Remember The Alamo!

175 years ago in 1836, defenders of Texas independence held off a siege by a large Mexican army for 13 days. Much is said and written about the battle. The cry "Remember the Alamo!" is synonymous with the idea of not giving up even though the odds are really, REALLY against you.

When people visit the site which is now in the middle of downtown San Antonio, they usually say they thought it would be bigger. It's not that big. The former Mission San Antonio de Valero, does not impress one as being a bigger than life fortress. That just illustrates the size of the sacrifice and struggle to hold the Alamo.

What touches me about the Alamo defenders is who they were. It wasn't just Davey Crockett and Jim Bowie.

Examining the names and the places those people traveled from to join the fight takes one back to a mindset that seems rare today. Check out some of the names, did you expect an Esparza or Fuentes or the Black Freedman, John? The idea was that the PEOPLE of Texas were fighting for their independence. Race didn't matter, age didn't matter, religion didn't matter, cultural heritage didn't matter, where one came from didn't matter. There were no lobbyists. Those things were not important because the goal was for the good of all who had the same beliefs in the bigger picture. I don't think people realize that it was not just a bunch of white cowboys there. MANY different types of people stood together that day. I may live in Texas, but I'm from Ohio. Both places are still my country, and from down here it looks like we're being invaded.

The defenders of the Alamo knew they had to fight together, to be independent. Maybe we should try that. I don't know if we could remember how.

So, in the interest of looking at the defenders of the Alamo, look at the bigger picture....they sure did.

