Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers

by Brian Kilmeade

7. Stephen Austin to President of the Consultation, November 3, 1835.

  8. Anson Jones, quoted in Cantrell, Stephen F. Austin (1999), p. 326.

  9. Austin, “Siege and Battle of Bexar” (1844).

  10. Moses Austin Bryan, quoted in Cantrell, Stephen F. Austin (1999), p. 328.

  11. Ehrenberg, “A Campaign in Texas” (1846), p. 39.

  12. Moses Austin Bryan, quoted in Cantrell, Stephen F. Austin (1999), p. 328.

  13. Two reports written the day after recount the events of the “Grass Fight.” See Edward Burleson to the Provisional Government, November 27, 1835; and William H. Jack to Burlison [Burleson], same date. The latter contains the imaginative spelling of mesquite.

  14. Barr, Texans in Revolt (1990), p. 40.

  15. Bowie was probably closer to the mark. In his memoirs, Mexican general Vicente Filisola reported “fifty brave men . . . lying on the ground either dead or wounded.” Filisola, Memoirs for the History of the War in Texas, vol. 2 (1848; 1985), p. 68.

  16. Creed Taylor, quoted in Reid, The Secret War for Texas (2007), p. 52.

  17. Sam Houston to James Fannin, November 13, 1835.

  18. William Carey to Brother & Sister, January 12, 1836.

  19. Samuel Maverick, December 4, 1835, in Green, Samuel Maverick, Texan (1952), p. 44.

  20. Huston, Deaf Smith, Incredible Texas Spy (1973), p. 34. See also Foote, Texas and the Texians (1841), p. 165.

  21. Taylor, “The March, the Siege and the Battle for Bexar” (1900).

  22. Herman Ehrenberg, quoted in Huston, Deaf Smith, Incredible Texas Spy (1973), p. 36.

  23. Ibid.

  24. Taylor, “The March, the Siege and the Battle for Bexar” (1900).

  25. Frank Sparks, quoted in Hardin, Texian Iliad (1994), p. 81.

  26. Taylor, “The March, the Siege and the Battle for Bexar” (1900).

  27. F. W. Johnson to General Burleson, December 11, 1835.

  28. Edward Burleson and B. R. Milam to Provisional Government, December 6, 1835.

  29. Field, Three Years in Texas (1836), p. 20.

  30. Edward Burleson and B. R. Milam to Provisional Government, December 6, 1835.

  31. Taylor, “The March, the Siege and the Battle for Bexar” (1900); Yoakum, History of Texas, vol. 1 (1935), p. 28.

  32. Of the several retellings, Creed Taylor’s is the most vivid. See “The March, the Siege and the Battle for Bexar” (1900).

  33. William Carey to Brother & Sister, January 12, 1836.

  34. Moseley Baker to Council at San Felipe, December 10, 1835.

  35. Sherwood Y. Reams, quoted in Williams, Sam Houston (1993), p. 127.

  36. Sion R. Bostick, quoted in Rives, The United States and Mexico (1913), pp. 300–301.

  37. Barr, Texans in Revolt (1990), p. 52.

  38. Filisola, Memoirs for the History of the War in Texas, vol. 2 (1848; 1985), p. 94.

  39. Articles of Capitulation, Clause the First.

  40. William Carey to Brother & Sister, January 12, 1836.

  41. Texas General Council to Citizen Volunteers, December 15, 1835.

  CHAPTER 6: THE DEFENDERS

  1. Telegraph and Texas Register, January 2, 1836.

  2. Sam Houston to Don Carlos Barrett, January 2, 1836.

  3. Goliad Declaration, December 22, 1835.

  4. Henry Smith to the President and Members of the Council, January 9, 1836; General Council to the People of Texas, January 11, 1836.

