Alamo Traces (16 page)

67
Robert Merrett and Thomas S. Saul statement, July 1838, Washington County Board of Land Commissioners records, p. 81, Washington County Courthouse, Brenham, Texas.

68
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 267.

69
Ibid., 238;
San Antonio Evening News
, June 16, 1939.

70
Miles S. Bennett, “The Battle of Gonzales, the ‘Lexington' of the Texas Revolution,”
The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association
, II: 314; Ethel Zively Rather, “De Witt's Colony,”
The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association
, VIII: 158-159.

71
William P. Harris and John W. Moore affidavit, September 26, 1857, copy of entry from the Lost Book Harris County, Benjamin Kellogg Court of Claims file, C-4531, GLO; William P. Harris affidavit, September 8, 1836, Harrisburg, Benjamin Kellogg file, AMC-TSL.

72
A. S. Miller et al. v. Mary S. Rogers,
Texas Reports
, XLIX: 402.

73
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 267.

74
Ibid., 263; Miller, “Mexican-Texans,” 34.

75
Jose Maria Guerrero file, PC-TSL.

76
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 254; Ibid., 263; Ibid., 276; “Morning Report of the Troops Stationed at the Fort of Goliad, Commanded by Capt. P. Dimitt,” December 14 and 21, 1835, Philip Dimmitt Morning Report Papers, CAH; Goliad Declaration of Independence, December 20, 1835, Jenkins, ed.,
Papers
, III: 269; Beerstecher Jr., “Historical Probate,” 72; Isaac Robinson affidavit, May 21, 1838, Harris County, Isaac Robinson file, AMC-TSL; William and Jeremiah Day affidavit, Charles Sheam file, AMC-TSL. The “Day” who died at the Alamo was Freeman H. K. Day, who entered the Alamo with one of the Gonzales reinforcements. According to the March 24, 1836,
Telegraph and Texas Register
, one ______ Robinson from Scotland died at the Alamo. A correct identification of Robinson needs to be attempted.

77
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 237-242; Ibid., 263.

78
Milam I-202, Milam B-1212, and Refugio B-1544, GLO; “Morning Report of the Troops Stationed at the Fort of Goliad, Commanded by Capt. P. Dimmitt, December 14, 1835.”

79
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 249.

80
Jesse T. Bowman entry, Certificate Number 538, Red River County Clerk Returns, GLO; Lamar I-109, GLO; Red River I-670, GLO; Bowie I-119, GLO.

The Texas General Land Office Muster Rolls book show that one J. T. Bowman served in Captain “Jno. M. Bradley's” company of San Augustine Volunteers that was mustered on April 30, 1836. A second Bradley muster
roll, same book, dated December 12, 1835, however, does not list any person named Bowman. A third Bradley roll, dated November 21, 1835, found in the Austin Papers at the CAH, also fails to list a Bowman.

The only early Alamo victim list that includes the name Bowman is the roll found in Gray's
From Virginia
, 138. Gray listed a “Col. Bowman,” which appears to be an error. Given that the name is listed between the name of William B. Travis and James Bowie, it appears Gray wrote Bowman instead of Bonham.

81
Clinton De Witt Baker, ed.,
A Texas Scrap-Book
(New York and New Orleans: A. S. Barnes & Company, 1875), 112-113. The name “J. B. Bowman” does appear on three secondary Alamo lists, which were complied after the publication of Baker's book. In the mid-1870s the Texas government attempted to compile a correct roll of Alamo soldiers. Two of the lists can be found in the “Alamo Strays” box in the Archives Division of the Texas State Library. One list is a holographic document that the old veteran Francis W. Johnson signed off on. The second list is found in a newspaper article from an unknown Austin newspaper published in the summer of 1874. Both of these lists appear to have obtained the Bowman name from the early Alamo monument listing. The third list is found in John J. Linn's
Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Texas
that was first published in 1883. The book was actually ghost written (Jenkins, ed.,
Texas Books
, 346) by Victor M. Rose. Linn was never in a position during the revolution to have obtained firsthand knowledge of the Alamo and its fall. Thus the Bowman name on his list was most likely taken from Baker's book.

