Legends of the Old West - FRONTIERSMEN Ep. 6 | Davy Crockett: “The Alamo”

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

David Crockett volunteers for the Texian army and is assigned to help protect an old Spanish mission called Mission San Antonio de Valero, better known as the Alamo. He arrives two weeks before the Mexican army led by President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, which has been marching to Texas to retake the city of San Antonio. For 13 days at the end of February and the beginning of March, 1836, Crockett and the other defenders of the Alamo withstand a siege until the Mexican army launches the final assault. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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arrived in San Antonio in the first week of February 1836. He and many of the others had traveled down from the small town of Nacadocious in East Texas, where he had taken an oath to fight for Texas independence. Profit and land enticed Crockett, but those weren't the only reasons. By all accounts, Crockett became more acutely aware of the Texas Revolution after arriving in Nacadocious. One of the last remaining bits of correspondence from Crockett comes from January 9th, 1836. He wrote to his daughter Margaret and her husband Wiley and said, quote, I have taken the oath of government and have enrolled my name as a volunteer. Crocket had fought in the Creek War and then spent nearly 20 years participating in local, state, and national politics. The collective experience

left a sour taste in his mouth, and in short, he seemed excited about a fresh start in a new land. He left behind his second wife, Elizabeth, and eight children in Tennessee as he embarked on one last adventure. In Nacadocious, he had reunited with his old friend Ben McCullough, but McCullough was not able to continue the journey to San Antonio right away. He contracted measles, and he was stuck in Nacadocious while he battled the sickness. Crockett and a small group of volunteers made the 300-mile trip to South Texas. And even though Crockett was a private like the other volunteers, the men treated him like their leader,

thanks to his military experience and celebrity status. In the first week of February 1836, he led them into San Antonio. San Antonio de Behar, the full name of the old Spanish town, had been in the hands of Texas revolutionaries for two months. A small army of volunteers had pushed all the Mexican soldiers out of town in mid-December and had held the town with a scant force as new volunteers arrived. Colonel James McNeil became the commander of the crumbling mission-turned-fort called the Alamo. But in January 1836, while Davy Crockett was traveling to San Antonio,

McNeil turned over command to William Barrett Travis and Jim Boone. Military structure in Texas during the revolution was messy, to say the least. Travis was a lieutenant colonel in the Texian regular army, and Jim Bowie was a colonel with the volunteer force, though there wasn't much distinction between the regular army and the militia volunteers. They were all volunteers, and very few had any training or experience in war. Regardless, the thin distinction created tension. The two strong-willed leaders ended up forming.

an uneasy alliance, which became easier to accomplish when Jim Bowie felt dangerously sick and was confined to his bed for long stretches of time. And a new arrival, Davy Crockett, became a kind of mediator between the two men. Crockett was not a colonel, but many of the volunteers called him by that title, and they viewed him as an important leader on par with Travis and Bowie. Crockett had experience in war and politics, which made him an ideal candidate to help bridge the gap between the regular army and the volunteers. And by the time Crockett set foot in the Alamo on or around February 8th, the defenders could no longer waste time squabbling over who gave the orders.

Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana led an army across the Rio Grande River and into South Texas on February 12th, a full month earlier than expected. He was furious that his brother-in-law had surrendered San Antonio. He had hastily assembled an army and had pushed it hard to reach the town. If he kept up his pace, he would reach San Antonio in less than two weeks. The Texian defenders had precious little time to prepare for battle. From Black Barrel Media, this is an American Frontier series on Legends of the Old West. I'm your host Chris Wimmer.

And this season, we're telling the stories of two of America's most famous frontiersmen, Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. This is episode six, Davy Crockett Part 3, The Alamo. Mission San Antonio de Valero was the official name of the cluster of buildings, which were the old Catholic mission near San Antonio. The small compound was 112 years old. old, and it was better known as the Alamo. Alamo is Spanish for Cottonwood Tree, and the mission earned the nickname because of the

cottonwood trees which grew nearby. In January and February 1836, the Alamo was in desperate need of repairs and additional fortifications. A man named Green B. Jameson was the chief engineer. He was one of the more unknown yet important men to serve at the Alamo. He oversaw the construction of earthworks, ditches, and picket fences to reinforce the perimeter. He built catwalks to connect the various buildings. Jameson beefed up the main gate and added firing ports for riflemen.