  5. Sam Houston to Henry Smith, January 30, 1836.

  6. J. C. Neill to Governor and Council, January 6, 1836.

  7. Sam Houston to Henry Smith, January 6, 1836.

  8. Lester, The Life of Sam Houston, p. 83.

  9. Sam Houston to Henry Smith, January 30, 1836.

  10. Ehrenberg, With Milam and Fannin (1935), pp. 124–25.

  11. The principal source for Houston’s speech was a volunteer named Herman Ehrenberg; in Leipzig in the 1840s he published the text as he remembered it, but in his native German. A number of scholars have expressed serious doubts as to its accuracy. See especially Crisp, Sleuthing the Alamo (2005), p. 27ff.

  12. Sam Houston to Henry Smith, January 30, 1836.

  13. Lester, The Life of Sam Houston, p. 85.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Dobie, “James Bowie, Big Dealer” (1957), p. 350.

  16. J. C. Neill to Sam Houston, January 14, 1836.

  17. James Bowie to Henry Smith, February 2, 1836.

  18. Ibid.

  19. William B. Travis, Last Will and Testament, May 25, 1835.

  20. Green Jameson to Sam Houston, January 18, 1836.

  21. Ibid.

  22. Ibid.

  23. For the most part these biographical details are drawn from the most reliable Crockett biography, James Atkins Shackford’s David Crockett: The Man and the Legend (1956), supplemented by Crockett’s own (and rather less factual) Autobiography (1834).

  24. Shackford, David Crockett (1956), p. 296n11.

  25. Crockett, Autobiography (1834), p. 40.

  26. Williams, The Old Town Speaks (1951), p. 164.

  27. Crockett, Autobiography (1834), p. 80.

  28. National Banner and Nashville Whig, September 29, 1823.

  29. Crockett, Autobiography (1834), p. 59.

  30. Niles Weekly Register, April 9, 1836.

  31. David Crockett to George Patton, November 1, 1835.

  32. David Crockett to Margaret and Wiley Flowers, January [9], 1836.

  33. Swisher, The Swisher Memoirs (1932), p. 18.

  34. Ibid.

  35. William B. Travis to Henry Smith, February 13, 1836.

  36. Sutherland, The Fall of the Alamo (1936), https://sonsofdewittcolony.org. The story is also recounted in Davis, Three Roads to the Alamo (1998), pp. 533–35.

  37. William B. Travis to Andrew Ponton, February 24, 1836.

  CHAPTER 7: TWELVE DAYS OF UNCERTAINTY

  1. Santa Anna, “Manifesto Relative to His Operations during the Texas Campaign and His Capture 10 of May 1837,” reprinted in Castañeda, Mexican Side of the Texan Revolution (1928), p. 13. The most essential source for Santa Anna’s biographical facts is Will Fowler’s Santa Anna of Mexico (2007).

  2. Minister of War José María Tornel, quoted in Lord, A Time to Stand (1961), p. 61.

  3. Fanny Calderone de la Barca, quoted in Brands, Lone Star Nation (2004), p. 41.

  4. William W. Travis to Fellow Citizens and Compatriots, February 24, 1836.

  5. Enrique Esparza, quoted in Ramsdell, San Antonio (1959), p. 76.

  6. José Batres to James Bowie, February 23, 1836.

  7. William Travis and James Bowie to James Fannin, February 23, 1836.

  8. William Travis to Sam Houston, February 25, 1836; Potter, “The Fall of the Alamo” (1878), p. 6.

  9. William Travis to the People of Texas & all Americans, February 24, 1836.

  10. William Travis to Sam Houston, February 25, 1836.

  11. James Fannin to James Robinson, February 25, 1836.

  12. John Sowers Brooks to A. H. Brooks, February 25, 1836.

  13. James Fannin to James Robinson, February 26, 1836.

  14. Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett by Himself (1987), p. xxxii.

