Commandancy of Bexar, Feb 23rd. 3 o'clock P.M., 1836, To Andrew Ponton, Judge and Citizens of Gonzales: The enemy in large force is in sight. We want men and provisions. Send them to us. We have 150 men and are determined to defend the Alamo to the last. Give us assistance. W.B. Travis---Col. Commanding. P.S. Send an express to San Felipe with news night and day.

Gonzales, Feby, 24 1836, To all the Inhabitants of Texas: In a few words there is 2000 Mexican soldiers in Bexar, and 150 Americans in the Alamo. Sesma is at the had of them, and from the best accounts that can be obtained, they intend to show no quarter. If every man cannot turn out to a man every man in the Alamo will be murdered. They have not more than 8 or 10 days provisions. They say they will defend it or die on the gorund. Provisions, ammunition and Men, or you suffere your men to be murdered in the Fort. If you do not turn out Texas is gone. I left Bexar on the 23rd. at 4 P.M. By the Order of W.V. Travis. L. Smithers.

Commandancy of the AlamoBexar, Fby. 24th, 1836
To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World
Fellow Citizens & Compatriots---I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna---I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man---The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken---I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls---I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch---The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country. VICTORY OR DEATH
William Barret Travis Lt. Col. Comdt.

P. S. The Lord is on our side---When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn---We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves.
 

"Since the above was written I heard a very heavy Cannonade during the whole day think there must have been an attack made upon the Alamo. We were short of ammunition when I left. Hurry all the men you can in haste."

Albert Martin (signed).

"When I left there was but 150 & determined to do or die Tomorrow I leave for Bejar with what men I can raise we will [illegible] at all events [illegible]. Col. Almonte is there the troops are under the Command of Gen. Seisma."

Gonzales Rangers Respond. Two appeals to Col. Fannin at Goliad had resulted in an aborted start toward San Antonio with his force of 350 men when Fannin heard of the approach of Gen. Urrea's army. Responding to Col. Travis' appeals, the main contingent of the Gonzales Alamo Relief Force departed the town square of Gonzales at 2 PM Saturday 27 Feb, led by commanding officer Lieutenant George C. Kimble of the Gonzales Rangers. The senior officer accompanying the relief force was courier Capt. Albert Martin who had delivered the appeal to both Smithers and Gonzales. The force was guided by Alamo courier John W. Smith, a resident of San Antonio de Bexar. The next day the group picked up more recruits on Cibola Creek. On 29 Feb, the group prepared to find a way into the Alamo through the surrounding Mexican forces. Dr. John Sutherland relates the story that
 

"on reaching the suburbs of the city they were approached by a man on horseback who asked in English, 'Do you wish to go into the fort, gentlemen?' 'Yes' was the reply. 'Then follow me,' said he, at the same time turning his horse into the lead of the company. Smith remarked, 'Boys, it's time to be after shooting that fellow,' when he put spurs to his horse, sprung into the thicket, and was out of sight in a moment, before a gun could be got to bear on him."

The Gonzales Alamo Relief Force consisting of the men of the DeWitt Colony listed here was the only organized force in Texas which responded immediately and without question to the appeals of Travis to aid their doomed colleagues in the mission. Some were single men, but most were husbands and fathers of large families. Concern for families short and long term safety, loyalty to the Constitution of 1824 as Mexican citizens, the hatred precipitated by their betrayal by the centralista dictatorship of Santa Anna, the committment to Texas Independence and suspicion that the Alamo might be a lost cause in the larger war of independence caused great personal conflict in making the choice to join the Relief Force. Fathers and sons argued over who should go and who should remain with family while patriotic impending widows and orphans encouraged husbands and sons to go to the aid of their neighbors. Of the 23 DeWitt Colonists who were mustered into the Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers on 23 Feb, 14 entered the Alamo with the Gonzales Alamo Relief Force and all but one of the 14 died there. Of the 27 members of the Gonzales Alamo Relief Force who can be verified as DeWitt Colony residents, the oldest was Andrew Kent at age 44, 4 were over 40, 5 aged 31-40, 14 aged 21-30 and four (Fuqua, Gaston, Kellogg and King) were teenagers, the youngest of which was 16. San Antonio historian Charles Merritt Barnes related that
 

"....One, a lad of but sixteen, was the bravest of them all, for he fought after his weapon's were useless. He died throttling an antagonist, not relaxing his grip on the latter's throat even when death seized the boy. He and his foe died together.....they had to tear the boy's hands from the throat of his assailant,"

Wallace L. McKeehan,
Editor of Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas

SEE ALSO:
• Alamo Defenders from Gonzales-Index
• The Immortal 32 Gonzales Rangers A-EF-KL-Z
• Members of the Garrison & Surviving Couriers & Foragers
• Alamo Widows & Mothers