T
o the People of Texas & postscript and delivered the letter
All Americans in the
World is an open letter
written on February 24, 1836, by
William B. Travis, commander of
the Texian forces at the Battle of
the Alamo, to settlers in Mexican
Texas. According to Michael Green,
former reference archivist for the
Texas State Library Archives
Division, the letter is "the most
famous document in Texas
history".[1]
On February 23, the Alamo Mission
in San Antonio, Texas, had been
besieged by Mexican forces led by
General Antonio López de Santa
Anna. Fearing that his small group
of men could not withstand an
assault, Travis wrote this letter
seeking reinforcements and
supplies from supporters. The letter
closes with Travis's vow of "Victory
or Death!", an emotion which has
been both praised and derided by
historians.
The letter was initially entrusted to
courier Albert Martin, who carried it
to Gonzales. Martin added several
postscripts to encourage men to
reinforce the Alamo, and then
handed the letter to Launcelot
Smithers. Smithers added his own
to its intended destination, San
Felipe de Austin. Local publishers
printed over 700 copies of the
letter. It also appeared in the two
main Texas newspapers and was
eventually printed throughout the
United States and Europe. Partially
in response to the letter, men from
throughout Texas and the United
States began to gather in Gonzales.
Between 32 and 90 of them
reached the Alamo before it fell;
the remainder formed the nucleus
of the army which eventually
defeated Santa Anna at the Battle
of San Jacinto.
Following the end of the Texas
Revolution, the original letter was
delivered to Travis's family in
Alabama, and in 1893, one of his
descendants sold it to the State of
Texas for $85 ($2,071 today).[2] For
many decades it was displayed at
the Texas State Library; the
original letter is now protected and
a copy is on display under a
portrait of Travis.