  15. Santa Anna to the Minister of War and Marine, February 27, 1836.

  16. Potter, “The Fall of the Alamo” (1878), p. 8.

  17. Lord, A Time to Stand (1961). In keeping with the long tradition of historical disagreements regarding the Alamo history, historian (and former New York firefighter) William Groneman has expressed doubt regarding Crockett’s fiddle playing.

  18. “The Unanimous Declaration of Independence made by the Delegates of the People of Texas,” March 2, 1836.

  19. William Travis to the P
resident of the Convention, March 3, 1836.

  20. William Travis to David Ayres, March 3, 1836.

  21. “Army of Operations, General Orders of the 5th of March, 1836. 2 o’clock P.M.—Secret.”

  22. Quoted in the San Antonio Daily Express, April 28, 1881. The historic record is hazy concerning Travis’s March 5 actions and words. By some accounts he spoke long and movingly; by others, his words were few and pointed. Direct testimony concerning the events of the afternoon of March 5, 1836, is limited (and variable), but include a firsthand account in a late-in-life interview with Mrs. Almeron Dickinson, conducted in 1876, and a version that appeared in The Texas Almanac, in 1873, purportedly based on the recollections of the soldier who chose not to step across the line.

  23. See McDonald, William Barret Travis (1976; 1995), pp. 172–73, 194n14.

  CHAPTER 8: THE MASSACRE

  1. Gray, From Virginia to Texas (1909), p. 137.

  2. Peña, With Santa Anna in Texas (1975), p. 47.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Ibid., p. 46.

  5. Ibid., p. 47.

  6. Mexican soldier, in Chariton, 100 Days in Texas (1990), p. 318.

  7. Report of Francisco Ruiz, in Chariton, 100 Days in Texas (1990), p. 325.

  8. Wooten, A Complete History of Texas (1899), p. 215.

  9. Peña, With Santa Anna in Texas (1975), pp. 42, 43.

  10. Ibid., pp. 48–49.

  11. Tucker, Exodus from the Alamo (2010), p. 235.

  12. King, Susanna Dickinson: Messenger of the Alamo (1976), pp. 41–42. Almeron’s words vary from one account to another, as do many of the details in the ensuing events of Mrs. Dickinson’s life.

  13. Peña, With Santa Anna in Texas (1975), p. 51.

  14. Quoted in Houston, Texas Independence (1938), p. 143.

  15. Letter of April 5, 1836, printed in El Mosquito Mexicano. Cited in Davis, Three Roads to the Alamo (1998), p. 734n104.

  16. Philadelphia Pennsylvanian, July 19, 1838.

  17. Letter of April 5, 1836, printed in El Mosquito Mexicano. Cited in Davis, Three Roads to the Alamo (1998), p. 734n104.

  18. “Army of Operations, General Orders of the 5th of March, 1836. 2 o’clock P.M.—Secret.”

  19. Peña, With Santa Anna in Texas (1975), p. 52.

  CHAPTER 9: BRING OUT THE DEAD

  1. Quoted in Hardin, Texian Iliad (1974), p. 155. Accounts vary concerning whether Santa Anna referenced the dead as “chickens” on the night before or the day of the Alamo battle. Or both.

  2. Crisp and Kilgore, How Did Davy Die? And Why Do We Care So Much? (2010), p. 15.

  3. N. D. Labadie, “San Jacinto Campaign,” in Day, Texas Almanac (1967), p. 174. Once again, there is an ongoing argument concerning Crockett’s end.

  4. Peña, With Santa Anna in Texas (1975), p. 53.

  5. Santa Anna to José María Tornel, March 6, 1836.

  6. Lieutenant Colonel José Juan Sanchez Navarro, “Memoirs of a Veteran of the Two Battles of the Alamo.” Online at https://sonsofdewittcolony.org.

  7. King, Susanna Dickinson: Messenger of the Alamo (1976), p. 70.

  8. Morphis, History of Texas (1875), pp. 176–77.

  9. Enrique Esparza, cited in King, Susanna Dickinson: Messenger of the Alamo (1976), p. 141n36. Other reports claim the sum gifted was two pesos rather than two dollars.

