James Bowie
American pioneer, soldier, smuggler, slave trader, and land speculator
1796 CE to 1836 CE
James "Jim" Bowie (c. 1796 – March 6, 1836), a 19th-century American pioneer, soldier, smuggler, slave trader, and land speculator, plays a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo.
Stories of him as a fighter and frontiersman, both real and fictitious, have made him a legendary figure in Texas history and a folk hero of American culture.
Born in Kentucky, Bowie spends most of his life in Louisiana, where he is raised and later works as a land speculator.
His rise to fame begins in 1827 on reports of the Sandbar Fight.
What began as a duel between two other men deteriorates into a melée in which Bowie, having been shot and stabbed, kills the sheriff of Rapides Parish with a large knife.
This, and other stories of Bowie's prowess with a knife, lead to the widespread popularity of the Bowie knife.
Bowie's reputation is cemented by his role in the Texas Revolution.
After moving to Texas in 1830, Bowie becomes a Mexican citizen and marries Ursula Veramendi, the daughter of the Mexican vice governor of the province.
His fame in Texas grows following his failed expedition to find the lost San Saba mine, during which his small party repels an attack by a large Indian raiding party.
At the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, Bowie joins the Texas militia, leading forces at the Battle of Concepción and the Grass Fight.
In January 1836, he arrives at the Alamo, where he commands the volunteer forces until an illness leaves him bedridden.
Bowie dies with the other Alamo defenders on March 6.
Despite conflicting accounts of the manner of his death, the "most popular, and probably the most accurate" accounts maintain that he died in his bed after emptying his pistols into several Mexican soldiers.
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The Texans look to capture Bexar, under the defense of General Cos.
The siege of Bexar, which begins on October 12, 1835, demonstrates how little leadership the Texan "Army" has.
When General Austin gives his army of volunteers the boring task of waiting for General Cos’s army to starve, many of the volunteers simply leave.
Throughout November 1835, the Texian army dwindles from eight hundred to six hundred men, and the officers begin to bicker over strategy and why they are fighting against the Mexicans.
Several officers resign, including Jim Bowie, who goes to Gonzales.
Austin has been appointed Commander of all the Texan forces, but his talents are not well suited for military life.
The siege ends on December 11 with the capture of General Cos and his starving army, despite Austin's leadership.
The Mexican prisoners are paroled and sent back to Mexico after being made to promise not to fight again.
The early victories of the Texans are greatly attributed to their effective hunting rifles, which can fire at distant targets and with more accuracy than the smooth bore muskets of the Mexican infantry.
An ailing James Bowie and William Travis command the garrison at San Antonio headquartered at the Alamo mission, whose one hundred and fifty-seven defenders, mostly white men of Spanish ancestry, are surrounded on February 23 by Santa Anna’s six thousand-man army.
Thirty additional men from Gonzales, including the celebrated naturalist and former Congressman David Crockett, who had arrived in Texas on January 5, have broken through the lines to aid the defenders.
Captain Albert Martin, with thirty-two men (himself included) from Gonzales and DeWitt's Colony, passes the lines of Santa Anna and enters the walls of the Alamo at dawn on March 1.
No further reinforcement arrives.
Numerous sick and wounded from the siege of Bexar, perhaps raising the Texan military total to around two hundred and fifty men as well as noncombatants, will afterwards be reported present also.
Santa Anna raises a blood red flag to make his message perfectly clear: no quarter will be given for the defenders.
The Battle of the Alamo ends on March 6 after a thirteen-day siege in which all Texan combatants are killed. (According to one Mexican diarist, a few defenders, including Crockett, had survived the siege and were captured alive, but were promptly executed on Santa Anna’s orders.)
The alcalde of San Antonio reports cremation of one hundred and eighty-two defenders' bodies; one defender's burial by a Mexican army relative is allowed.
Santa Anna's army casualties have been estimated as about six hundred to one thousand troops—the quoted number of Mexican soldiers killed varies greatly.
The defense of the Alamo proves to be of no military consequence for the Texan cause, but its martyrs will soon be hailed as heroes.
Santa Anna soon divides his army and sends flying columns across Texas.
The objective is to force a decisive battle over the Texan Army, now led by General Sam Houston.