With the assistance of freed black men and some enslaved workers, the defenders worked around the clock to improve the fort. The compound was three acres in size, and the workers strengthened the walls and the battlements as best they could. But it was just as critical to reinforce the manpower as it was to reinforce the fort. Even with the addition of Davy Crockett and his small group of new arrivals, the Alamo was dangerously low on fighters. A month before Crockett arrived, Sam Houston, the commander-in-chief of the Texian regular army,

had asked the provisional Texas governor for permission to abandon the Alamo and blow it up. Houston didn't think a group of volunteers could hold the fort against Santa Ana's army. His request was denied. By the end of February, there were fewer than 200 fighters in the fort, and Santa Ana's army was in sight. Crockett and his company were stationed

near the front of the chapel in one corner of the Alamo compound. The chapel is the famous building whose image is now iconic. The face of the chapel is the image everyone pictures when they think of the Alamo. The chapel anchored one corner of the compound, which was formed in a loose square.

In another corner was an open space called the Convent Yard, with a stock pen for animals. The other two corners were guarded by cannon on parapets. Unlike other parts of the fort, there were no limestone walls to shield Crockett's position from attacking forces. The area was highly vulnerable and needed men with fortitude to hold it.

That was the job of Crockett and most of the Tennesseans at the Alamo. Tennessee was represented by more than 30 men at the fort. At least 22 states were represented, with Pennsylvania and Kentucky, each having 15 men confirmed on the muster roll. Men from eight different countries were at the Alamo, including close to a dozen Tejanoes. 180 to 200 defenders from different backgrounds joined together to fight for Texas, and their test started on February 26.

1836. The Mexican army entered San Antonio in full view of the defenders. To make his intentions clear, Santa Ana ordered a blood-red flag hoisted aloft to show that no quarter would be given to the defenders if they did not surrender. Reportedly, Travis and Bowie tried to negotiate with Santa Ana, but the Mexican leader sent a courier to the Alamo and told them that he demanded a complete surrender. Travis ordered a cannon fired in defiance. The Texians had rejected Santa Ana's terms. Crockett watched from the chapel walls as the Mexican forces arranged their artillery

and prepared for a siege. Santa Ana spent most of the day making preparations for an eventual assault against the old Spanish mission. In the meantime, Travis discussed plans with artillery officer, Elmeron Dickinson, Tejano leader, Juan Sagine, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett.

An attack was likely to come from multiple sides, but it looked as if Santa Ana was going to concentrate large numbers against the walls to the north and the west. Travis believed the Alamo could hold out, so long as reinforcements arrived in time. The spirit among the defenders was generally positive on the first day of the siege. Crocket returned to his post after the officers' meeting, and his Tennesseans kept a lookout for a possible surprise attack that night. But Santa Ana's army rested that night. At dawn the next morning, the bombardment began. Hit pause on whatever you're listening to, and hit play on your next adventure.

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February 24, 1836, Mexican forces began their bombardment of the Alamo. Santa Ana's artillery lobbed mortar shells into the garrison, while Cannon hurled eight-pound cannonballs at the mission's walls. As soon as the cannonade began, William Barrett, Travis, sent couriers out of the fort to alert Texians in the region of the attack on the Alamo. Santa Ana may have started his march with as many as 6,000 soldiers. The harsh winter weather took its toll. And as the army crossed into Texas, Santa Ana divided his force in order to pursue armies which were led by Texian commanders Sam Houston and James Fanon. As a result, most estimates say that Santa Ana had about 1,800 soldiers at the Alamo in the beginning. Even though that was

nine times more than the number of defenders, it becomes easier to see how defenders could slip out of the fort to carry the news and ask for reinforcements. If all of Santa Ana's 1800 men stood in a circle around the entire three-acre compound of the Alamo, there would be nearly 30 yards between each man. It became more difficult as the days passed, but the Alamo defenders were able to slip through Santa Ana's lines until the end. And on that second day of the siege, February 24th, William Barrett Travis, wrote one of the most famous documents in Texas history. It was an urgent call for reinforcements, and it was also one of the most passionate declarations ever written by a commander.

It read, To the people of Texas and all Americans in the world, fellow citizens and compatriots, I am besieged by a thousand or more Mexicans under Santa Ana. I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion. Otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword if the fort is taken.

I have answered with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you in the name of liberty, of patriotism, and everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself

as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his honor and that of his country. Victory or death. William Barrett Travis, Lieutenant Colonel. Travis gave the letter

to a 30-year-old captain named Albert Martin from Rhode Island. Martin escaped the Alamo and rode 60 miles east to the town of Gonzalez, the home of the fabled Come and Take It Cannon, to deliver the message. Martin arrived on February 25th, the day after Travis wrote the letter. On that day at the Alamo, Travis, Crockett, and the other defenders, withstood their first assault on the fort. About 100 yards from the walls of the Alamo, there were some abandoned shacks. If Santa Ana's men could set up artillery in the dilapidated

homes, they could pummel the fort at close range. The previous night, while Captain Martin rode toward Gonzalez, a small group of Mexican scouts approached the fort from the west. Sharpshooters in the Alamo saw them and opened fire. Crockett rushed to the wall and joined the defenders. He spotted a scout trying to duck for cover and he killed the scout instantly. The defenders repelled the scouts, but the defenders believed it was the first stage of an assault, and the assault happened the next day. Roughly 300 Mexican soldiers moved toward the abandoned shacks to turn them into artillery placements.

