Nueces River, 79, 88, 89
Nuevo León, Mex., 73
Nullification crisis, 134
Nuñez, Sgt. Felix, 161, 165, 205
Ohio, 46, 48
Ontario, 172
Othella, 171
Pacheco, Estaban, 108
Patton, William, 52
“Peace party,” 36
Peña, Col. José de la: and Alamo, 162, 164, 165, 175
as leader, 66
and Santa Anna, 150
thoughts of, 150, 151, 162
and Travis, 206
Pendleton, S.C., 134, 135
Pennsylvania, 42, 83
Pensacola, Fla., 17
Perez, Antonio, 181, 206
Perez, Manuel, 176
Philadelphia, Pa., 20, 23, 44, 171, 190
Philadelphia Courier, 45
Philadelphia Gazette, 41
Pittsburgh, Pa., 47
Pollard, Dr. Amos, 20, 21, 23, 78, 85, 211
Ponton, Andrew, 97
Portland, Me., 168
Port Lavacca, 208
Potrero Street, 87, 95, 96, 139
Potter, Capt. Ruben M., 198, 199, 209-210
powder house, 15, 110, 124, 137, 144
Powder House Hill, 133, 136, 139
Presidio de Rio Grande, Mex., 73
Provisional Council, 77-78, 200
Provisional Government of Texas, 38, 56, 77-78
Quachita, 55
Quitman, John A., 172
“Quitman Fencibles,” 172
railroads, 20, 22
Ramirez y Sesma, see Sesma
Raymond, Miss., 141
Ream, Lt. S. Y., 83
Red Bank, S.C., 32, 134
Red River Exchange, 41
Red River Valley, Ark., 21, 53
Red Rovers of Alabama, 47
Refugio, Tex., 216
Reyes, N., 67
Reynolds, John Purdy, 33, 46-47, 54
Richardson’s Hotel, 45
Richmond, Tex., 199
Richmond, Va., 171
Rio Frio, 78, 89
Rio Grande, 62, 73, 74, 78, 87, 88, 110, 118
Rivas, cousin of Mrs. Rodriguez, 87, 92
Robinson, Lt. Gov., 91, 99, 113, 122, 127, 130, 136
Rodriguez, Ambrosio, 87, 92
Rodriguez, Mrs. Ambrosio, 87, 92
Rodriguez, José, 92
Rodriguez, Pablo, 92
Romero, Col., 148, 149, 158, 161
Rose, James M., 46, 54, 109, 114, 201
Rose, Louis, 75, 147, 201, 202, 203, 214
Rose (P. W.) family, 16, 152, 183
Ross, John, 172
Rubio, Señor, 73
Rubio & Errazu, 65
Ruiz, Francisco, 105, 178, 205, 206
“Runaway Scrape,” 184, 190
Rusk, Sec’y of War, 190
Russelville, Ky., 173
Sabine River, 24, 46, 48, 53
St. Augustine, Fla., 48, 54
St. Louis, Mo., 21
Salado Creek, 15, 98, 180
Salisbury, Mass., 20
Saltillo, Mex., 66-67, 70
San Antonio, Texas, 13, 28-29, 62, 75ff.
citizens in Alamo, 87, 95, 111, 141, 145
description of, 25-26, 109
siege of 1835, 40, 56-57, 65
sympathies of populace, 38, 74, 77, 89, 90, 105, 145, 178-179
San Antonio River, 26, 59, 87
Sanchez, Capt. José Juan (Navarro), 57, 58, 67, 138, 177, 205, 206
Sand Bar Fight, 26
San Felipe, Tex., 15-16, 29, 33, 37, 39, 56, 59, 77, 78, 79, 86, 91, 129, 137, 183, 186, 187, 211
San Jacinto, Battle of, 193-196, 197, 207, 209
San Jacinto River, 188, 189, 192, 193, 194
San Juan, Mex., 73
San Luis battalion, 148, 150
San Luis Potosi, 66, 119
San Miguel de Allende, Mex., 73
San Patricio, Tex., 122, 133, 139
San Pedro Creek, 101 San Saba mine, 27
Santa Anna, Gen. Antonio López de, 77, 79, 92, 133, 182
and Alamo, 91, 93, 102, 107-108, 110, 111, 116-117, 119, 121, 129, 145, 147 ff., 154, 156, 158, 167, 174-175, 177-179, 205, 206, 209, 210, 211-212
attitude toward Americans, 62, 88, 89, 101
background of, 62-63
description of, 63, 64-65, 67, 90, 114
and Mrs. Dickinson, 179
as dictator, 35, 36, 37, 38, 63-64
and finance, 65
generals of, 65-66
as leader, 67-68, 72, 73-74, 88-89, 100, 107-108, 110, 111, 119, 124, 148-149
and march to Texas, 68-73, 88-90, 100-101
and preparations for campaign, 65-69
and San Antonio, 62, 65, 105
and San Jacinto, 186 ff.
