Subject: Alamo Bells
Date: 03/25/00
From: W.L. McKeehan
In the preface to Jane Bradfield's book, Rx—Take One Cannon, describing Dr. Patrick Wagner's research in documenting identity of the Gonzales cannon (a conclusion not agreed on by all), Wagner writes:
In North America, three relics of the past stand out as immortal symbols of man's pursuits of liberty, freedom and independence. The Liberty Bell at Philadelphia rang out the American Revolution with England in 1776, Father Hidalgo's bell of Dolores sounded Mexico's Independence from Spain in 1810 and the Gonzales Come and Take It Cannon of 1835 inaugurated Texas' Independence from Mexico. This is the story of Texas' first piece of ordnance, its first shot, the men who rallied around it, and how it was found. Patrick J. Wagner M.D.
We are all aware of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, but are there skeptics of its identity? Is the Bell of Dolores on display in Mexico and its identity agreed upon? Lastly, a San Antonio Light article of 1931 alludes to "the famous Alamo bell, recently unearthed and restored to its original resting place." Were the Alamo bells ever rung in the cause of freedom? What is the history of the Alamo bell(s) and is identity documented?
W.L. McKeehan
San Jacinto
I know that Colonel Travis had ordered a military uniform, but it had failed to reach him in time for the Alamo siege. I was wondering what clothes did Travis actually wear during the siege and battle? And what exactly does a coat made of 'homespun jeans' that supposedly was Travis' found after the battle, look like? Also, what did Bowie wear?
Ron D'Ambrosi
Brooklyn, New York
Neither Travis' nor Bowie's attire at the siege of the Alamo is known except by educated guesswork, and perhaps via some stray fragments of information.
The uniform Travis ordered was not described for posterity; and it seems doubtful he ever received it. However, in late December of 1835, upon Travis' own recommendation, a Texian battalion of cavalry was strongly urged. Their dress was to be "a suit of cadet grey cloth coats, (with) yellow bullet buttons, and pantaloons for winter, and two suits of gray cottonade roundabouts and pantaloons for summer, and fur caps, black cloth stocks and cowhide boots". This uniform also never saw the light of day while Travis was alive; but all of the above is practical attire for a mounted frontier military unit of the period. Travis, who wore red pantaloons and white hat in San Felipe, would have donned similar campaign wear against the Mexicans—if he had it—like any sensible soldier.
His notebook entry for January 21, 1836, mentions his ownership of
"Leggins & Spurs". He is also known to have owned a blanket coat, which was a greatly preferred item for Texian cavalry and Rangers, judging by the frequency of its mention in the accounts. If he owned a hunting shirt of linen or wool or buckskin, he would have frequently worn that when on duty, too, and not his Sunday best, no matter how much he preferred "dressing up" in town.
The coat Travis supposedly wore of "homemade Texas jeans" was mentioned by Felix Nuñez in his memoir of the siege and battle. Nuñez's account has many things in it that certainly sound as if they came from a participant of the events; but also equally as many that are obviously erroneous. Since he places Travis' body at a cannon in front of the church door, where the coat was supposedly found, and since at least two contemporary accounts (Joe and Sánchez-Navarro) clearly mark Travis' death on the north wall, (as Francisco Ruiz also did, at a later date), Nuñezs jeans coat might have belonged to someone else. Perhaps not coincidentally, Navarro's battle plan shows a cannon just west of the church door, defending the inner courtyard from enemy ingress from the outer. So Nuñez's memory may not be faulty here, except as to the actual identity of the coat's owner.
Bowie's dress is even more problematic to pin down. His brother Rezin wore a hunting shirt at the San Saba fight in 1832. Again, such garb was not uncommon on the frontier; and it was also the preferred attire of fighting men when a uniform was not to be had—a tradition going as far back as 1775, with some examples occurring even earlier.
After the fall of the Alamo, Eugenio Navarro was appointed administrator of the late James Bowie's estate; and among the items found in the Veramendi House was a dress coat of black cloth, "partly moth-eaten", and another black coat, "entirely moth-eaten". If these were Bowie's best outfits at this time in his life, his clothing inside the Alamo would certainly have been even coarser, and more befitting the frontier militia officer that he was: either jacket, hunting shirt and/or blanketcoat or other coat. His severe illness, painfully endured in the cold limestone hospital room of the low barracks, would presumably have required him to wear a knit cap or other cap,
especially at night.
Gary S. Zaboly
Subject: Alamo Dissent
Date: 03/24/00
From: Ron D'Ambrosi
Are there any accounts of dissent among the Alamo garrison once the siege began, up until the final assault on March 6? Were there any arguments among the men as to if they should stay at the Alamo or take their chances in escaping? Were there any recorded arguments and/or tension among the Alamo garrison? Are there any accounts of some of the men not getting along with one another? If so, was there any personal animosity between the men?
Ron D'Ambrosi
Brooklyn, New York
Subject: Prejudice and Racism in the Texas Revolution
Date: 03/24/00
From: Ron D'Ambrosi
I am familiar with the fact that there were many Texians who were prejudiced/racist against Tejanos and Mexicans. However, were there any accounts of Tejanos (citizens/Alamo defenders/Anti-Centralists) and/or Mexicans (citizens/soldiers/politicians/officers) being rejudiced/racist towards Anglo-Texians?
Ron D'Ambrosi
Brooklyn, New York
In order to explore this issue, one needs to know the alluded to, alleged "facts" that many Texians (I assume meaning Anglo-Texians) were prejudiced on purely a racial basis (assuming race refers to genetics) against Tejanos or Mexicans (assuming this is a reference to peninsulare/Canary Island genetics and possibly American Creole mestizos that happened to be residing in Tejas). The struggle for independence of Texas was from start to finish a struggle of libertarian Republican principles of local constitutional self-government against the illegal despotism of regalism, dictatorship and centralism.
As throughout history as it is used today, the race issue was used as a propagandist maneuver on both sides, at the individual and group level, to develop group advantage or sympathy for political ends independt of merit, justify ends and to whip up morale for identification with one side or the other on other than individual principle based on reason.
Much more powerful than race are the arbitrary struggles independent of race based on differences in geography, economic status, religious belief, but, most importantly and hopefully less arbitrary, principle. Texas is no less an example of this than others in world history as one can easily see in the general neglect, xenophobism, paranoia and discrimination exercised against Texas by centralist Mexico. This action caused loss of over half the territory of a potentially powerful Republican/Libertarian Mexico's territory to the dominant North American Republic (USA of the North) by default. Unfortunately, courageous Tejanos and Mexicans (with Hispanic genes, e.g peninsulare/Canary Islanders, American Creoles/mestizos, etc.), suffered extensively (and still do) because of guilt by association based on genetics, most severe since their genetic group association was the loser, a not uncommon phenomena generally in history, e.g. Germans are Nazis, Russians are Stalinists, Japanese are Militaristic (), Southerners (CSA) were African Slaveholders, etc., etc.
Wallace L. McKeehan
