The Blood of Heroes: The 13-Day Struggle for the Alamo--and the Sacrifice That Forged a Nation (47 page)

My thanks to Catherine Best, Don Carleton, Sarah Cleary, Matt Darby, Evan Hocker, Kathryn Kenefick, Stephanie Malmros, Linda Peterson, Margaret Schlankey, and John Wheat at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin; to Russell Martin and his crew of helpful assistants at SMU’s DeGolyer Library; to John Molleston, Kevin Klaus, and Alex Chiba at the Texas General Land Office in Austin; to Jean Carefoot, Sergio Velasco, and particularly Donaly Brice, a fine historian who went out of his way to help a fellow writer, at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission; to Lisa Struthers at the San Jacinto Museum of History’s Herzstein Library; to Brenda McClurkin at the special collections section of the University of Texas at Arlington Library; to Michael Toon and John Wilson and their excellent staff, particularly Ellen Kuniyuki Brown, at the Texas Collection at Baylor University; to Christian Kelleher at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin; to Samuel Duncan, library director at the Amon Carter Museum; to Susan Eason, archivist at the Catholic Archives of Texas; to Leslie Stapleton, Stephanie D. Boothby, Caitlin Donnelly, Rusty Gámez, and Martha Utterback at the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library in San Antonio; and to Doris Wilkes, Elise Kidd, and Mildred Duhon, all Alamo defender descendants, and to Doris’s husband, Chester Wilkes, who were all extremely helpful in answering questions and supplying information and materials.

At Little, Brown, thanks are due to my editor, Geoff Shandler—the Sultan of Structure—who helped me make this book better; his assistant, Liese Mayer, a fine editor herself; marketing and publicity wizards Heather Fain, Nicole Dewey, Amanda Tobier, Carolyn O’Keefe, Morgan Moroney, and Amanda Brown, who handle so many of the thankless yet important tasks attendant to publishing a book properly; jacket designer Julianna Lee, for the wonderful jacket; and Michael Pietsch, the smartest man in publishing, for believing in me. Thanks also to copyeditor Barbara Clark for her great work; Howard David Johnson for the striking cover painting; Jeff Ward for the excellent maps; Marty Brazil for the fine Alamo illustration; Melissa Shultz, for assistance with the photos; my daughter, Rachel, who transcribed some of my handwritten chapters; my wife, Judith Price, for putting up with me; and my literary agent, B. J. Robbins, a whiz of an agent, a good friend and colleague, and a hell of a two-stepper.

Finally, a special thanks to Steve Harrigan, who was supportive of this undertaking from the start, and who spent a great deal of time discussing it, critiquing parts of it, and supplying contacts, ideas, and support: “He could feel his heart beating against the pine-needle floor of the forest….”

To all these people, my sincere gratitude. Thank you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As a literary agent over the past nineteen years, James Donovan has sold several bestselling nonfiction titles; previous to that he was a buyer for a chain of bookstores and a trade book editor. He lives in Dallas with his wife, Judith, and his daughter, Rachel.

A
LSO BY
J
AMES
D
ONOVAN

A Terrible Glory:
Custer and the Little Bighorn—the Last Great Battle
of the American West

Custer and the Little Bighorn:
The Man, the Mystery, the Myth

APPENDIX ONE

Mexican Army of Operations
Principal Officers

General Staff, Mexican Army of Operations in Texas

General Antonio López de Santa Anna, commander in chief

General Vicente Filisola, second commander in chief

General Juan Valentín Amador, general staff

General Manuel Fernández Castrillón, aide-de-camp

General Martín Perfecto de Cós, general staff

Colonel Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, general staff

Colonel José Batres, general staff

Colonel Ricardo Dromundo, commissary general

Colonel Esteban Mora, general staff

Lieutenant Colonel Marcial Aguirre, general staff

Lieutenant Colonel Pedro de Ampudia, artillery commander

Lieutenant Colonel José Vicente Miñón, first adjutant, cavalry

Captain Marcos Barragan, cavalry

Ramón Martínez Caro, personal secretary to the commander in chief

Brigade Commanders

General Juan José Andrade, Cavalry Brigade

General Antonio Gaona, First Infantry Brigade

General Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma, Vanguard Brigade

General Eugenio Tolsa, Second Infantry Brigade

General José Urrea (division moving against Goliad)

