CLOUD, DANIEL WILLIAM
CLOUD, DANIEL WILLIAM (1814–1836). Daniel William Cloud, Alamo defender, son of Daniel and Nancy (Owens)
Cloud, was born in Logan County, Kentucky, on February 20, 1814. He was a lawyer and, on his way to Texas,
qv
traveled through Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana with Peter J. Bailey , also a lawyer from Logan County.
Both men enlisted in the Volunteer Auxiliary Corps of Texas on January 14, 1836, at Nacogdoches, as did B. A. M.
Thomas, William Fauntleroy, and Joseph G. Washington,
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all of whom were also from Logan County, Kentucky.
With these four men, Micajah Autry, and two others, Cloud traveled to San Antonio de Béxar and the Alamo. They
arrived after February 11 and became members of the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers, commanded by William B.
Harrison. Cloud died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.
DUVALT, ANDREW
DUVALT, ANDREW (1804–1836). Andrew Duvalt, Alamo defender, was born in Ireland in 1804. He immigrated to
Texas by way of Missouri and settled in Gonzales. He was a plasterer by trade. Duvalt took part in the siege of Bexar.
Afterwards he remained in the town as a member of the Bexar Guards. Sometime after February 2, 1836, he returned
to his home in Gonzales. He was mustered into the Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers by Byrd
Lockhart on February 23, 1836. Duvalt returned to the Alamo, probably as a member of the relief force from
Gonzales, on March 1, 1836. He died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6 of that year.
DICKINSON, ALMERON
DICKINSON, ALMERON (ca. 1800–1836). Almeron Dickinson, defender of the Alamo, was a Pennsylvanian who
served as an artilleryman in the United States Army. He became a Mason in the area of Bolivar, Tennessee. On May
24, 1829, he eloped with Susanna Wilkerson (see DICKINSON, SUSANNA W.). The couple moved to Gonzales,
Texas, in 1831 and had a daughter,Angelina Dickinson, in 1834. As a colonist in Green DeWitt's colony, Dickinson
received a league of land on the San Marcos River. He participated in the battle of Gonzales on October 2, 1835,
which began the Texas Revolution. At the siege of Bexar he distinguished himself as a lieutenant of artillery; at
the battle of the Alamo he was the captain in charge of artillery. On the morning of March 6, 1836, as the troops of
Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna stormed the mission, Dickinson ran to his wife, reported that all was lost, and
expressed hope that she could save herself and the child. Although he died at the Alamo, his wife and child survived.
ESPARZA, JOSE MARIA
ESPARZA, JOSÉ MARÍA (1802–1836). José María Esparza, better known as Gregorio Esparza, defender of the
Alamo, was born on February 25, 1802, in San Antonio de Béxar, the child of Juan Antonio and Maria Petra (Olivas)
Esparza. He married Anna Salazar, who bore him a daughter and three sons, one of whom, Enrique, was an
eyewitness to the siege of the Alamo. Esparza enlisted in Juan N. Seguín's company in October 1835 and
participated in the taking of the squares on the north side of the city during the siege of Bexar, December 5–9, 1835.
He served until the capitulation of Gen. Martín Perfecto de Cos on December 10, 1835.
On the arrival of Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna in February 1836, Esparza and his family were advised by John
William Smith to take refuge in the Alamo, since they had been friendly with the Americans. They arrived at twilight
and entered through a small window in the church of the compound. Although Col. William Barret Travis,
through James Bowie's influence, was allowing local citizens to leave if they so desired, Esparza elected to stay and
fight, and his family to remain with him. He tended a cannon during the siege and died in the battle of the Alamo on
March 6, 1836.
Francisco Esparza, Gregorio's brother, by his own admission a member of the local Mexican "presidial" company of
the Alamo until the capitulation of Cos, requested and was granted permission to enter the Alamo and search for his
brother's body after the siege. In company with his two brothers, he took the body and interred it in the Campo Santo
on the west side of San Pedro Creek. Thus Gregorio Esparza received a Christian burial, unlike the others slain in the
battle. Gregorio's heirs were instrumental in founding San Augustine, southeast of Pleasanton in Atascosa County.
JOHN
JOHN (?–1836). John, a slave and Alamo defender, was said to have belonged to Francis L. Desauque and worked
as a clerk in his store. He was left in the Alamo when Desauque was sent out for supplies. Joe, Travis's slave, stated
that there were other blacks in the Alamo besides himself. John died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.