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The Alamo - San Antonio, Texas
ExploreSouthernHistory.com
The Death of David Crockett at the Alamo
| David Crockett of Tennessee Former Congressman and famed frontiersman David Crockett of Tennessee, who did not like the name "Davy Crockett," was killed at the Alamo. |
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The de la Pena account is an important historical document and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.
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.
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| Chapel of the Alamo Survivors of the attack on the Alamo reported seeing Crockett's body on the ground in front of the chapel after the battle. |
| Note: The photographs on this page were taken by Bruce Schulze. Please do not reproduce them without his permission. Be sure to visit his website at: |
| Last Stand at the Alamo The Long Barrack at left and the Alamo Chapel were the scenes of the last stand by Texan defenders during the attack on the Alamo. |