| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Dillon1836 |
Posted - February 16 2005 : 10:35:57 PM
First, the account:
"Of the exploits of Col. Crockett, Col. Perry related this anecdote: he continued to cheer on his companions 'til they were reduced to seven. Being then called on to yield, he shouted forth defiance, leapt into the crowd below, and rushed toward the city. Being pursued by two soldiers, he kept them both at bay for a time, until he was finally thrust through by a lance."
And from Catniip, messenger of Tom Lindley, over on thealamosite.com:
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This is from TRL in response to Wade and others who wish to know why I think the "Lancer" account of Crockett's death is reliable. I don't think many of you have thought the account through very well. However, before doing that I am going to discuss several of the execution accounts.
In the Dallas Morning News article Dr. James Crisp stated that the Pena account is supported by the Caro and Dolson accounts. Now, I realize that some of you will not understand this, but we are not arguing over the belief that executions occurred at the Alamo. At least three separate execution incidents occurred in the storming of the Alamo. Two were inside the walls and one outside the walls. The question is: Was Crockett one of the men executed? The Caro report does not identify Crockett as one of the men. Therefore, it cannot verify that element of the Pena account. What is does is verify that General Castrillon found five defenders inside the Alamo and took them to Santa Anna, inside the Alamo, and asked that they be spared. Santa Anna refused and soldiers, not officers, stepped from the ranks and killed the men.
The Dolson account does identify Crockett, but it has factual errors that render it unreliable. Dolson claims that his informant was Juan N. Almonte. Dolson claims that he translated for Almonte. Dolson claims that the interview with Dolson took place on Galveston Island in July, 1836. Dolson claims that Almonte reported that Crockett and five other defenders were "marched to the tent of Santa Anna."
If Dolson actually translated for a Mexican officer, it could not have been Almonte. Almonte spoke excellent English. Almonte was not being held prisoner on Galveston Island in July 1836. According to Caro, the men that General Castrillon took to Santa Anna, were killed inside the Alamo, not at a tent which would have been outside of the Alamo. Lastly, Santa Anna lived in a stone house on the city's main plaza at that time.
The errors in the Dolson account are not theories. The errors are facts in regard to the letter's grammar and content. The late Kilgore believe the account was valid. Dr. Crisp feels the same. They appear to feel that way because they believe the Pena account is authentic and correct. Therefore, all the other execution accounts are correct in the identification of Crockett. They are what Crisp often accuses Groneman and me of being --- conclusion-driven. In order to right the Dolson account, Kilgore and later Crisp, argued that Almonte was not Dolson's informant; that Almonte is identified as the informant because of a typesetting error. Nice supposition, but where is the evidence to support that idea? You need the original handwritten letter to verify that claim and it does not exist. To get rid of the "tent" problem, Crisp argued that it is a translation error; that the informant actually said pabellon, which can mean military bell tent or national flag. Where the account says "marched to the tent of Santa Anna," Crisp believes it was "marched to the national flag Santa Anna." Again, a supposition, but what evidence exists to support it? Moreover, there was no "national flag of Santa Anna." There was, however, a national flag of Mexico. Did Santa Anna have some kind of command standard? We don't know. Did Santa Anna enter the Alamo with a color guard in his rear? Would Santa Anna have entered the Alamo in a manner that identified him as the top Mexican commander so that some dying Texian could have shot him? |
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Dillon1836 |
Posted - February 22 2008 : 06:23:02 AM
Having scrolled through all of my Alamo threads, I thought it'd be appropriate to post that Thomas Ricks Lindley, author of ALAMO TRACES, lost his battle to cancer early last year. As the Alamo...he'll always be remembered. |
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