Exodus From the Alamo: The Anatomy of the Last Stand Myth

by Phillip Thomas Tucker

  58. Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82; Winders, Sacrificed at the Alamo, p. 126.

  59. Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, p. 82.

  60. Brininstool, Troopers with Custer, p. 81; Winders, Sacrificed at the Alamo, p. 127; Hardin, Texian Iliad, pp. 134–135; Borroel, The Texan Revolution of 1836, pp. 63, 92; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, p. 134; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 47, 49–50.

  61. Hansen, ed.,The Alamo Reader, pp. 17–19, 21–23, 29, 35–38.

  62. Santos, Santa Anna’s Campaign Against Texas, pp. 36, 72–73; Levy, American Legend, p. 265; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413; Chariton, Exploring the Alamo Legends, p. 65; McDonald, William Barret Travis, p. 86; Santa Anna to McArdle, March 19, 1874, TSL and AC; Wheelan, Invading Mexico, p. 46; Perry, ed. and trans, With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 42; Hardin, Texian Iliad, pp. 134–135.

  63. McDonald, William Barret Travis, pp. 93, 175–176; Santa Anna to McArdle, March 19, 1874, TSL and AC; Hardin, Texian Iliad, pp. 134–135; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 630.

  64. New Orleans Post and Union, New Orleans, Louisiana, March 28, 1836; The New Yorker, New York, New York, April 16, 1836; Western Courier and Piqua Enquirer, Piqua, Ohio, April 16, 1836; Groneman, Defense of a Legend, pp. 79–80; Derr, The Frontiersman, p. 248; Gaddy, Texas in Revolt, p. 47; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413; Columbia Observer, Columbia, Tennessee, April 14, 1836; Chariton, Exploring the Alamo Legends, p. 65; Lindley, Alamo Traces, pp. 42–44; Hardin, Texan Iliad, p. 29; Santa Anna to McArdle, March 19, 1874, TSL and AC; Matovina, The Alamo Remember, p. 44; Morning Commercial and New York Enquirer, July 18, 1836; Paul Fregosi, Dreams of Empire: Napoleon and the first world war, 1792–1815, (New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1990), p. 211.

  65. Morning Courier and New York Enquirer, New York, July 18, 1836; Smith, Napoleon Against Russia, pp. 224–225; Western Courier and Pique Enquirer, April 16, 1836; Gregg J. Dimmick, Sea of Mud, The Retreat of the Mexican Army After San Jacinto: An Archeological Investigation, (Austin, Texas: Texas State Historical Association, 2004), pp. 235–236; Fregosi, Dreams of Empire, p. 211.

  66. Groneman, Defense of a Legend, p. 79.

  67. Moore, Eighteen Minutes, pp. 45-46; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, pp. 499, 512-518; Santos, Santa Anna’s Campaign Against Texas, p. 87; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, pp. 169-170; Kilgore, How Did Davy Die?, p. 17.

  68. General Sam Houston to Henry Raguet, March 13, 1836, Madge W. Hearne Collection, Texas State Library, Archives Division, Austin, Texas; Santos, Santa Anna’s Campaign Against Texas, p. 87; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, pp. 169–171; Groneman, Alamo Defenders, pp. 35, 88–89; Kilgore, How Did Davy Die?, p. 17.

  69. Ibid; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, p. 171.

  70. The New Yorker, April 16, 1836.

  71. Gaddy, Texas in Revolt, p. 47.

  72. New Orleans Post and Union, March 28, 1836.

  73. Western Courier and Piqua Enquirer, April 16, 1836.

  74. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Frankfort Commonwealth, May 25, 1836; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82; Brown, The New Orleans Greys, p. 292; Santos, Santa Anna’s Campaign Against Texas, p. 72; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 44–45, 50-51; Hardin, Texian Iliad, p. 146; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, pp. 82, 147; Roberts and Olson,A Line in the Sand, p. 156; Nelson, The Alamo, p. 111; Lord, A Time to Stand, p. 162.

  75. Frankfort Commonwealth, May 25, 1836; Commercial Bulletin, April 11, 1836; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, p. 175.

  76. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Lord, A Time to Stand, p. 105.

  77. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Nelson, The Alamo, p. 49; Long,Duel of Eagles, p. 75; Lord, A Time to Stand, p. 105.

  78. Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, p. 20.

  79. Frankfort Commonwealth, May 25, 1836; San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, p. 25; Commercial Bulletin, April 11, 1836; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 439; Lord,A Time to Stand, p. 163; Perry, ed. and trans.,With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 49; Long, Duel of Eagles, p. 244.

  80. Santa Anna to McArdle, March 19, 1874, TSL and AC.

  81. San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, Texas, November 22, 1902; Levy, American Legend, p. 279; Johnson,A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413.