sentiment against, 44, 169, 170-172
sentiment for, 95 and Tornel, 67
troops of, 14, 66, 70-74, 87, 88, 89, 97, 100 ff., 138, 143 ff., 159, 188-189
at Veracruz, 90
Santiago, 55-56
Saucedo, Trinidad, 95, 208
Scott, Sir Walter, 42-43; 134
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 169
Seguin, Capt. Juan, 92, 130, 133, 181, 213
at Alamo, 102, 108, 111-112, 198
and company of local Mexicans, 87, 100, 105, 155, 211
as courier, 111-112
Seguin rancho, 119, 121
Seminole Indians, 46, 169
Serpent, 47
Sesma, Gen. Ramírez y, 78, 124
and Fannin, 129
as leader, 70, 73-74, 100
and San Jacinto, 186, 188, 189
and Santa Anna, 138, 147
troops of, 88-90, 109, 110, 111, 114, 116, 136, 137, 144, 149, 186
Sevier County, Ark., 24
Sewell, Marcus L., 23, 126
Shackleford’s Red Rovers, 47
Shakespeare Theater (Mobile), 44, 135
sharpshooting, 115-116
Sherman, Col. Sydney. 182, 193-194
Simmons, Cleland Kinloch, 55-56, 82, 109, 162
slavery, 31, 32, 90
smallpox, 55
Smith, Andrew H., 80
Smith, “Deaf,” 181, 192, 193, 195
Smith, Gov. Henry, 77-78, 79, 80-81, 85, 86, 136, 200, 211
as courier, 97-98, 125, 141-143, 204
discovers the Mexican army, 94-95
as early settler, 26
as guide, 126-128
at siege of 1835, 57
Smithers, Launcelot, 15-16
Smithwick, Noah, 30
smuggling, 31, 32, 33, 36
soldaderas, 70-71, 196
Soldana, Capt. Rafael, 115
Soledad Street, 28, 89
South Carolina, 168
Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 204, 207
speculation, land, 26, 29, 33
Stafford’s Point, 16, 183
Stanley, Col. E. H., 47
Starr, Franklin J., 86
steamboats, 20, 21
Steele, Alfonso, 195
Sterne, Adolphus, 45-46, 48-59
Stoneall’s Tavern, 45
survivors of Alamo, 207-209
Sutherland, Dr. John, 78, 101, 125, 133
as courier, 96-98
discovers the Mexicans, 93-95
and Lewis, 93
and Seguin, 198
Sutherland, Fanny, 168
Sutherland, William D., 168
sutlers, Mexican, 71
Swarthout, Samuel, 29
Swiss Boy, 172
Tamaulipas Gazette, 62
Tammany Hall, 45
taxes, 30, 31
Taylor, Creed, 58
Taylor, Edward, 82
Taylor, George, 82
Taylor, James, 82
Telegraph and Texas Register, 38, 86, 174, 183, 188
telele, 72
Tennessee, 23, 24, 44, 50, 82, 83, 168, 190
“Tennessee Mounted Volunt
eers,” 54, 81, 107, 108-109, 160, 161, 162
Tenorio, Capt. Antonio, 36, 37
Teran, Gen. Manuel Mier y, 32
“Texas fever,” 23
“Texas Loan,” 171
“Texas meetings,” 44
Texas Republican, 37
“Thompsonian System,” 78
Thompson’s Ferry, 187, 189, 199
Tinaja, Tex., 129
Tinkle, Lindsy K., 52
Tolsa, Gen. Eugenio, 68, 167, 186
Toluca battalion, 138, 150, 156, 158
Tontine (Phila.), 171
Tornel, Minister of War, 67, 68, 88, 177
Torres, Lt. Jos6 María, 163
Tragedy of Venice Preserved, The, 45
Travis, Charles, 36, 80, 142-143, 152
Travis, Rosanna, 32, 36, 143
Travis, William Barret
at Alamo, 84-88, 93, 109, 111-113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 125, 128, 137, 141-146, 152-153, 155-156, 191, 211-212
appeals for aid, 13-14, 85, 91, 97, 98-99, 107, 111-112, 117, 129, 132, 141-143, 152
arrival in Texas, 33
and Bonham, 117, 134, 135
and Bowie, 84-85, 98, 102, 104, 105-106, 144
death of, 155-156, 162, 177, 178, 206
description of, 32, 33, 34
drawing the line, 146, 201-204
early life, 32-33
as leader, 34, 79-81, 83, 84-88, 93, 116
and marriage, 32, 36
ordered to Alamo, 79-81
and Rebecca Cummings, 33, 142
and Texas Revolution, 32, 34-37, 39, 56
uniform of, 205
Tremont House (Boston), 17
True American, 17
“Twin Sisters,” 193
Tyler, Gen. John S., 44