Travis, Crockett, and two other men quickly devised a response. Texian artillerymen loaded their cannon with canister shot and aimed them down at the shacks. From that range, the cannon essentially acted like giant shotguns. The artillery men let loose and shrapnel tore through the Mexican soldiers. Then a handful of Texians hurried out of the Alamo and burned down the shacks. Crockett and his men lined the walls and acted as snipers to cover the arsonists. After a few minutes, a joyous shout went up as flames roared to life in the shacks.

The arsonists sprinted back to the Alamo's gate, while Crockett and his men kept up a steady stream of gunfire. The Mexican army suffered numerous killed and wounded, while the only Texian injuries were scratches from debris. The Alamo's defenders had weathered the first storm, a day of cannon fire, and then the first advance on the fort. When Travis took stock of the fort's supplies, he realized the Alamo's cannon were low on ordinance after just two days. Thankfully, Crockett and his men were such excellent shots that they were given permission to shoot whenever they wanted, since they were deadly accurate from long distance.

48 hours into the siege, Crockett and his company were essentially the Alamo's best long-range threat. But they also had to be judicious in their shooting. The defenders had more gunpowder than ordinance for the cannon, but the powder wouldn't last long either. For the next few days, the defenders remained hopeful that they would receive reinforcements.

Travis sent out new messengers, and his messages were being copied and distributed, throughout Texas. Volunteers were assembling, but the effort was slow, though Santa Ana seemed to be in no rush to end the standoff. Santa Ana increased the cannon bombardments, but he did not approve a large-scale assault against the Alamo. For the first week of the siege, he seemed content to pound the walls of the fort with relentless cannon fire. Eventually, the walls of the old Spanish mission would start to crumble. And with each day that passed, lies of all kinds in the Alamo grew painfully low.

On March 2nd, 170 miles northeast of the Alamo, 59 delegates from 21 communities in Texas met at the village of Washington, which would later become known as Washington on the Brazos. On that day, the delegates formalized the Texas Declaration of Independence and established the Republic of Texas. though they had no way to communicate the news to the defenders of the Alamo. On March 3rd in San Antonio, the defenders were growing desperate. They had seen no sign of reinforcements or resupply.

Three men volunteered to sneak out of the Alamo to try to find help. At the start of the siege, it was easier to get through the Mexican lines. Nine days later, Mexican forces had expanded their lines and mounted patrols kept an eye out for couriers leaving the Alamo. The mission was exceptionally dangerous. A 49-year-old Davy Crockett was one of the volunteers. That night, Crockett and his two comrades slipped out of the Alamo. They quietly navigated the Mexican camps and worked their way east of San Antonio.

About 20 miles outside of town, the three men were surprised and overjoyed to find about 50 Texian volunteers. The volunteers had answered Travis' call for help. And now, they just had to figure out how to get back into the fort. Crockett led the reinforcements to the outskirts of the Mexican lines at around dawn on March 4th. Unfortunately, they had lost the advantage of darkness, and they certainly couldn't fight their way through the Mexican lines. Trying to move slowly and sneak back in with 50 men also didn't seem like it would work. So, with no other good ideas, Crockett suggested the simplest option.

They make a run for it. With the Mexican soldiers still waking up and moving slowly, maybe the element of surprise would be enough to get the volunteers to the gate of the Alamo. Since it was Crockett's plan, he led the way. Crockett took off like a shot and sprinted toward the fort. Behind him, 50 men charged through the Mexican lines. The boldness of the plan had the desired effect.

The Mexican troops who were awake were stunned to see a rag-tag assortment of Texians running toward the Alamo. The soldiers shouted the alarm and raced to grab their weapons. Crockett and the reinforcements ran past the soldiers and pounded toward the fort. Crockett crashed through the gate and made it into the Alamo. Most of the others successfully followed him inside, but there were a few who weren't fast enough. Mexican soldiers managed to block the path of some of the volunteers. The volunteers escaped capture, but they failed to make it into the fort.