  82. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Lord, A Time to Stand, p. 24; Groneman, Alamo Defenders, p. 7.

  83. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 51; Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. iv, p. 60; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82; Hardin, Texian Iliad, p. 147; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano.

  84. Groneman, Alamo Defenders, p. 11.

  85. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Brown, The New Orleans Greys, p.186; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82.

  86. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Howard R. Driggs and Sarah S. King,Rise of the Lone Star: A Story of Texas Told by its Pioneers, (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1936), p. 225; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82.

  87. Frankfort Commonwealth, May 25, 1836; San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82; Commonwealth Bulletin, April 11, 1836.

  88. Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. iv, p. 60; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82.

  89. Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 49–50; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, p. 145; Chemerka,Alamo Anthology, p. 72.

  90. Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 49–50; Levy, American Legend, p. 281; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82.

  91. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 49–50, 52.

  92. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 45; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, p. 413.

  93. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, pp. 25, 80–81.

  94. Memphis Enquirer, April 12, 1836; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 50; Sutherland Manuscript, CAH; Buchanan, The Road to Guilford Courthouse, p. 214; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp, 70–71, 82.

  95. Memphis Enquirer, April 12, 1836; Perry, ed. and trans, With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 50; Buchanan, The Road to Guilford Courthouse, p. 214.

  96. Buchanan, The Road to Guilford Courthouse, p. 214; Rothenberg, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon, p. 63

  97. Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 45; Lindley, Alamo Traces, p. 45; Rothenberg, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon, pp. 64–65; Nelson, The Alamo, p. 111; Lord, A Time to Stand, p. 67.

  98. Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 45; Pohl, The Battle of San Jacinto, p. 27; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, p. 82; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, p. 413; Maryland Gazette, November 5, 1835; Nelson, The Alamo, p. 111; Frederick Cook, Journals of the Military Expedition of Major General John Sullivan (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1967), pp. 10, 29, 203.

  99. Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 45; Smith, On to the Alamo, p. vii; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, p. 413; Jean-Roch Coignet, Captain Coignet: A Soldier of Napoleon and the Imperial Guard from the Italian Campaign to Waterloo (London: Leonaur Ltd., 2007), p. 123; Ed Gilbert, Frontier Militiamen in the War of 1812: Southwester
n Frontier (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2008), p. 54.

  100. Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, p. 109.

  101. Sutherland Manuscript, CAH; American-Statesman, April 15, 2004; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 182; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, pp. 88, 107; M. L. Crimmins, “American Powder’s Part in Winning Texas Independence,” Southern Historical Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 1, (July 1948) pp. 109–111; Borchardt, “DuPont Marks Its Bicentennial,” Chemistry Chronicles, pp. 43–46; Winders, Sacrificed at the Alamo, p. 94; Hardin, Texian Iliad, pp. 107–108; King, James Clinton Neill, pp. 81–82; Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. iii, p. 31-36; DePalo, The Mexican National Army, p. 34; Walraven and Walraven, The Magnificent Barbarians, p. 52; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 59.

  102. San Antonio Express, June 23, 1878; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, pp. 165–166; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Washington Post, July 30, 1887; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, pp. 37, 143, 165; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 46; Lindstrom, “Assault at Dawn,” Campaign, pp. 14–15; Washington Post, July 30, 1887.

  103. Jose Vincent Miñon Service Record, Latin American Library, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana; Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. vi, 25–27, 34, 46, 50; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, pp. 143, 152, 165; Niderost, “No Mercy!,” Military Heritage, p. 65; Lindstrom, “Assault at Dawn,” Campaign, pp. 14–15.

  104. Washington Post, July 30, 1887; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, p. 130; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 522.

  105. Washington Post, July 30, 1887; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 522.

  106. Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 50, 52; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, pp. 125, 165.

  107. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Brown, The New Orleans Greys, pp. 186–188; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, p. 413.

  108. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Chemerka, Alamo Anthology, pp. 69, 71; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, p. 413; Groneman, Eyewitness at the Alamo, p. 30; Winders, Sacrificed at the Alamo, p. 126; Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. vi, pp. 43, 50; NPS historians, “18-pounder Revolutionary War Cannon,” FSNM.

  109. De la Pena, With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 50.

  110. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 413–414; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, pp. 70–71, 82; Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, p. 82.

  111. Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, p. 82; Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. iii, p. 36.

  112. Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, pp. 82, 90, 93.

  113. Ibid., p. 82; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Achivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, pp. 176–179; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 163.

  Chapter 7: FLIGHT RATHER THAN FIGHT

  1. Commercial Bulletin, April 11, 1836; Frankfort Commonwealth, May 25, 1836; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 393; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, pp. 162, 165; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano.

  2. Chemerka, Director of the Alamo Society, to author, November 14, 2003.

  3. Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans, pp. 412–413; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 47; NPS historians, “18-pounder Revolutionary War Cannon,” FSNM; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 392.