Battalion/Regiment Commanders

General Ventura Mora, Dolores Cavalry Regiment

Colonel Agustín Amat, Zapadores Permanente

Colonel Nicolás Condelle, Morelos Infantry Permanente

Colonel Francisco Duque, Toluca Infantry Activo

Colonel Juan Morales, San Luis Potosí Infantry Activo

Colonel José María Romero, Matamoros Infantry Permanente

Colonel José Mariano de Salas, Jiménez Infantry Permanente

Lieutenant Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla, commander, Yucatán Infantry Permanente

Lieutenant Colonel Gregorio Uruñuela, Aldama Infantry Permanente

Others

Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea, military commander, Coahuila y Texas

Lieutenant Colonel José Enrique de la Peña, Zapadores Permanente

Lieutenant Colonel Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Zapadores Permanente

Captain José Juan Sánchez (Navarro), aide-de-camp to General Cós

Lieutenant Francisco de Castañeda, commander, Alamo presidial company

APPENDIX TWO

Alamo Defenders

Official list compiled by the Daughters of the Texas Revolution (alternate spellings of surnames appear in parentheses)

Abamillo, Juan

Allen, Robert

Andross, Miles DeForrest

Autry, Micajah

Badillo, Juan

Bailey, Peter James III

Baker, Isaac G.

Baker, William Charles M.

Ballantine, Richard W.

Ballentine, John J.

Baugh, John J.

Bayliss, Joseph

Blair, John

Blair, Samuel

Blazeby, William

Bonham, James Butler

Bourne, Daniel

Bowie, James

Bowman, Jesse B.

Brown, George

Brown, James

Brown, Robert

Buchanan, James

Burns, Samuel E.

Butler, George D.

Cain, John

Campbell, Robert

Carey, William R.

Clark, Charles Henry

Clark, M. B.

Cloud, Daniel William

Cochran, Robert E.

Cottle, George Washington

Courtman, Henry

Crawford, Lemuel

Crockett, David

Crossman, Robert

Cummings, David P.

Cunningham, Robert

Darst, Jacob C.

Davis, John

Day, Freeman H. K.

Day, Jerry C.

Daymon, Squire

Dearduff, William

Dennison, Stephen

Despallier, Charles

Dewall, Lewis

Dickinson, Almeron

Dillard, John Henry

Dimpkins, James R.

Duvalt, Andrew

Espalier, Carlos

Esparza, Gregorio

Evans, Robert

Evans, Samuel B.

Ewing, James L.

Fauntleroy, William Keener

Fishbaugh, William

Flanders, John

Floyd, Dolphin Ward

Forsyth, John Hubbard

Fuentes, Antonio

Fuqua, Galba

Garnett, William

Garrand, James W.

Garrett, James Girard

Garvin, John E.

Gaston, John E.

George, James

Goodrich, John C.

Grimes, Albert Calvin

Guerrero, José María

Gwynne, James C.

Hannum, James

Harris, John

Harrison, Andrew Jackson

Harrison, William B.

Hawkins, Joseph M.

Hays, John M.

Heiskell, Charles M.

Herndon, Patrick Henry

Hersee, William Daniel

Holland, Tapley

Holloway, Samuel

Howell, William D.

Jackson, Thomas

Jackson, William Daniel

Jameson, Green B.

Jennings, Gordon C.

Jimenes (Ximenes), Damacio

Johnson, Lewis

Johnson, William

Jones, John

Kellogg, John Benjamin

Kenney, James

Kent, Andrew

Kerr, Joseph

Kimbell (Kimble), George C.

King, William Philip

Lewis, William Irvine

Lightfoot, William J.

Lindley, Jonathan L.

Linn, William

Losoya, Toribio

Main, George Washington

Malone, William T.

Marshall, William

Martin, Albert

McCafferty, Edward

McCoy, Jesse

McDowell, William

McGee, James

McGregor, John

McKinney, Robert

Melton, Eliel

Miller, Thomas R.

Mills, William

Millsaps, Isaac

Mitchell, Edwin T.

Mitchell, Napoleon B.

Mitchusson, Edward F.

Moore, Robert B.

Moore, Willis A.

Musselman, Robert

Nava, Andrés

Neggan, George

Nelson, Andrew M.

Nelson, Edward

Nelson, George