Inside, Crockett tried to catch his breath as he informed Travis that he had found men near Cibolo Creek. Travis was grateful for Crockett's leadership, but sadly, a few dozen men would do little against Santa Ana's army. Shortly after the reinforcements made it into the fort, the Mexican artillery came to life. The largest bombardment thus far pummeled the walls of the Alamo, and, possibly out of anger over the daring reinforcement operations, Santa Ana decided he was done waiting. At last, he drew up plans for a final assault. The new BMO ViPorter MasterCard is your ticket to more.

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the next day. Waves of reinforcements had joined the Mexican Army during the siege, and one estimate put the total number of soldiers. at around 3,000. With that, the artillery started blasting the Alamo as it had done for days. On the evening of March 5th, William Barrett Travis sent out one last courier from the Alamo. James Allen carried messages from Travis and other defenders. Allen avoided mounted patrols and successfully rode through the Mexican lines under a bright moon which was nearly full. Crockett and everyone else at the Alamo believed an assault was imminent, and Travis held a gathering to address all of the Alamo's defenders.

Since many of the men were volunteers, they were not expressly assigned to Travis's command in the Texian regular army. Technically, Jim Bowie was their commander. Bowie had been sick and bedridden for most of the siege, but he joined the gathering now. Lieutenant Colonel Travis told the volunteers that they were free to go if they wanted. He implied that staying at the Alamo meant almost certain death. Then Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword. Those willing to die for Texas could cross the line and stand with him. The men who remained on the other side could leave that night. According to the story, every defender except one crossed the line and stayed. The lone man on the other side of the line successfully escaped

the Alamo that night. Davy Crockett helped Jim Bowie walk across the line. line. With grim resolve, the defenders settled in for a restless night, trying to sleep and staying warm by campfires. The battle of the Alamo started at 5 a.m. the next day. Mexican cannons roared to life, and the Alamo's defenders scrambled to grab their weapons and man their posts. Mexican soldiers shouted Viva Santa Ana and began the assault. On the of the Alamo, Travis gave the order to fire. The Texians let loose a thunderous volley and cut to ribbons the first columns of the advancing Mexican troops. Crockett and his men at the chapel fired into an area known as the lower stockade, while Travis oversaw the artillery, which

did its best to stem the tide of the advancing enemy. There were approximately 15 cannon at the Alamo, and smoke engulfed the parapets as the men loaded and fired as fast as possible. The noise must have been close to deafening, with cannon blasting, 50 caliber muskets firing nonstop, men screaming in pain or shouting in fear and exhilaration, and still the waves of soldiers kept coming. The defenders couldn't fire quickly enough, and at the same time, the Alamo's dilapidated walls began to give way. A giant rush of Mexican forces moved against the fort from all sides. Crockett and roughly 30 men faced more than one 100 Mexican troops who made a direct charge against their position.

Crockett and his men had only a low wall for protection, but they managed to hold their position for the time being. They fired into the faces of oncoming soldiers and clubbed the soldiers who made it over the wall. Their station on the southern end of the compound was the most vulnerable because of the lack of cover, but elsewhere, the defenders had bigger problems. Mexican troops used ladders to scale the Alamo's higher walls.

Defenders on the parapets and walls resorted to hand-to-hand combat to keep the Mexican troops at bay, but they could only delay the inevitable. During that phase of the assault, William Barrett Travis was reportedly killed by a shot to the head. As Mexican troops climbed the walls and fought through the defenders, they raced into the open plaza, which separated the west wall with the cannon from the convent. yard and the old chapel. At that point, the battle turned medieval. There was no time to reload, so the combat became a churn of bayonets, knives, and rifles

used as clubs. Defenders began to retreat across the plaza toward Crockett's position at the chapel. News reached Crockett that enemy troops had made it inside the Alamo, and there were now defenders running to his station. Crocket helped fashion a makeshift defensive line to fight on two fronts. There were still Mexican troops attacking from outside the low wall, and now there were troops moving toward him on the heels of the defenders. Crockett's position became a metaphorical alamo inside the real alamo,

the last stand of the last stand. Crockett fired his weapon dry and then used his knife to slice and stab Mexican soldiers who came close. In another part of the compound, Mexican troops found Jim Bowie in his sickbed. He tried to fight off the soldiers, but they killed him with a barrage of musket fire. Near the chapel, the defenders in the final pocket of resistance started to fall. Dead bodies and severely wounded men lay all around Davy Crockett, until in the end, Mexican soldiers overwhelmed the position and killed the famous Tennessee frontiersmen. After two hours of the men,

