James Clinton Neill could be the unsung hero of the Alamo and the battle for Texas Independence. It was his failure to obey Sam Houston's command to abandon the Alamo that left Texians in the mission and gave Texans their cradle of liberty. Neill was on leave when the Alamo fell to Santa Anna, William B. Travis and James Bowie having assumed temporary command. Was he away because of illness in the family-as rumor has it-or to investigate the disappearance of $5,000 that Harry Hill of Tennessee had donated to the cause of Texas Independence? Colonel Neill soon joined Sam Houston as commander of the artillery at San Jacinto but was injured. Later he accepted appointment as an Indian commissioner. The commander of the Alamo brought an unusual background to Texas. He had served in the Alabama legislature and had fought in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Included in this biography are details of Neill's Irish and American heritage, his part in the "Come and Take It" incident at Gonzales, and his work with the Constitutional Convention at San Felipe. Until now, James Clinton Neill has rarely received more than a footnote reference.

The award-winning historian provides a provocative new analysis of the Battle of the Alamo—including new information on the fate of Davy Crockett. Contrary to legend, we now know that the defenders of the Alamo during the Texan Revolution died in a merciless predawn attack by Mexican soldiers. With extensive research into recently discovered Mexican accounts, as well as forensic evidence, historian Phillip Tucker sheds new light on the famous battle, contending that the traditional myth is even more off-base than we thought. In a startling revelation, Tucker uncovers that the primary fights took place on the plain outside the fort. While a number of the Alamo’s defenders hung on inside, most died while attempting to escape. Capt. Dickinson, with cannon atop the chapel, fired repeatedly into the throng of enemy cavalry until he was finally cut down. The controversy surrounding Davy Crockett still remains, though the recently authenticated diary of the Mexican Col. José Enrique de la Peña offers evidence that he surrendered. Notoriously, Mexican Pres. Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna burned the bodies of the Texans who had dared stand against him. As this book proves in thorough detail, the funeral pyres were well outside the fort—that is, where the two separate groups of escapees fell on the plain, rather than in the Alamo itself.