David Crockett
The "Lion of the West,"
Crockett was a former U.S.
Congressman who fought as
a volunteer at the Alamo.
The "Lion of the West,"
Crockett was a former U.S.
Congressman who fought as
a volunteer at the Alamo.
The Alamo: The Death of David Crockett
ExploreSouthernHistory.com - The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas
The Death of an American Hero
The death of one of the most famous defenders of the Alamo is also the most controversial.
Former U.S. Congressman and famed frontiersman David Crockett and a small group of
followers from Tennessee had joined the garrison on the approach of Santa Anna's army to
San Antonio. All died when the Alamo fell to the Mexican forces.
In recent decades, however, revisionist history has taken a toll on the legend of David
Crockett, who for more than a century was a larger than life hero who went down fighting at
the Alamo rather than surrender to overwhelming forces.
The story is actually an old one and first appeared in American newspapers a few months
after the battle. Its origin is unknown, as the Texan survivors reported only that they had seen
Crockett's body lying on the ground in the open area in front of the Alamo chapel. In fact, Col.
Travis' servant Joe reported that he had been required by the Mexican officers to point out the
bodies of Travis, Crockett and other key defenders to them. This provides strong evidence that
Santa Anna and his commanders did not know who Crockett was until after his death.
There is a strong possibility that the story was manufactured in an effort to outrage Americans
over the death of one of their heroes. Perhaps the deliberate execution of the famed Crockett
could be expected to arouse more outrage than a story of him fighting to the death in heroic
fashion?
Regardless, the story achieved modern prominence when Texas A&M University published
the account of a Mexican officer, Lieutenant Jose Enrique de la Pena. A short passage of the
de la Pena account indicates that Crockett surrendered and was executed by order of General
Santa Anna.
The problem, however, is whether de la Pena actually saw this. His published account, which
was prepared in part from a diary he kept during the campaign, was written more as a history
of the Texas War than as a personal memoir of what he saw. It includes his own memories,
but also incorporates a great deal of information he obtained from other sources, including
American newspapers. It was written well after the campaign.
The de la Pena account is an important historical document and includes much personal
information about the Texas campaign, but the Crockett account included in it is suspect. It
reads very much like the American newspaper accounts that were published in the year
following the fall of the Alamo. Rendering the account further suspect is the fact that the
description of Crockett's death appears only in the final account, not in de la Pena's original
diary.
The stories of David Crockett being executed at the Alamo may be true, but the account of
Jose Enrique de la Pena does not provide the proof necessary to prove them. In the end,
about all that can be said is that Crockett was among the defenders of the Alamo, that no
surviving eyewitness actually saw or described his death and that his body was found after
the battle in the open area in front of the Alamo chapel, surrounded by other dead from the fall
of the Alamo.
Former U.S. Congressman and famed frontiersman David Crockett and a small group of
followers from Tennessee had joined the garrison on the approach of Santa Anna's army to
San Antonio. All died when the Alamo fell to the Mexican forces.
In recent decades, however, revisionist history has taken a toll on the legend of David
Crockett, who for more than a century was a larger than life hero who went down fighting at
the Alamo rather than surrender to overwhelming forces.
The story is actually an old one and first appeared in American newspapers a few months
after the battle. Its origin is unknown, as the Texan survivors reported only that they had seen
Crockett's body lying on the ground in the open area in front of the Alamo chapel. In fact, Col.
Travis' servant Joe reported that he had been required by the Mexican officers to point out the
bodies of Travis, Crockett and other key defenders to them. This provides strong evidence that
Santa Anna and his commanders did not know who Crockett was until after his death.
There is a strong possibility that the story was manufactured in an effort to outrage Americans
over the death of one of their heroes. Perhaps the deliberate execution of the famed Crockett
could be expected to arouse more outrage than a story of him fighting to the death in heroic
fashion?
Regardless, the story achieved modern prominence when Texas A&M University published
the account of a Mexican officer, Lieutenant Jose Enrique de la Pena. A short passage of the
de la Pena account indicates that Crockett surrendered and was executed by order of General
Santa Anna.
The problem, however, is whether de la Pena actually saw this. His published account, which
was prepared in part from a diary he kept during the campaign, was written more as a history
of the Texas War than as a personal memoir of what he saw. It includes his own memories,
but also incorporates a great deal of information he obtained from other sources, including
American newspapers. It was written well after the campaign.
The de la Pena account is an important historical document and includes much personal
information about the Texas campaign, but the Crockett account included in it is suspect. It
reads very much like the American newspaper accounts that were published in the year
following the fall of the Alamo. Rendering the account further suspect is the fact that the
description of Crockett's death appears only in the final account, not in de la Pena's original
diary.
The stories of David Crockett being executed at the Alamo may be true, but the account of
Jose Enrique de la Pena does not provide the proof necessary to prove them. In the end,
about all that can be said is that Crockett was among the defenders of the Alamo, that no
surviving eyewitness actually saw or described his death and that his body was found after
the battle in the open area in front of the Alamo chapel, surrounded by other dead from the fall
of the Alamo.
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| Copyright 2009 by Dale Cox All rights reserved. |
Crockett's Death
Several of the survivors of the
Alamo described seeing
Crockett's body lying in front of
the chapel after the battle.
Several of the survivors of the
Alamo described seeing
Crockett's body lying in front of
the chapel after the battle.
lor.
Photos by Bruce Schulze