Ugartechea, Col., 38
United States Bank, 51
Urizza, Capt. Fernando, 158, 167, 207
Urrea, Gen. José, 66, 68, 122, 139, 167, 184, 189
Velasco, Tex., 16, 86, 211
Veracruz, Mex., 90
Veramendi, Juan Martin, 28
Veramendi, María Ursula de, 27
Veramendi family, 28
Veramendi house, 28, 95, 104
Victoria, Tex., 129, 211
Vince’s Bayou, 189, 192
Vince’s bridge, 189, 192, 193, 195, 196
Virginia, 48, 49
Wales, 217
Walker, Asa, 82-83
Walker, Jacob, 137, 166
Ward, Sgt. William B., 96, 132, 160
Ward’s Georgia Battalion, 47
“War Party,” 35
Warnell, Henry, 121, 144
at Alamo, 86, 115, 118, 137
death of, 208
early life of, 23-24
Washington, D.C., 17, 50, 52 Washington-on-the-Brazos, 16, 82, 129, 133, 141, 183
Webster, Daniel, 51
Wharton, Col., 129, 130
Whigs, 18, 45, 51-52, 169
Wheelock, Lt., 47
Wheelock’s Dragoons, 47
Williamson, Hiram J., 23, 77
Wolfe, Antony, 166
Woll, Adrian, 65
Woodman, M., 30
Wright, Maj. Morris, 26
Ximenes family, 92
Yellow Stone, 186, 187
Yturri house, 105, 150
Yucatan battalion, 66, 71
Zapadores battalion, 66, 138, 149, 150, 158, 162, 163
Zuber, William, 201-204
Acknowledgments
IT WAS ANYTHING BUT a day for work. The blinding glare, the blast-furnace heat, the heavy silence of Austin in August made the New Yorker understand why nearly everyone seemed to have left town. Yet Dr. Carlos E. Castaneda worked on, oblivious to the heat, poring over Captain Sanchez Navarro’s faded manuscript, translating and interpreting page after page, looking up points from a stack of obscure Mexican books beside him, muttering Spanish phrases to himself … always meticulous, always thorough.
Dr. Castaneda was giving up his summer to help me. He was the outstanding authority on the Mexican side of the Texas Revolution (his own book remains a classic), and his contribution was naturally priceless. But there was so much more to it than that. For he was in poor health—far worse than his friends realized—and every day must have been a struggle. Yet he gave himself to the task as though he had all the time in the world, generously pouring out his knowledge for another to use. I only wish he were still here, to see how much I owe him.
So many people have been so generous: John B. Shackford of Cornell, Iowa, who edited his late brother James’ fine biography of David Crockett and filled me in on important points … Mrs. James T. Anderson of Garrison-on-Hudson, New York, who made available a fascinating, never-published letter from one of Fannin’s men … B. W. Crouch, a spry 90-year-old from Saluda, South Carolina, who helped me in fixing Travis’ and Bonham’s exact birthplaces … and many, many more. In all, useful information was received from over a hundred people in twenty-three states—illustrating once again that the Alamo is truly a national story.
I’m especially grateful to the many descendants of defenders who came forward with fresh material on their gallant ancestors. L. C. Sparks of St. Louis supplied valuable details on Robert Cunningham’s background; Mrs. Clifford Lewis of Media, Pennsylvania, contributed a fine vignette of William Irvine Lewis; Mrs. Ernest W. King of Charleston, South Carolina, sent in wonderful data on Cleland K. Simmons. Other helpful descendants included Roberts H. Brown, Mrs. James E. Darst, Mrs. A. Ray Oliver, Mrs. I. O. Miller, Mrs. Louis A. Klein, Mrs. Edward B. Richards. Here again, aid came from all over the country.