Defenders of the Alamo

Abamillo, Juan	Texas
Allen, Robert	Virginia
Andross, Miles DeForrest	Vermont
Autry, Micajah	North Carolina
Badillo, Juan A.	Texas
Bailey, Peter James III	Kentucky
Baker, Isaac G.	Arkansas
Baker, William Charles M.	Missouri
Ballentine, John J.	Pennsylvania
Ballantine, Richard W.	Scotland
Baugh, John J.	Virginia
Bayliss, Joseph	Tennessee
Blair, John	Tennessee
Blair, Samuel	Tennessee
Blazeby, William	England
Bonham, James Butler	South Carolina
Bourne, Daniel	England
Bowie, James	Kentucky
Bowman, Jesse B.	Tennessee
Brown, George	England
Brown, James	Pennsylvania
Brown, Robert	unknown
Buchanan, James	Alabama
Burns, Samuel E.	Ireland
Butler, George, D.	Missouri
Cain, John	Pennsylvania
Campbell, Robert	Tennessee
Carey, William R.	Virginia
Clark, Charles Henry	Missouri
Clark, M.B.	Mississippi
Cloud, Daniel William	Kentucky
Cochran, Robert E.	New Hampshire
Cottle, George Washington	Missouri
Courtman, Henry	Germany
Crawford, Lemuel	South Carolina
Crockett, David	Tennessee
Crossman, Robert	Pennsylvania
Cummings, David P.	Pennsylvania
Cunningham, Robert	New York
Darst, Jacob C.	Kentucky
Davis, John	Kentucky
Day, Freeman H.K.	unknown
Day, Jerry C.	Missouri
Daymon, Squire	Tennessee
Dearduff, William	Tennessee
Dennison, Stephen	England or Ireland
Despallier, Charles	Louisiana
Dewall, Lewis	New York
Dickinson, Almeron	Tennessee
Dillard, John Henry	Tennessee
Dimpkins, James R.	England
Duvalt, Andrew	Ireland
Espalier, Carlos	Texas
Esparza, Gregorio	Texas
Evans, Robert	Ireland
Ewing, James L.	Tennessee
Faunterloy, William Keener	Kentucky
Fishbaugh, William	unknown
Flanders, John	Massachusetts
Floyd, Dolphin Ward	North Carolina
Forsyth, John Hubbard	New York
Fuentes, Antonio	Texas
Fuqua, Galba	Alabama
Garnett, William	Virginia
Garrand, James W.	Louisiana
Garrett, James Girard	Tennessee
Garvin, John E.	unknown
Gaston, John E.	Kentucky
George, James	unknown
Goodrich, John C.	Virginia
Grimes, Albert Calvin	Georgia
Guerrero, José María	Texas
Gwynne, James C.	England
Hannum, James	Pennsylvania
Harris, John	Kentucky
Harrison, Andrew Jackson	Tennessee
Harrison, William B	Ohio
Hawkins, Joseph M.	Ireland
Hays, John M.	Tennessee
Heiskell, Charles M.	Tennessee
Herndon, Patrick Henry	Virginia
Hersee, William Daniel	England
Holland, Tapley	Ohio
Holloway, Samuel	Pennsylvania
Howell, William D.	Massachusetts
Jackson, Thomas	Ireland
Jackson, William Daniel	Kentucky
Jameson, Green B.	Kentucky
Jennings, Gordon C.	Connecticut
Jimenes (Ximenes), Damacio	Texas
Johnson, Lewis	Wales
Johnson, William	Pennsylvania
Jones, John	New York
Kellog, John Benjamin	Kentucky
Kenney, James	Virginia
Kent, Andrew	Kentucky
Kerr, Joseph	Louisiana
Kimbell, George C.	Pennsylvania
King, William Philip	Texas
Lewis, William Irvine	Virginia
Lightfoot, William J.	Virginia
Lindley, Jonathan L.	Illinois
Linn, William	Massachusetts
Losoya, Toribio	Texas
Main, George Washington
Malone, William T.	Georgia
Marshall, William	Tennessee
Martin, Albert	Rhode Island
McCafferty, Edward	unknown
McCoy, Jesse	Tennessee
McDowell, William	Pennsylvania
McGee, James	Ireland
McGregor, John	Scotland
McKinney, Robert	Tennessee
Melton, Eliel	Georgia
Miller, Thomas R.	Tennessee
Mills, William	Tennessee
Millsaps, Isaac	Mississippi
Mitchell, Edwin T.	unknown
Mitchell, Napoleon B.	unknown
Mitchusson, Edward F.	Virginia
Moore, Robert B.	Virginia
Moore, Willis A.	Mississippi
Musselman, Robert	Ohio
Nava, Andrés	Texas
Neggan, George	South Carolina
Nelson, Andrew M.	Tennessee
Nelson, Edward	South Carolina
Nelson, George	South Carolina
Northcross, James	Virginia
Nowlan, James	England
Pagan, George	unknown
Parker, Christopher Adam	unknown
Parks, William	North Carolina
Perry, Richardson	Texas
Pollard, Amos	Massachusetts
Reynolds, John Purdy	Pennsylvania
Roberts, Thomas H.	unknown
Robertson, James Waters	Tennessee
Robinson, Isaac	Scotland
Rose, James M.	Ohio
Rusk, Jackson J.	Ireland
Rutherford, Joseph	Kentucky
Ryan, Isaac	Louisiana
Scurlock, Mial	North Carolina
Sewell, Marcus L.	England
Shied, Manson	Georgia
Simmons, Cleveland Kinlock	South Carolina
Smith, Andrew H.
Smith, Charles S.	Maryland
Smith, Joshua G.	North Carolina
Smith, William H.	unknown
Starr, Richard	England
Stewart, James E.	England
Stockton, Richard L.	New Jersey
Summerlin, A. Spain	Tennessee
Summers, William E.	Tennessee
Sutherland, William DePriest	unknown
Taylor, Edward	Tennessee
Taylor, George	Tennessee
Taylor, James	Tennessee
Taylor, William	Tennessee
Thomas, B. Archer M.	Kentucky
Thomas, Henry	Germany
Thompson, Jesse G.	Arkansas
Thomson, John W.	North Carolina
Thruston, John, M.	Pennsylvania
Trammel, Burke	Ireland
Travis, William Barret	South Carolina
Tumlinson, George W.	Missouri
Tylee, James	New York
Walker, Asa	Tennessee
Walker, Jacob	Tennessee
Ward, William B.	Ireland
Warnell, Henry	unknown
Washington, Joseph G.	Kentucky
Waters, Thomas	England
Wells, William	Georgia
White, Isaac	AL or KY
White, Robert	unknown
Williamson, Hiram James	Pennsylvania
Wills, William	unknown
Wilson, David L.	Scotland
Wilson, John	Pennsylvania
Wolf, Anthony	unknown
Wright, Claiborne	North Carolina
Zanco, Charles	Denmark
___?___, John	a Black Freedman