According to the “Records of the Permanent Council,” January 15-16, TSL and James W. Robinson to the Council, January 16, 1836, San Felipe, Jenkins, ed.,
Papers
, IV: 42, there was one James H. Bowman in San Antonio in mid-January 1836. Thus the name on the first Alamo monument may have been “J. H. Bowman” and is represented as “J. B.” in
A Texas Scrap-Book
because of a copy error or a typesetting mistake.

Furthermore, while it is negative evidence, the Jesse B. Bowman name or a variant of it is not found on any (all being primary documents) of the siege of Bexar muster rolls, the storming of Bexar rolls, the Alamo rosters, or the February 1, 1836 Alamo voting list. Neither did the Republic of Texas or the state of Texas issue any bounty or donation land grants in the name for service and death in the revolution.

A list found in Frederick C. Chabot's
The Alamo: Mission, Fortress and Shrine
(San Antonio: Frederick C. Chabot, 1941), 68-69, attributed to Mrs. Letta A. Small, custodian of the Alamo, is the earliest list this writer has found that includes Jesse B. Bowman, who is listed in a category titled: “Native States Unknown.” This list appears to be the Daughters of the Republic of Texas's official list prior to their acceptance of Dr. Williams's roster.

J. B. Ferrell and Bob N. Bowman, in “Jesse B. Bowman, 1785-1836: Defender of the Alamo,” Jesse B. Bowman file, DRT Library, report: “On file at the county courthouse at Cooper, Texas, is a contract between Jesse
Bowman and Ambrose Douthit, which said that Jesse Bowman agreed to give Douthit 1/2 of his citia and labor of land. In return Douthit agreed to draw up all paper work and pay for having his land surveyed and any other expenses involved. This land was to be located in the neighborhood of the Red River. This contract was dated Feb 13, 1836.” The Bowman family believes the contract is a forgery because they think Bowman was part of the Bexar garrison at that time and died at the fall of the Alamo. However, given that there is no valid evidence proving that Bowman was part of the San Antonio garrison, it would appear the contract is authentic.

For the Bowman family's point of view about their ancestor Jesse B. Bowman, one should read Bob and Doris Bowman,
The Search for an Alamo Soldier
(Lufkin: Best of East Texas Publishers, 1997), 11-67.

82
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 281.

83
Bexar B-519, Fort Bend B-51, Fort Bend B-53, Colorado B-97, Milam B-1512, GLO; Jesse G. Thompson file, AMC-TSL; “List of the names of those who fell in the Alamo at San Antonio de Bexar March 6, 1836,” Muster Rolls book, 2, GLO. The name “______ Thompson” appears after Dr. Pollard.

84
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 249; “List of the names of those who fell in the Alamo at San Antonio de Bexar March 6, 1836,” Muster Rolls book, 2, 3, 255, GLO.

85
Liberty I-317; Military Warrant Ledger, 304-2511, TSL.

86
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 249.

87
Bexar B-962; Nacogdoches I-399; Nacogdoches I-681; Washington I-92, GLO; James E. Winston, “Pennsylvania and the Independence of Texas,”
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
, XVIII: 266;
Telegraph and Texas Register
, March 24, 1836; James Brown, Spanish Land Grant Index, GLO.

88
Travis to Houston, February 25, 1836.

89
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 309-310; Robert Brown army discharge, June 5, 1836, Headquarters, La Bahia [Goliad], Robert Brown file, AMC-TSL.

90
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 251.

91
Charles Clark C-1549, Court of Claims collection, GLO; Milam B-1425 and Travis B-648, GLO.

92
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 276.

93
Goliad B-227, Bexar B-1917, Fannin B-1304, GLO; Lost Book of Harris County, 96 and 141; “New Orleans Greys, Capt. Wm. G. Cooke, in the Army before Bexar 1835,” Muster Rolls book.