Not that Texas was eclipsed. On the contrary, Mrs. Cordelia McFall of Abilene gave fresh information on her great-grandfather Thomas Jackson; Rufus Floyd of Gonzales did the same for his great-grandfather Dolphin Floyd, and in addition supplied a fascinating 1855 letter from the Floyd family in North Carolina, re-establishing contact with Dolphin’s wife and son. In fact, nothing seemed too much trouble to these Texas descendants, and I’m equally grateful to R. H. Nowlin, Albert C. McDavid, Clarence W. Roberson, Jr., and R. D. Johnson.
No less helpful were the descendants of several men who were not defenders, but who nevertheless played a key part in the Alamo’s story. Mrs. Sue Hardeman lent me some records of Dr. J. H. Barnard, who tended the Mexican wounded. Mrs. Frank C. Gillespie gave up a whole afternoon to answer questions about John W. Smith. Mrs. Annie D. Ayers (who jetted into New York at 86 years of age) confirmed that Travis’ last hasty note about his son Charles had indeed been sent to her grandfather David Ayers.
As a rewarding by-product of mountainous correspondence with these helpful people, it was occasionally possible to bring together distant members of the same family. For instance, Stanley Horn of Nashville and Mrs. Louis A. Klein of Philadelphia both wrote in regarding their mutual ancestor John Camp Goodrich. Their addresses were soon forwarded on to one another, in the hope that a family reunion-by-mail might result.
Along with the descendants, many authorities have rallied around, generously contributing their expertise. Ben Palmer supplied marvelous material on Jim Bowie’s knife. James Presley and Colonel E. J. Stolle gave me the benefit of their immense research on Santa Anna’s march north. Needless to say, where I differ from their conclusions, the responsibility for any errors lies at my door.
Other authorities have supplied a great deal of data on particular individuals. Jack Butterfield writes glowingly of Juan Seguin. Dr. Pat Nixon roots for Amos Pollard and the Alamo surgeons. S. J. Folmsbee relentlessly pursues David Crockett. Ruby Mixon is matchless on Travis. Llerena Friend can answer anything about Sam Houston. I’m grateful to them all.
And in this connection, I’m especially grateful to Mrs. Jack Shelton, who has practically adopted the entire thirty-two-man contingent from Gonzales. This has been a greatly neglected part of the Alamo saga, and if any new light has been thrown on it in these pages, it is largely due to Mrs. Shelton and the corps of assistants she recruited to the cause—Miss Lenore Bright,
Miss Eleonore Jandt and others.
The libraries and historical societies have played their usual selfless role. I owe so much to the Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland and Mifflin County (Pennsylvania) societies—just to name a few. Also, the Texas State Library and Archives, the Library of Congress, the Yale University and New York Public Libraries. But of them all, it would be unfair not to single out the superb library staff of the University of Texas. Whether “upstairs” with Llerena Friend or “downstairs” with Dorman Winfrey and Winnie Allen, no request was ever too small to get the closest attention at the Barker History Center. In this connection, a special vote of thanks goes to Dr. Walter Prescott Webb, who put me on the track of at least six unpublished theses in the library, covering important parts of the story.
Most librarians have perhaps grown used to a researcher’s whims, but Mrs. Nellie Carroll had no reason to expect such harassment the day I first invaded her files at the Texas General Land Office in Austin. Yet for over a week she tolerated the raid with her rare mixture of patience, good humor and fortitude. More than that, she pulled countless file boxes, giving access to fresh, interesting information on many Alamo defenders.
The Mexican archives played their part too. I’m especially grateful to the staff at Chapultepec Castle for unearthing once more the remnants of the New Orleans Greys’ flag, carefully piecing it together, and making available the documents that accompanied it. General Gustavo A. Angulo Chamorro also went far out of his way to provide me with material at the Military Archives. This Mexican co-operation was won largely through the tact of my friend and guide Agustin Espinosa Sierra.
In addition to all these sources, certain friends seemed to bear an extra-heavy share of the burden on this book. Charles Ramsdell, who is Mrs. Dickinson’s great-grandson and has “lived with” the Alamo all his life, gave me many days of his time, generously sharing all he knew. His only reward was to be dragged from bed one dawn and driven five hundred miles in a single day, to confirm the records on Louis Rose at the Nacogdoches Courthouse. I only hope he felt the thrill I did when we finally found that green steel cabinet and pulled out the ancient record book. There, sure enough, were the entries for Rose.
Maury Maverick, Jr., who has Texas in his blood, was another of those unselfish souls who gave me days of their time. He was bullied into driving me to Goliad, Gonzales and the Rio Grande. But he did have a measure of revenge when, carried away by a passion for realism, he persuaded me to eat some of the bitter mesquite nuts that so often were the staple diet of Santa Anna’s troops.