Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers
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Ross, John, 181, 217
Ruiz, José Francisco, 134, 139
Runaway Scrape, 161, 162, 165, 171–72, 186, 216, 230
Rusk, Thomas Jefferson
and armistice, 214–15
background of, 173
and Battle of San Jacinto, 198–99, 206, 208, 209–10
as confidant of Houston, 167, 173
death of, 229
on facing Mexican Army, 189
and Houston’s withdrawal for medical treatment, 216, 217
negotiations with Santa Anna, 214–15
and presidential election, 219
“Redlanders” recruited by, 64
with regular army, 177, 181
as secretary of war, 165, 177, 209, 214
and size of Mexican Army, 188
as U.S. senator, 229
Sabine River, 8
San Antonio, 53, 65
and Austin’s call for organization of local government, 26
defensive engineering of, 77, 78, 79
and Grass Fight, 71–73
Houston’s trip to, 22
Mexican Army’s occupation of, 43–44, 63–64, 70, 107, 109
name of, 246n5
Volunteer Army’s march to, 44, 45, 46, 47, 52
Volunteer Army’s siege on, 47–52, 63–64, 65, 65–66, 69, 70, 74–75
See also Alamo; Battle of the Alamo
San Augustine, 219
San Felipe de Austin
arrival of new recruits, 45
and Austin’s pleas for supplies, 47
burned in Army of Texas’s retreat, 176
and Committee of Safety, 30
Consultation in, 50, 51–52, 68–69
founded by Austin, 20
Houston’s trip to, 19, 21, 22
Mexican Army’s arrival in, 176, 177, 179
newspaper of, 50, 86
printing press in, 50
and San Antonio assault, 80
Travis’s residence in, 93
San Jacinto, 188, 191, 194, 196, 196
Santa Anna, Antonio López de
and armistice, 214–15
arrival in Texas, 102–3, 104
Austin’s hopes for alliance with, 27, 28, 29
background of, 23–24
and Battle of San Jacinto, 197, 199, 203, 208, 210
and Battle of the Alamo, 107, 115, 120–21, 124, 126–27, 134, 136, 138, 143–44, 168–69, 213
bound for Texas, 86
at Brazos River crossing, 176
capture and detainment of, 211–12, 220–21
cruelty and brutality of, 23, 24, 28, 105, 127, 135, 143, 186, 228
despotic rule of, 25, 27–28, 29
East Texas targeted by, 169–70
as emissary for Republic of Texas, 221–23
and Goliad massacre, 157–58, 213–14
government of Texas targeted by, 180–81, 186–87, 190
and Jackson, 169, 221, 222–23
march on Harrisburg, 185–86
march on Lynchburg, 191
and Mexican statehood sought by Texians, 27
no-quarter orders of, 82, 84, 107, 126–27, 133, 135
orders to squash revolution, 44
postwar life of, 227
power of, 24–25
as president of Mexico, 24–25, 227
as prisoner of Texas, 211–15, 220
and public response to the Alamo, 143–44
return to Mexico, 223
Rusk’s negotiations with, 214–15
and sacrifice of troops, 114, 127, 134
suppression of freedoms, 25
and Susanna Dickinson, 137–38
threats against the U.S., 28
three-part plan of, 169–70, 170
and Treaties of Velasco, 217–18, 220, 221, 223
troops sent to Texas, 28
vulnerability of, 189
and women and children survivors, 137–38
secretary of state, 8, 8n
Seguín, Juan, 52, 116
Seminole Indians, 8–9
Sesma, Joaquín Ramírez de, 164, 179
settlers in frontier lands, 9, 12, 19
Shackelford, Jack, 150, 152
Sherman, Sidney, 198
Smith, Erastus “Deaf”
background of, 67–68
and Battle of San Jacinto, 198, 200–201, 202, 208, 225
death of, 225
delivery of Santa Anna’s orders, 215
and Grass Fight, 71–73
Mexican courier intercepted by, 187–88, 189
Mexican scout captured by, 163–64
and orders to destroy Alamo, 92
and San Antonio siege/assault, 75, 77, 79–80
scouting missions of, 71–72, 142–43, 177
Texas county named for, 224
volunteering to serve, 68
Smith, Henry
as governor of Texas, 69
and Houston’s furlough, 90
and paralysis in government, 87
and presidential election, 219
as secretary of the treasury, 219
Smith, John W., 102–3
Smith, W. P., 36
Smithwick, Noah, 49, 58, 59, 171, 226
Soldana, Rafael, 115
Spain, 8–9, 24
Stanbery, William, 13–14
Steuben, Friedrich, Baron von, 174
Sutherland, John, 102–3
Sylvester, James, 211, 225
Tejanos
allied with Texians, 68
serving in Texas army, 40, 52, 100, 205
Telegraph and Texas Register newspaper, 50, 86, 187, 219
Tennessee, 6, 7
Tennessee Company of Mounted Volunteers, 99
Texas, 10–11
Adams’s relinquishment of, 8
and annexation by the U.S., 219, 223, 229
armies of (see Army of Texas; Army of the People, Volunteer)
border closed to new immigrants, 20, 23
cities and counties named for founders of, 224
civilian evacuation of, 161, 162, 165, 171–72
constitution of, 219
and Consultation to establish government, 49–52, 68–69
