A LINE IN THE SAND by RANDY ROBERTS

Author:RANDY ROBERTS
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: THE FREE PRESS
Published: 2001-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Then may we not hope, since valor has crown’d him,

And o’er him bright fame her mantle has spread;

In the soul’s parting hour good angels were round him,

Did his spirit arise to the skies “Go Ahead.” 24

In death Crockett became what he never was in life—a politician who transcended party squabbles and represented an American ideal. There were even some reports that Crockett had not died at all, though he had suffered near-mortal wounds. In late April, the Cincinnati Whig noted that a gentleman brought word from Texas “that Col. CROCKETT is still living. It is said, that he had been left for dead on the battle ground at San Antonio; but some acquaintances who happened to visit the scene of action, after the departure of the Mexicans, discovering that he still breathed, had him removed to comfortable quarters, where his numerous wounds were dressed; and he ‘was doing well’ when the gentleman in question … left San Antonio.” But this report came to light after earlier stories of Crockett’s death and the burning of all the corpses, and even the hopeful editor warned his readers to be cautious about the latest news. 25

Far more common were reports that Crockett died “fighting like a tiger.” A story in the New Orleans Bulletin commented that Crockett’s “conduct on this occasion was most heroic; having used his rifle as long as possible by loading and discharging, and the enemy crowding upon the walls, he turned the britch of his gun, and demolished more than twenty of the enemy before he fell.” Along the same lines, the Richmond Enquirer reported that “David Crockett (now rendered immortal in glory) had fortified himself with sixteen guns well charged, and a monument of slain encompassed his lifeless body.” In report after report, tales of Crockett’s heroic fighting and epic glory escalated. 26

But there were also reports of surrenders and executions. Most papers used the Barcena and Bergara number of seven rebels who gave up a lost cause, though there were different versions of what exactly happened. One widely reported version noted that the Texas garrison fought until only seven men remained alive, and that they “cried for quarters but were told that there was no mercy for them—they then continued fighting until the whole were butchered.” Another said that some men did surrender, only to be “dragged through hot embers, and their flesh cut off previous to being burnt in a pile.” Occasionally reports said that Crockett was one of the last to die, and that he and a few of his comrades were the ones who asked for quarter, but when none was forthcoming they fought on to the death. The confusion offered fertile ground for an unsolvable mystery. 27

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