For over a century, one of America’s rallying cries was “Remember the Alamo.” But sadly, in our own day, too many Americans do not know the real story of the Texas Revolution or the striking heroism of the Alamo’s defenders.
The history of what we call the Alamo, which you can still visit in San Antonio to this day, begins with the Spanish missionaries who founded a series of Catholic missions complete with churches, living quarters, and agricultural land to provide the natives a more stable and civilized way of life. But by the 19th century, the mission of San Antonio de Valero was no longer being used as a church. And it would become most famous for its role as a temporary fortress.
Following Mexican independence, many residents of the land we now call the state of Texas — which includes both Americans who moved there and the older Hispanic residents or Tejanos — were living an independent and autonomous lifestyle. So when the infamous, vicious, and often mentally ill Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna won the Mexican presidency and abolished the 1824 Constitution, many Texans were outraged. It was a combination of Tejanos, American Texans, and foreign immigrants who launched the Texas Revolution in 1835.
Following early victories against the Mexican government troops, the revolutionaries fortified the Alamo with cannons and a garrison of somewhere under 200 men. Ultimately, the siege of the Alamo lasted 13 days, ending on March 6, 1836, marking the 190th anniversary of the tragic end of that courageous defense. The defenders held out as long as they could, but reinforcements did not arrive in time. Not only did the Mexican government troops kill every last defender they found, but Santa Anna vengefully ordered the bodies of the dead defenders burned.
The Alamo and the monument to its brave defenders pic.twitter.com/LXtBYQ4q9a
— Catherine Salgado (@CatSalgado32) March 6, 2025
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As I noted above, the defenders of the Alamo were an ethnically and culturally diverse group of men, bound together by their ideals of liberty. That is a fact you won’t find in most woke write-ups about the battle now, as moderns like to frame the Texas Revolution and the battle of the Alamo as a racist white American fight against misunderstood brown people. There were multiple Hispanic defenders of the Alamo, alongside the Americans and immigrants from multiple European countries, and more than one African-American. I have included the full list of names at the end of this article, courtesy of Andrews University.
I would like to share a little about the lives of several of the famous Alamo defenders. For example, History.com says, “Davy Crockett was a frontiersman, soldier, politician, congressman, and prolific storyteller. Known as the ‘King of the Wild Frontier,’ his adventures—both real and fictitious—earned him American folk hero status.”
Legends of America has this to say about the Alamo’s commander, William B. Travis, who famously declared his resolve was “Victory or Death”:
Born in the Edgefield District of South Carolina on August 9, 1809, William’s family later moved to Alabama. After finishing his education, Travis worked as a school teacher and a lawyer. Travis fled his wife and family in 1831, setting up a law office in Anahuac, Texas. Strongly disliking Mexican rule, he became one of the leaders of what became known as the “war party.” On June 29, 1835, he raised a company of 25 volunteers and captured Captain Antonio Tenorio, the commander of Mexican forces in Anahuac.
After the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, Travis joined the Texas Army, and soon afterward, Samuel Houston appointed him as lieutenant colonel of cavalry.
Joe, Travis’s servant, is less famous, but he proved key in telling the story of the Alamo (note that slavery was by then illegal in the territory of Texas, but some former slave-owners kept men and women as indentured servants). Joe was born into slavery, and Travis was his master at the time of the siege of the Alamo, when Joe participated in the Alamo’s defense alongside his master and saw Travis die.
Joe tried to hide when the Mexican government troops began searching out and shooting survivors, but when he heard someone asking if there were any “negroes” Joe revealed himself. That was a mistake, because one Mexican soldier promptly shot Joe while another stabbed him with a bayonet. One of their officers told them to stop, and Joe subsequently survived captivity to carry the stories of the Alamo defenders to other revolutionaries. Another black woman who was at the Alamo was not so lucky as Joe, who remembered seeing her lying dead.
You can read Joe’s account of the last day of the Alamo’s siege at this link. Note how he testifies that Crockett and several other defenders were found dead but surrounded by many troops whom they had killed in a last desperate fight, that James Bowie fired at Santa Anna’s troops from his sickbed, and that Travis was already wounded when he killed General Mora as his last act on earth. Furthermore, Santa Anna ordered that one defender who surrendered be shot, and in some cases, the Mexican troops not only killed the defenders but mutilated them, as with Bowie, according to Joe. This is the history we Americans should remember, the heroes who shaped our nation’s fate.
The defenders:
1. Juan Abamillo, San Antonio
2. Robert Allen
3. Mills DeForrest Andross, Vermont
4. Micajah Autry, N.C.
5. Juan A. Badillo, San Antonio
6. Peter James Bailey, Ky.
7. Isaac G. Baker, Ark.
8. William Charles M. Baker, Mo.
9. John J. Ballentine
10. Richard W. Ballantine, Scotland
11. John J. Baugh, Va
12. Joseph Bayliss, Tenn.
13. John Blair, Tenn.
14. Samuel C. Blair, Tenn.
15. William Blazeby, England
16. James Butler Bonham, S.C.
17. Daniel Bourne, England
18. James Bowie, Tenn
19. Jesse B. Bowman
20. George Brown, England
21. James Brown, Pa.
22. Robert Brown
23. James Buchanan, Ala.
24. Samuel E. Burns, Ireland
25. George D. Butler, Mo
26. John Cain, Pa.
27. Robert Campbell, Tenn.
28. William R. Carey, Va.
29. Charles Henry Clark, Mo
30. M.B. Clark
31. Daniel William Cloud, Ky.
32. Robert E. Cochran, N.J.
33. George Washington Cottle, Tenn.
34. Henry Courtman, Germany
35. Lemuel Crawford, S.C.
36. David Crockett, Tenn.
37. Robert Crossman, Mass.
38. David P. Cummings, Pa.
39. Robert Cunningham, N.Y.
40. Jacob C. Darst, Ky.
41. John Davis, Ky.
42. Freeman H. K. Day
43. Jerry C. Day, Mo.
44. Squire Daymon, Tenn.
45. William Dearduff, Tenn.
46. Stephen Dennison, England
47. Charles Despallier, La.
48. Lewis Dewall, N.Y.
49. Almeron Dickinson, Tenn.
50. John H. Dillard, Tenn.
51. James R. Dimpkins, England
52. Andrew Duvalt, Ireland
53. Carlos Espalier, San Antonio
54. Gregorio Esparza, San Antonio
55. Robert Evans, Ireland
56. Samuel B. Evans, N.Y.
57. James L. Ewing, Tenn
58. William K. Fauntleroy, Ky.
59. William Fishbaugh, Ala.
60. John Flanders, Mass.
61. Dolphin Ward Floyd, N.C., N.Y.
62. John Hubbard Forsyth
63. Antonio Fuentes, San Antonio
64. Galba Fuqua, Ala.
65. William Garnett, Tenn.
66. James W. Garrand, La.
67. James Girard Garrett, Tenn.
68. John E. Garvin
69. John E. Gaston, Ky.
70. James George
71. John Camp Goodrich, Tenn.
72. Albert Calvin Grimes, Ga.
73. Jose Maria Guerrero, Laredo, Tex.
74. James C. Gwynne, England
75. James Hannum
76. John Harris, Ky.
77. Andrew Jackson Harrison
78. William B. Harrison, Ohio
79. Charles M. Haskell (Heiskell), Tenn.
80. Joseph M. Hawkins, Ireland
81. John M. Hays, Tenn.
82. Patrick Henry Herndon, Va.
83. William D. Hersee, England
84. Tapley Holland, Ohio
85. Samuel Holloway, Pa.
86. William D. Howell, Mass.
87. Thomas Jackson, Ireland
88. William Daniel Jackson, Ireland
89. Green B. Jameson, Ky.
90. Gordon C. Jennings, Conn.
91. Damacio Jimenes, Tex.
92. Lewis Johnson, Wales
93. William Johnson, Pa.
94. John Jones, N.Y
95. Johnnie Kellog
96. James Kenney, Va.
97. Andrew Kent, Ky.
98. Joseph Kerr, La.
99. George C. Kimball (Kimble), N.Y.
100. William P. King
101. William Irvine Lewis, Va.
102. William J. Lightfoot, Va.
103. Jonalhan L. Lindley, IL.
104. William Linn, Mass.
105. Jose Toribio Losoya, San Antonio
106. George Washington Main, Va.
107. William T. Malone, Va.
108. William Marshall, Tenn.
109. Albert Martin, Rhode Island
110. Edward McCafferty
111. Jesse McCoy, Tenn.
112. William McDowell, Pa.
113. James McGee, Ireland
114. John McGregor, Scotland
115. Robert McKinney, Ireland
116. Eliel Melton, Ga.
117. Thomas R. Miller, Tenn.
118. William Mills, Tenn.
119. Isaac Millsaps, Miss.
120. Edwin T. Mitchell
121. Napoleon B. Mitchell
122. Edward F. Mitchusson, Va.
123. Robert B. Moore, Va.
124. William Moore, Miss.
125. Robert Musselman, Ohio
126. Andres Nava, San Antonio
127. George Neggan, S.C.
128. Andrew M. Nelson, Tenn.
129. Edward Nelson, S.C.
130. George Nelson, S.C.
131. James Northcross, Va.
132. James Nowlan, Ireland
133. George Pagan, Miss.
134. Christopher Parker, Miss.
135. William Parks, N.C.
136. Richardson Perry
137. Amos Pollard, Mass.
138. John Purdy Reynolds, Pa.
139. Thomas H. Roberts
140. James Robertson, Tenn.
141. Isaac Robinson, Scotland
142. James M. Rose, Va.
143. Jackson J. Rusk, Ireland
144. Joseph Rutherford, Ky.
145. Isaac Ryan, La.
146. Mial Scurlock, N.C.
147. Marcus L. Sewell, England
148. Manson Shied, Ga.
149. Cleveland Kinlock Simmons, S.C.
150. Andrew H. Smith, Tenn.
151. Charles S. Smith, Md.
152. Joshua G. Smith, N.C.
153. William H. Smith
154. Richard Starr, England
155. James E. Stewart, England
156. Richard L. Stockton, Va.
157. A. Spain Summerlin, Tenn
158. William E. Summers, Tenn
159. William D. Sutherland, Ala.
160. Edward Taylor, Tenn.
161. George Taylor, Tenn.
162. James Taylor, Tenn.
163. William Taylor, Tenn.
164. B. Archer M. Thomas, Ky.
165. Henry Thomas, Germany
166. Jesse G. Thompson, Ark.
167. John W. Thomson, N.C.
168. John M. Thruston, Pa.
169. Burke Trammel, Ireland
170. William Barret Travis, S.C.
171. George W. Tumlinson, Mo.
172. James Tylee, N.Y.
173. Asa Walker, Tenn.
174. Jacob Walker, Tenn.
175. William B. Ward, Ireland
176. Henry Warnell, Ark.
177. Joseph G. Washington, Tenn.
178. Thomas Waters, England
179. William Wells, Ga.
180. Isaac White, Ky.
181. Robert White
182. Hiram J. Williamson, Pa.
183. William Wills
184. David L. Wilson, Scotland
185. John Wilson, Pa.
186. Anthony Wolfe, England
187. Claiborne Wright, N.C.
188. Charles Zanco, Denmark
189. John, Negro
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