  10. Santa Anna to the Citizens of Texas, March 7, 1836.

  11. Report of Francisco Ruiz, in Chariton, 100 Days in Texas (1990), p. 326.

  CHAPTER 10: HOUSTON HEARS THE NEWS

  1. Wisehart, Sam Houston, American Giant (1962), p. 167.

  2. William Travis to the President of the Convention, March 3, 1836.

  3. James, The Raven (1929), p. 227.

  4. Lester, The Life of Sam Houston, pp. 90–91.

  5. Ibid., p. 91.

  6. Sam Houston to James Fannin, March 11, 1836.

  7. Sam Houston to James Collinsworth, March 13, 1836.

  8. Lester, The Life of Sam Houston, p. 95; Huston, Deaf Smith, Incredible Texas Spy (1973), p. 53.

  9. Jackson and White, Joe, the Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend (2015), p. 207.

  10. R. E. Handy, quoted in Deaf Smith, Incredible Texas Spy (1973), p. 53.

  11. Robert Morris to James Fannin, February 6, 1836.

  CHAPTER 11: FORT DEFIANCE

  1. James Fannin to Sam Houston, November 18, 1835.

  2. William Travis to James Fannin, February 23, 1836.

  3. James Fannin to Joseph Mims, February 29, 1836.

  4. James Fannin to James Robinson, February 22, 1836.

  5. Sam Houston to James Fannin, March 11, 1836. Accounts disagree as to whether the letter was delivered late on March 13 or on the morning of March 14, 1836. See Huson, “Evacuation of Goliad,” in Refugio (1953–55).

  6. Ehrenberg, With Milam and Fannin (1935), pp. 169–70.

  7. Ehrenberg, “A Campaign in Texas” (1846), p. 43.

  8. Morgan, “Massacre at Goliad.”

  9. Shackelford, Jack. “Some Few Notes Upon a Part of the Texian War,” in Foote, Texas and the Texians (1841), p. 231.

  10. Ehrenberg, “A Campaign in Texas” (1846), p. 44.

  11. Barnard, “Dr. J. H. Barnard’s Journal” (1912), p. 16.

  12. Shackelford, Jack. “Some Few Notes Upon a Part of the Texian War,” in Foote, Texas and the Texians (1841), p. 233.

  13. Ibid., p. 234.

  14. Morgan, “Massacre at Goliad.”

  15. Barnard, “Dr. J. H. Barnard’s Journal” (1912), p. 17.

  16. Ehrenberg, “A Campaign in Texas” (1846), p. 45.

  17. Barnard, “Dr. J. H. Barnard’s Journal” (1912), p. 19. Accounts differ regarding the terms of the surrender and, very likely, Fannin got no explicit promises beyond Urrea’s offer to use his influence with Santa Anna (see Urrea, “Diary of the Military Operations,” in Castañeda, Mexican Side of the Texan Revolution, 1928, pp. 228–29). That said, Fannin, seeing no alternative, likely took Urrea’s word and permitted his men to think their fate would differ from that of the defenders at the Alamo.

  18. Urrea, “Diary of the Military Operations” (1838), in Castañeda, Mexican Side of the Texan Revolution (1928), p. 235.

  19. Barnard, “Dr. J. H. Barnard’s Journal” (1912), p. 22.

  20. Account of Joseph Spohn, published in the New York Evening Star, as quoted in Brown, Hesitant Martyr in the Texas Revolution (2000), pp. 220–23.

  21. The tale of the “Angel of Goliad,” based on various references in the accounts of survivors, is a mix of confused names and details, many of which are summarized in “Angel of Goliad” at sonsofdewittcolony.org.

