U.S.
Origins
U.S.
Origins
The defenders of the Alamo were as varied as the accounts and legends that evolved from the siege. One with a fundamental knowledge of the event based on the stories and movies depicting the battle might assume that its population was made up of anglos who had a bone to pick with the Mexican dictatorship, or that they were men of war. However, the truth is that most of the men at the Alamo were farmers in their twenties. Not all were anglos, some were members of the hispanic populations of San Antonio and Laredo. Neither were they all from Texas. Besides Davy Crockett's men from Tennessee, others came from as far away as New York and Pennsylvania. Why did they travel so far? Perhaps the revolution in Texas evoked feelings much like that of the War for Independence did only fifty years earlier.
The largest group of defenders, not including Texians, were those from Louisiana. Then came Crockett's Band from Tennessee and their neighbors in Kentucky.
Of the 95 Texans at the Alamo, 40 came from Gonzales. Thirty-two of which rode through the Mexican lines under the cover of darkness after the siege had begun. Eleven men of San Antonio gave their lives, among these was James Bowie. Nacogdoches and Brazoria Counties both contributed 10 souls to the cause.
The Alamo defenders were not mercenaries, they were a legitimate army with assigned ranks made up of men who desired freedom from a dictatorial ruler who had declared martial law and abolished all power of the states of Mexico. The men's ages and backgrounds were not uniform and they came from near and far to make a stand. Their struggle has contributed much to Texan's unique identity.
Source: Richard J. Lindley III, Department of Geography Student Projects - University of Texas at Austin, Spring 1997.
Nationality
of the Alamo defenders. ...The largest proportion of defenders were foreign
immigrants from the United Kingdom. From the 1800 Act of
Union, the United Kingdom comprised: England, Wales, Scotland
and Ireland. Of the men that fought and died at the Alamo, 29 are known to be
from the United Kingdom. It has not been possible to trace the place of origin
of 19 defenders. This suggests that they did not own land or have families in
the United States, probably because they were new immigrants. I would suggest
that there is more than fair chance that a high proportion, say 30%, of these
19 defenders were from the United Kingdom.
The Napoleonic Wars cost the United Kingdom dear, in 1815 unemployment and poverty
were rife in Great Britain. The Treaty of Ghent in 1815 ended the War of 1812,
between the United Kingdom and the United States, and opened the United States
for immigration from the United Kingdom. However, the Irish potato famine did
not start until, say, 1841 and did not cause mass emigration until 1845. With
this in mind, the proportion of Alamo defenders from the United Kingdom can probably
be increased. Excluding: the 7 Tejanos, 2 Germans, 1 Dutchman, and John the black
freedman; probably as much as 20% of the remaining 130 were new immigrants from
the United Kingdom. Thus, men from the United Kingdom comprised at least 15% and
may be 33%.of the defenders of the Alamo.
