Synopses & Reviews
If we do in fact andldquo;remember the Alamo,andrdquo; it is largely thanks to one person who witnessed the final assault and survived: the commanding officerandrsquo;s slave, a young man known simply as Joe. What Joe saw as the Alamo fell, recounted days later to the Texas Cabinet, has come down to us in records and newspaper reports. But who Joe was, where he came from, and what happened to him have all remained mysterious until now. In a remarkable feat of historical detective work, authors Ron J. Jackson, Jr., and Lee Spencer White have fully restored this pivotal yet elusive figure to his place in the American story.
The twenty-year-old Joe stood with his master, Lieutenant Colonel Travis, against the Mexican army in the early hours of March 6, 1836. After Travis fell, Joe watched the battleandrsquo;s last moments from a hiding place. He was later taken first to Bexar and questioned by Santa Anna about the Texan army, and then to the revolutionary capitol, where he gave his testimony with evident candor.
With these few facts in hand, Jackson and White searched through plantation ledgers, journals, memoirs, slave narratives, ship logs, newspapers, letters, and court documents. Their decades-long effort has revealed the outline of Joeandrsquo;s biography, alongside some startling facts: most notably, that Joe was the younger brother of the famous escaped slave and abolitionist narrator William Wells Brown, as well as the grandson of legendary trailblazer Daniel Boone. This book traces Joeandrsquo;s story from his birth in Kentucky through his life in slaveryandmdash;which, in a grotesque irony, resumed after he took part in the Texansandrsquo; battle for independenceandmdash;to his eventual escape and disappearance into the shadows of history.
Joe, the Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend recovers a true American character from obscurity and expands our view of events central to the emergence of Texas.
Review
andldquo;The stunning discovery that Joeandmdash;the slave of Alamo commander William Barret Travisandmdash;was the brother of the abolitionist William Wells Brown has opened an entirely new chapter in the history of Texas. Now their two stories are blended into a fascinating narrative that puts the experienced lives of slaves squarely within the story of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution.andrdquo;andmdash;James E. Crisp author of Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockettandrsquo;s Last Stand and other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution
Review
andldquo;This is an amazing piece of historical detective work. The authors have solved the mystery of Joeandrsquo;s life, before and after the Alamo, and have woven their findings into a most entertaining tale.andrdquo;andmdash;William Groneman, author of Eyewitness to the Alamo and David Crockett: Hero of the Common Man
Review
andldquo;In this fascinating example of the historian as detective, the authors have tracked down the incredible story of an Alamo survivor and key witnessandmdash;the slave owned by Lieutenant Colonel Travis and known to history only as Joe. In unraveling the tortured history of Joe and his family, the authors not only present the story of this Alamo hero for the first time but also illuminate the important role slavery played in American society, westward expansion, and the origins of the Texas Revolution. This is a magnificent work.andrdquo;andmdash;Paul Andrew Hutton, author of Phil Sheridan and His Army
Review
andldquo;The writing in Joe, the Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend is unique and strong, the shared knowledge is deep and fascinating and the overall impact is brilliant.andrdquo;andmdash;Michael Blake, author of Dances with Wolves
Synopsis
If we do in fact andldquo;remember the Alamo,andrdquo; it is largely thanks to one person who witnessed the final assault and survived: the commanding officerandrsquo;s slave, a young man known simply as Joe. What Joe saw as the Alamo fell, recounted days later to the Texas Cabinet, has come down to us in records and newspaper reports. But who Joe was, where he came from, and what happened to him have all remained mysterious until now. In a remarkable feat of historical detective work, authors Ron J. Jackson, Jr., and Lee Spencer White have fully restored this pivotal yet elusive figure to his place in the American story.
About the Author
Ron J. Jackson was a staff writer for The Oklahoman for fifteen years, where he won numerous awards for his reporting. He has published four articles in True West and is the author of three books, including Alamo Legacy: Descendants Remember the Alamo (Eakin Press, 1997).Lee Spencer White is an independent researcher, preservationist, and consultant for the History Channel, Dearg Films, and the BBC.Phil Collins is best known as a singer-songwriter for the English rock band Genesis and as a solo artist, with hits such as andldquo;In the Air Tonightandrdquo; to his credit. He is also an aficionado of Alamo history and the author of The Alamo and Beyond: A Collectorandrsquo;s Journey (State House Press, 2012).
Lee Spencer on PowellsBooks.Blog
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