  22. Dr. J. H. Barnard, quoted in De Bruhl, Sword of San Jacinto (1993), p. 195.

  CHAPTER 12: THE TEXIAN EXODUS

  1. Sam Houston to James Collinsworth, March 15, 1836.

  2. “Kuykendall’s Recollections of the Campaign,” in Barker, “The San Jacinto Campaign” (1901), p. 295.

  3. Lester, The Life of Sam Houston, p. 99.

  4. Sam Houston to James Collinsworth, March 15, 1836.

  5. Swisher, The Swisher Memoirs (1932), p. 33.

  6. Sam Houston to Thomas Rusk, March 23, 1836.

  7. Labadie, “San Jacinto Campaign” (1967), pp. 144–45.

  CHAPTER 13: AN ARMY ASSEMBLES

  1. Sam Houston to Thomas Rusk, March 23, 1836.

  2. Sam Houston to Thomas Rusk, March 23, 1836.

  3. With only minor differences, two Texian soldiers later told the story. See “Kuykendall’s Recollections of the Campaign,” in Barker, “The San Jacinto Campaign” (1901), p. 297; and Sparks, “Recollections of S. F. Sparks” (1908), p. 67.

  4. Santa Anna, “Manifesto” (1928), p. 20.

  5. Smithwick, The Evolution of a State (1900), p. 128.


  6. Harris, “The Reminiscences of Mrs. Dilue Harris” (1901), pp. 155–89.

  7. Moseley Baker, February 19, 1836, quoted in Moore, Eighteen Minutes (2004), p. 18.

  8. Barker, “The San Jacinto Campaign” (1901), pp. 273–74.

  9. Sam Houston to Thomas Rusk, March 29, 1836.

  10. “Kuykendall’s Recollections of the Campaign,” in Barker, “The San Jacinto Campaign” (1901), p. 301.

  11. Peña, With Santa Anna in Texas (1975), p. 102.

  12. Tolbert, The Day of San Jacinto (1959), pp. 66–67; Santa Anna, “Report of the San Jacinto Campaign to the Minister of War and Marine,” March 11, 1837, reprinted in Barker, “The San Jacinto Campaign” (1901), pp. 265–66.

  13. Sam Houston to the Citizens of Texas, April 13, 1836.

  14. Sam Houston to Thomas Rusk, March 31, 1836.

  15. Labadie, “San Jacinto Campaign” (1967), p. 148.

  16. David G. Burnet to Sam Houston, April 1, 1836.

  17. Labadie, “San Jacinto Campaign” (1967), pp. 150–51; James, The Raven (1929), p. 241.

  18. Sparks, “Recollections of S. F. Sparks” (1908), pp. 66–67; James, The Raven (1929), p. 242.

  19. Santa Anna, “Manifesto” (1928), pp. 20–21.

  20. Ibid., p. 22.

  21. Sam Houston to John E. Ross, April 2, 1836.

  22. Houston himself would acknowledge such thinking years later. See Davis, Lone Star Rising (2004), p. 252.

  23. “Kuykendall’s Recollections of the Campaign,” in Barker, “The San Jacinto Campaign” (1901), p. 302.

  24. King, Susanna Dickinson: Messenger of the Alamo (1976), p. 60.

  25. Numerous versions of this story exist, the first written a month later; see W. B. Dewees to Clare Cardello, May 15, 1836. Subsequent accounts appear in Labadie, “San Jacinto Campaign” (1967), pp. 150–51; and in Hunter, The Narrative of Robert Hancock Hunter (1966), p. 13. The wagon master’s name is variously spelled Rover and Rohrer.

  CHAPTER 14: THE BATTLE AT SAN JACINTO

  1. Delgado, “Delgado’s Account of the Battle,” in Barker, “The San Jacinto Campaign” (1901), p. 288; see also Tolbert, The Day of San Jacinto (1959), pp. 69–70.

  2. Santa Anna to Vicente Filisola, April 14 [?], 1836.

  3. “Kuykendall’s Recollections of the Campaign,” in Barker, “The San Jacinto Campaign” (1901), p. 303.