(Courtesty Photo)
This broadside of letter William Barret Travis wrote
from the Battle of the Alamo will be auctioned off by Sotheby's.
Posted on 12/02/2004 11:13:48 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
Edited on 12/02/2004 11:19:00 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
This is the text of a letter Travis wrote from the Battle of the Alamo that will be auctioned off by Sotheby's (original spelling preserved):
TO THE CITIZENS OF TEXAS. Commandancy of the Alamo, Bejar, Feb. 24, 1836.
FELLOW-CITIZENS,
I am besieged by a thousond or more of the Mexicans, under Santa Ana. I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade, for twenty-four hours, and have not lost one man. The enemy have demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise the garrison is to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender nor retreat: then I call on you, in the name of liberty, of patriotism, and of every thing dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all possible despatch. The enemy are receiving reinforcements daily, and will, no doubt, increase to three or four thousands, in four or five days. Though this call may be neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible, and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country.
VICTORY OR DEATH.
W. BARRET TRAVIS, Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant.
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, eighty or ninety bushels, and got into the walls twenty or thirty head of beeves. T.
This broadside of letter William Barret Travis wrote
from the Battle of the Alamo will be auctioned off by Sotheby's.
Ah, to be filthy rich.
Aha, a broadside. As I recall the original is in the alamo.
By the way, I know where Swinney Switch is!
I alwasy wanted to be filthy, stinking rich. I guess you could say I am 2/3rds of the way there :-)
February 24? That is my birthday. And I had a cousin at the Alamo, Isaac Ryan. He died on the north wall near the canon, one of the first to die during the battle. His name is on a plaque inside the mission.
Ha ha ha, filthy? stinking? LOL
I didn't even know why you were posting this when I saw it on the main page, but when I saw the opening line I had to read the WHOLE thing, anyway, out of a duty to Texas.
That, and I wanted to make sure ya'll weren't under attack down there in Swinney Switch...
Me too, except mine is a great-great-great-great(?) grandpa -- George Kimbell --- from NY, not PA, as often misreported. He was a hatmaker. Left two daughters behind.
We still have a hat he made and his hat-making tools. He also left a note to them, which my grandmother keeps, "I love you both. I may not return. But I have things that I have to do. Be good."
He, and many of the other men who died there were Freemasons, BTW.
Of course, you all realize that it was the imperialist, evil Texans who provoked the peace-loving, eco-friendly Mexican army under Santa Ana. Did you know that the Texans drove SUVs to the Alamo and ran over all the spotted owls' nests around the San Antonio River?
He was a native of Alabama wasn't he?
None of my folks were in Texas yet when this was written, but I have lived in Texas, my father and brother live in Texas and my great great-grandmother is buried there...
And reading it made me feel proud to have roots in that state.
I'm just curious 'cause that happened in the 1830's so that would put your cousin at being a few times removed right?
Nope, born and raised in South Carolina. Might have lived some time in Alabama, but not that I know of. I read a biography of Sam Houston not too long ago. Was not complimentary of Travis in any means. Evidently Travis disobeyed orders and was never supposed to be at the Alamo.
And did you know that if Austin's father hadn't lost money in a bank they were setting up in St. Louis, and made his fortune there instead, Austin may never have planted his colony along the Brazos...history has a funny way of having all these interesting what-ifs...
Really? That's interesting. I did know that he didn't get along too well with some of the other leaders though.
Granted, it was a biography of Houston. It could have been biased towards him. From the way it read, though, Houston and Stephen F. Austin were about the only two Texan leaders at the time with bat's sense on what to do during the war.
"....I wanted to make sure ya'll weren't under attack down there in Swinney Switch..."
Things were pretty quiet when I left there this mornin'!;^)
For those that don't know Texas history the Mexican Army captured some of the men at Goliad following a brief battle when the Texans attempted to retreat to the east as ordered by Sam Houston.
The agreed terms of surrender called for the men to be disarmed and "paroled" with a promise to return home.
Then Santa Anna overruled the agreement and reordered that all prisoners be taken out and summarily shot at traitors.
Fortunately for ole Joe Taylor and his brother-in-law (Wingate)the Mexicans were armed with a type of blunderbuss shotgun that was difficult to aim and fire with any accuracy.
After the first volley from the firing squads ole Joe and Wingate played possum and then jumped in the river and escaped.
Great scene from a great movie - THE ALAMO
(Travis and Bowie)
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