94
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 161-163 and 269; Nacogdoches enlistments, January 14, 1836, Muster Rolls book, 115, GLO. Charles Linley, age thirty-one, a Nacogdoches resident, was England born and joined the Texas army on January 14, 1836. One of Williams's sources for Jonathan Lindley is C. M. S. R. No. 9189, which shows that Lindley joined the Bexar garrison on December 14, 1835. Williams's belief that Charles Linley and Jonathan Lindley were the same man is impossible to understand.

95
Albert Cook Myers,
Immigration of the Irish Quakers into Pennsylvania 1682-1750
(1902; reprint; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1985), 179; Jonathan Lindley, entry 369, folder F, Montgomery County Clerk Returns, GLO; Jonathan Lindley probate inventory, Vol. A, 135-136, Montgomery County, Texas;
Telegraph and Texas Register
, March 24, 1836; Gray,
From Virginia
, 140-141; “List of Men who have this day volunteered to remain before Bexar,” Jonathan Lindley pay certificate, Jonathan Lindley file, AMC-TSL; Jonathan Lindley file,
New Handbook of Texas
records, Texas State Historical Association, University of Texas, Austin, Texas.

96
“Williams note,” Grant to Williams, March 12, 1936. Williams believed only she had a right to publish and use material from her study. Never mind that it had already been published in a journal, which made it available to the public for fair use.

97
Leita Small to George P. Carrel, January 6, 1939; George P. Carrel to the Alamo Committee, January 11, 1939, San Antonio; Amelia Williams to George P. Carrel, January 19, 1939, Austin; Leita Small to Amelia Williams, January 21, 1939; all letters are in the Williams Papers, CAH.

98
Amelia W. Williams to Stuart McGregor, February 10, 1941, Austin, Williams Papers, CAH.

99
Williams to Carrel, January 19, 1939.

100
Ibid.

101
Williams, “A Critical Study,” 237.

102
Oates, ed.,
The Republic of Texas
, 19; Schoewer and Glaser,
Alamo Images
, 4.

103
Alamo — Providing for the Purchase, Care and Preservation of. S. H. B. No. 1, Section 2, January 26, 1905,
General Laws of Texas
, chapter 7. 28th, 29th, 30th Legislatures: 1903, 1905, 1907.

Alamo history, as it currently stands, reports only one reinforcement of the Alamo garrison during the thirteen-day siege. That relief came from thirty-two mounted men from Gonzales who entered the Alamo at 3:00 a.m. on March 1, 1836. Twentieth-century citizens of Gonzales crowned the group as the “Immortal Thirty-two.” That nomination includes the myth that the men knew their action was suicidal but willingly entered the Alamo to die for Travis and Texas independence. Also, the rest of Texas stood accused of having deserted Travis and his band of men at the Alamo. New evidence shows that the reinforcement of the Alamo was not that simple or that simple minded. Nor did all of Travis's countrymen desert him.
²

Travis, in the March 3, 1836 missive that reported the arrival of the Gonzales relief, also wrote: “I hope your honorable body [Convention assembled at Washington-on-the-Brazos] will hasten on reinforcements, ammunitions and provisions to our aid as soon as possible. . . . If these things are promptly sent and large reinforcements are hastened to this frontier, this neighborhood will be the great and decisive ground.” Travis, even more emphatic, wrote his good friend Jesse Grimes: “I shall have to fight the enemy on his own terms, yet I am ready to do it, and if my
countrymen do not rally to my relief, I am determined to perish in the defense of this place, and my bones shall reproach my country for her neglect.”
³

The Alamo neighborhood did not become the “decisive ground” in the way Travis had hoped, but new evidence shows that far more men than thirty-two answered Travis's plea for assistance. The following analysis is not a complete accounting of the siege and storming of the Alamo. Rather, the work is an attempt to identify who went into the Alamo the first day, who entered during the siege, who attempted to enter, and who left during the siege. The story of those men, women, and children commenced on February 23, 1836, the day that Santa Anna's centralist army stormed into Bexar to avenge the 1835 Texian victory over the forces of General Martin Perfecto de Cos and to make an example of the Alamo defenders.
⁴