  4. Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, pp. 392–394; Lord, A Time to Stand, pp. 85, 159–160.

  5. San Antonio Daily Express, June 30, 1889; Chemerka, Director of The Alamo Society, to author, November 14, 2003; Hardin, Texian Iliad, p. 131; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, pp. 392–393; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 48, 50.

  6. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 47–48; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, pp. 392–393; Lord, A Time to Stand, 163.

  7. Rothenberg, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon, p. 69.

  8. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano, Rothenberg, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon, pp. 68–69; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 21.

  9. Ibid; Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. iv, p. 60.

  10. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Groneman, Alamo Defenders, pp. 9–10, 14–15, 41–42; Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. iv, p. 60.

  11. San Antonio Express, June 23, 1878; Perry, ed., and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 44–45.

  12. Sutherland Manuscript, CAH; Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, p. 34.

  13. San Antonio Express, June 23, 1878; Maryland Gazette, November 5, 1835; Hardin, Texian Iliad, pp. xii, xiii, 6–7, 39; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Santos, Santa Anna’s Campaign Against Texas, p. 60; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, pp. 24–25.

  14. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, p. 10; Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, p. 76; Innes, The Conquistadors, pp. 12–21; Christopher Leslie Brown and Philip D. Morgan, Arming Slaves: From Classical Times to the Modern Age, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), pp. 5–6; Maryland Gazette, November 5, 1835.

  15. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; San Antonio Express, June 23, 1878; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, pp. 23–25.

  16. Levy, American Legend, pp. 51–52, 256, 276; Winders, Sacrificed at the Alamo, pp. 108–110.

  17. Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 44–45, 50.

  18. Brands, Lone Star Nation, pp. 367–368.

  19. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Groneman, Eyewitness to the Alamo, p. 75; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 44–45.

  20. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Davis, Lone Star Rising, p. 220.

  21. Davis, Three Roads to the Alamo, p. 554.

  22. San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 370;San Antonio Express, San Antonio, Texas, June 23, 1878.

  23. Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, p. 35; Santa Anna to McArdle, March 19, 1874, TSL and AC; Raphael, Founding Myths, pp. 1–7, 247–277; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 44–45, 50; Lord, A Time to Stand, p. 80.

  24. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Borroel, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. Iv, p. 60: Perry, ed. and trans, With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. xix, xx, 21, 44–45; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, p. 162; Bradfield, Rx Take One Cannon, pp 23, 101; Groneman, Alamo Defenders, pp. 15, 68, 79; Lord,A Time to Stand, pp. 82, 153, 171.

  25. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Uecker, The Archaeology of the Alamo, pp. 40–41; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, p. 126; Maryland Gazette, November 26, 1835; King,James Clinton Neill, p. 79.

  26. San Antonio Daily Ex
press, June 23, 1878; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; De la Pena, With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 45; Roberts and Olson, A Line in the Sand, pp. 165–166; Hardin, Texian Iliad, p. 148.

  27. Lundstrom, “Assault at Dawn,” Campaign, pp. 12–14; Hutton, “It was but a Small Affair,” WW, p. 46; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 46–48; Lamego, The Siege & Taking of the Alamo, p. 33.

  28. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Lundstrom, “Assault at Dawn,” Campaign, p. 14; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. xix, xx, 21, 44–46.

  29. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico,Militar Mexicano; Matovina, The Alamo Remembered, p. 27; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 44–45, 48; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 521.

  30. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; San Antonio Express-News, November 22, 1902; Santos, Santa Anna’s Campaign Against Texas, p. 74; Borrell, ed. and trans., Field Reports of the Mexican Army During the Texan War of 1836, vol. iv, p. 60; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp 44–45.

  31. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Garrett, Green Flag over Texas, pp. 223–229; Winders, Sacrificed at the Alamo, p. 125.

  32. Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, p. 41.

  33. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa, Archivo Militar Mexicano; San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, p. 370; San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Winders, Sacrificed at the Alamo, pp. xii, 57; Maryland Gazette, November 26, 1835; Hardin,Texian Iliad, p. 224; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, p. 177 note.

  34. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Huffines, Blood of Noble Men, p. 177 note; Borroel, The Texan Revolution of 1836, pp. 80–81.

  35. San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; Nelson, The Alamo, p. 54. 36. Sesma Report, March 11, 1836, Secretaria de la Defensa Nacional, Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano; San Antonio Daily Express, June 23, 1878; Lord, A Time to Stand, p. 118; Jackson, Alamo Legacy, pp. 88–90; Hansen, ed., The Alamo Reader, pp. 44–45, 313, 324; Perry, ed. and trans., With Santa Anna in Texas, pp. 44–45, 50; Groneman, Alamo Defenders, p. 118.