in Sutherland, The Fall of the Alamo, pp. 11–12.
Evidence of the service of the Neill sons is at TSLA (ROT audited claim 558, reel 77, frame 353), and it states that Samuel Clinton Neill served as a private in the mounted rifle corps under Colonel John Moore and Williamson, and that George Jefferson Neill “served 14 days in Williamson’s corps” plus “two months in Hunt’s company” (frame 272). The exact dates of service are unavailable, but it is clear that the two were actively engaged in defending the frontier area around Bastrop in the early part of 1836. The rumor that Neill had also left to procure money for the garrison is noted in Sutherland, The Fall of the Alamo, p. 8. See Hardin, “J. C. Neill,” for an excellent and judicious appraisal of Neill that refutes Walter Lord’s description of Neill in A Time to Stand as a “good second-rater” who was “gently nudged aside” by Travis, Bowie, and Crockett.
The Blood of Heroes: The 13-Day Struggle for the Alamo--and the Sacrifice That Forged a Nation Page 38