declaration of independence, 118, 187
elections in, 219
governance of (see government in Texas)
Houston’s arrival in, 16–17, 18
Houston’s brag about conquering, 16
Houston’s terms as president of, 219, 229
immigrants pouring into, 9, 20
and independence (see independence of Texas)
Jackson’s interest in, 9, 16–17, 25, 27, 169, 221, 222–23
land acquired by Houston in, 22
land grants in, 20
and Louisiana Purchase, 8
Mexican statehood sought by, 23, 26, 29, 52
motives of those relocating to, 15
Native Americans of, 19
population of, 20
republic established in, 118
roads/traces in, 172
Santa Anna’s service as emissary for, 221–23
settlement of, 9, 12, 19, 20
sovereignty recognized by U.S., 223
and “Texians”/“Texans” labels, 20, 20n
and Three Hundred (first families), 29, 225
and Treaties of Velasco, 217–18, 220, 221, 223
U.S. negotiations to purchase from Mexico, 9, 12, 16
Three Hundred (first families of Texas), 29, 225
traces in Texas, 172
Travis, Charles Edward, 93, 120, 122
> Travis, Susan Isabella, 93
Travis, William Barret
anticipation of Mexican Army, 101–2
arrival in San Antonio, 94
background of, 65, 93
and battle of the Alamo, 123–24
call for reinforcements, 103
command of, 100–101, 108
death of, 124, 128
on exchanges of fire, 111–12
and Fannin’s failure to assist, 119–20
final address to troops, 121–22, 252n22
historic lines composed by, 110, 226
and horses of Mexican Army, 66
identification of body, 135
letter to son’s schoolteacher, 120
pleas for reinforcements, 107–9, 110, 112–13, 116, 117–18, 119, 140, 146
public letter drafted by, 110
saddlebags scavenged by Mexican Army, 190
in Santa Anna’s report, 136
Treaties of Velasco (1836), 217–18, 220, 221, 223
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), 229
United States
annexation of Texas, 219, 223, 229
Austin as emissary to, 69
and Mexican-American War (1846–48), 227, 229
Santa Anna’s avoidance of conflict with, 169
Santa Anna’s threats against, 28
sovereignty of Texas recognized by, 223
Urrea, José de
approaching Goliad, 147
and Battle of the Prairie, 150, 152, 155–56
and evacuation of Texians, 150
and Fannin, 155–56, 157, 255n17
and Goliad massacre, 157, 214
and three-part plan of Santa Anna, 169–70
U.S. Congress, 9, 14–15
U.S. Constitution, 9
U.S. House of Representatives, 6, 8
U.S. Senate, 6
Veramendi, Maria Ursula de, 22
Vince’s Bayou, 195, 202
War of 1812, 21, 69
Washington, D.C.
British attack on, 3
Houston’s return to, 12–13
Santa Anna in, 221–23
Santa Anna’s threats against, 28
Washington, George, 174
Which-Way Tree at Cypress City, 182, 230
Williams, Ezekiel, 36
Winters, James, 203
With Milam and Fannin: Adventures of a German Boy in the Texas’ Revolution (Ehrenberg), 226
Yellow Stone steamboat, 181, 216, 217
Yoakum, Henderson King, 211, 231
Zavala, Lorenzo de, 186
Zavala, Lorenzo de, Jr., 188
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Kilmeade is the coauthor of George Washington's Secret Six, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, and Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans, all New York Times bestsellers. Kilmeade cohosts Fox News Channel's morning show Fox & Friends and hosts the daily national radio show The Brian Kilmeade Show. He lives on Long Island. This is his sixth book.
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* In later days, the survivors among these men took pride in identifying themselves as members of the “Old Eighteen,” defenders of Gonzales. Miles, “Battle of Gonzales” (1899), p. 314.
* Bowie’s life story varies from source to source, and some historians now question whether Bowie fathered any of Ursula’s children.
* Derived from the Spanish degollar, “Degüello” literally means throat-cutting.
* In the early nineteenth century, becoming secretary of state was regarded as a stepping-stone to the presidency, the path taken by Jackson’s four immediate predecessors, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams.
* The label “Texan” didn’t come into general use until after Texas, having been annexed by the United States, gained statehood in 1845. In earlier days, “Texian” distinguished recent arrivals from the United States from the Tejanos, residents of Spanish descent. According to some sources, “Texians” was pronounced Tex-yans in the 1830s. J. H. Kuykendall Papers, cited in Huston, Deaf Smith, Incredible Texas Spy (1973), p. 5.