fighting on March 6th, 1836, the Alamo fell. Every one of the Texian defenders died. The most common number associated with the fallen defenders is 182, and it's estimated that those 182 men killed roughly 600 Mexican soldiers during the battle. And while all the fighting men were killed, they were not the only people in the Alamo that day. Some women and children were present, as well as free black men and some enslaved men. Mexican soldiers spared the women, children, and black men and escorted them out of the compound. Their eyewitness accounts, as well as those of Mexican soldiers,

have been used to reconstruct the Battle of the Alamo over the years. As such, there will never be one true, accurate, and indisputable account of the events of March 6, 1836. Historians have done their best to compile all the information and to try to build an understandable narrative. And likely no part of the story has been more debated than the death of David Crockett. When the battle was done,

the Mexican soldiers piled all the bodies of the dead defenders and burned them rather than burying them. That act of destruction allowed speculation to continue forever, especially when it came to the death of Davy Crockett. At first, people doubted that Crockett had actually died. His wife Elizabeth struggled to comprehend the idea, as did many of his admirers. Eventually, everyone was forced to accept the truth, though no one could agree on how he died. The most common story is that Crockett was one of the last men killed.

A writer named Edward Stiff printed a story he heard from a black servant of Santa Ana. According to the servant, Crockett was killed after Mexico. Mexican forces overwhelmed the last few defenders. The servant counted 16 dead Mexican soldiers around Crockett's body. Crockett killed one final soldier with his knife before he was swarmed. A veteran of the Texas Revolution named Colonel James H. Perry cited an account which also referenced Crockett as one of the last survivors. Crockett was told to surrender, but instead he leapt from a parapet and crashed into Mexican soldiers.

Outside of the Alamo's walls, a Mexican cavalryman killed Crockett with a lance. Mexican colonel Enrique de la Pena wrote in his diary that six of the Alamo's defenders were captured. According to Pena, one of the disheveled men covered in dirt, grime, and blood was David Crockett. Santa Ana ordered his soldiers to kill the six men with swords. Another officer claimed that Crockett was literally the last man standing. he was the final Texian to die at the Alamo. Whatever the truth, David Crockett was eulogized as a Texas hero, even though he only spent two months of his life in Texas.

His story became synonymous with Texas independence, which the Texian army under Sam Houston secured in battle six weeks after the Alamo. On April 21, 1836, Houston's rough and tumble army pulled off one of the great upsets of the era, when it defeated Santa Ana's army at the Battle of San Jacinto. Crockett's old friend from Tennessee, Ben McCullough, had recovered from the measles in time to fight in the battle and to begin his legacy as a soldier and a Texas ranger. Not long after the battle,

19-year-old John Coffey Hayes followed the well-worn trail from Tennessee to Texas. His family was linked to General John Coffey, Davy Crockett's commanding officer in the Creek War, and President Andrew Jackson. Young Jack Hayes, who was named for General John Coffey, would go on to be the most famous of the early Texas Ranger captains. But none of those men, President Andrew Jackson, General John Coffey, Sam Houston, Ben McCullough, or John Coffey Hayes would have the lasting legacy of David Crockett. David Crockett museums and monuments are scattered all over Texas and Tennessee.

David Crockett National Forest is right down the road from Nacadocious, Texas. Cities, counties, and schools all over the nation are named for the frontiersmen. As early as 1909, Crockett was depicted in movies. John Wayne played Crockett in the 1960 movie The Alamo, which the Duke also directed. In 1988, Johnny Cash starred as Crockett in a made-for-TV movie, and Billy Bob Thornton played Crockett in the most recent version of the Alamo, in 2004. Walt Disney turned stories of Crockett's life into a TV miniseries in the 1950s called

The Adventures of Davy Crockett. The show featured a catchy little tune called The Ballad of Davy Crockett, which became a smash hit for three different singers in the mid-1950s. For decades afterward, children all over the country, including myself, played the song on little toy record players until they could sing it by heart. Davy Crockett, or David, as he preferred to be called, was a transcendent figure in American culture and history. His life as an expert hunter fueled stories which made him famous, largely for a whole bunch of crazy things he didn't do.

But the things he did do made him a legend. of the Old West, we begin a series of stories which have been requested often, stories of African-American infantrymen and cavalrymen who were nicknamed Buffalo soldiers. Their units were scattered across the West after the Civil War, and they fought Comanches, Apaches, and bandits to protect the frontier. Their stories begin next time on Legends of the Old West. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program receive each new season to binge all at once with no commercials, as well as exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes, or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com,

or subscribe directly on Apple Podcasts through the podcast show page. This series was written and researched by Michael Meglish. It was produced by Joe Garrow, original music by Rob Valier. I'm Chris Wimmer. Thanks for listening. Thank you.