And from http://www.famousamericans.net/samuelbunch/:
CROCKETT, David, (father of John Wesley Crockett), a Representative from Tennessee; born at the confluence of Limestone Creek and Noli-Chuckey River in the State of Franklin, which a few years later became Greene County, Tenn., August 17, 1786; attended the common schools for a short time; moved to Lincoln County about 1808 and to what is now Gibson County in 1822; commanded a battalion of mounted riflemen under General Jackson in the Creek campaign in 1813 and 1814; member of the State house of representatives 1821-1823; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1825 to the Nineteenth Congress; elected to the Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses (March 4, 1827-March 3, 1831); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress; elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress (March 4, 1833-March 3, 1835); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1834 to the Twenty-fourth Congress; went to Texas to aid the Texans in their struggle for independence in 1836; joined a band of 186 men in the defense of the Alamo, San Antonio de Bexar, and was among those killed in that battle which terminated on March 6, 1836; his body destroyed by pyre at the Alamo.
Perphaps this SAMUEL BUNCH is the "Horatio Bunce" of our story.Samuel Bunch
BUNCH, Samuel, soldier, born in Granger County, Tennessee, 4 December, 1786; died in Rutledge, Tennessee, 5 September, 1849. He commanded a regiment of mounted yeomen from Tennessee during the Creek war, serving under General Andrew Jackson, and distinguished himself in the attack on Hillibeetown on 18 November, 1813. In the charge of the battle at Horseshoe Bend, on 27 March, 1814, he was among the first to pass over the breastworks of the enemy. For many years he was sheriff of Granger county. He was elected from Tennessee to the 23d congress as a Whig, and was re-elected to the 24th, serving from 2 December, 1833, till 3 March, 1837.
If the author mistook "Georgetown" for ALEXANDRIA, and "naval officer" for ARMY officer, it is not too much of a stretch to think that Crockett listened to and respected the political advice from a man that he served with during the war, particularly since Col. Samuel Bunch went on to be elected to Congress himself, eh?
Plus, the only references that I can find in a Google search for "Horatio Bunce" - 194 references - seem to refer to the story from the Ellis biography, i.e. Google search for "distinguished naval officer" crockett - 177 references.
(There are few OTHER references to "Horatio Bunce.")
In other news, I can find NO other references to a fire in "Georgetown" for which the Congress appropriated money.
Not a stretch at all, and it fits the author's pattern of errors. It's looking very much as though this story isn't a fabrication. It may have contextual errors, but not of a sort that would refute its underlying legitimacy. Still, I wonder, when Crockett answered the friend who asked about his "Not Yours to Give" speech, did he sound more like this, "The truth wants no trimmins for in her clar naked state o' natur she's as graceful as a suckin colt i' the sunshine. Mr. Speaker! What in the name o' kill-sheep-dog rascality is the country a- comin' to?"