Revisited Myth # 62: Everyone was killed at the Alamo.

“Remember the Alamo!” became a famous battle cry.

We may remember the Alamo, but we don’t remember who died there. The battle of 1836 was a victory for the Mexican army under General Santa Anna, whose soldiers killed all the Texans who fought against them. But many other men, women, and children in the fort were spared. Historians argue about the exact number—was So-and-so still there or had he left before the final battle?—but it seems that two or three African-American male slaves were spared as were many wives and children of the defenders. And yet, I read a couple of years ago in a textbook intended for Virginia fifth-graders that “everyone at the Alamo perished,” so I’m afraid the myth is still running rampant. 

The official Alamo website tries to correct this: “It is true that nearly all of the Texans under arms inside the fort were killed in the March 6, 1836, attack. However, nearly twenty women and children, who experienced the twelve days of siege leading to the final assault, were spared and allowed to return to their homes. The survivors also included Joe, the slave of William B. Travis. The best-known Alamo survivor, Susanna Dickinson, was sent to Gonzales by Santa Anna with a warning to the Texans that the same fate awaited them if they continued their revolt.”

Alamo survivor Susanna Dickinson