Richard Penn Smith & John Seelye Read online

  It should be noted that what follows avoids the slangy, “vernacular” manner we associate with the Crockett almanacs, used for humorous purposes and not inevitable in the earliest examples of the publication. Clearly, the martyrdom of Crockett was considered a serious matter and therefore deserved a formal style. As indicated in the Introduction, the account of Crockett’s death published in the almanac was the one that endured, though Smith’s version has lately had scholarly validation.

  BATTLE OF SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR,

  HEROISM AND DEATH OF COL. CROCKETT

  The ancient town of Bexar, the spot where the last scene in the life of Col. Crockett was acted, is situated on the San Antonio river, which flows through it. This place is in latitude 29° 25,’ 140 miles from the coast. A military outpost was established at this spot by the Spanish government in 1718. This fort is separated from the town, which is chiefly inhabited by native Mexicans. Col. Travis with a small but heroic band occupied the forts. They were chiefly volunteers from the United States; among them were Col. Bowie, Col. Crockett, Mr. Benton, and many other brave officers. On the 23 Feb. 1836, the advance guard of the Mexican army entered the town, commanded by Gen. Santa Anna. They could not be prevented, as the Texans were only 150 strong. Santa Anna instantly sent a summons to the fort commanding them to surrender at discretion, calling them foreign rebels. This insolent message was answered by a cannon shot, when the Mexicans commenced a bombardment, from a five inch howitzer, which together with a heavy cannonade, was kept up incessantly. Expresses were instantly sent to Col. Fanning of Goliad and to the people of Gonzales and San Phillipe, for men. The next day some two or three hundred men crossed the river below the fort and under cover of the houses came up until within point blank shot, when the Texans opened a heavy fire of grape and cannister on them, together with small arms, which made them halt and take shelter in the houses, about one hundred yards distance from the fort. The action continued to rage about two hours, the enemy keeping up a continual bombardment. The loss of the besiegers was very great, while not a man in the fort was killed, though two or three were wounded by splinters of rock. Lieutenant Simmons of cavalry, and Capt. Carey and Dickerson of artillery, rendered great service; and Col. Crockett was seen at all points, and in the most exposed places, encouraging the men to do their duty. A sortie was made from the fort, led by Col. Crockett, in which he was attacked single handed by six Mexicans. One he shot with his rifle and two with pistols, and with one blow of his sword severed the head from a fourth. He received a musket ball in his thigh, but was luckily supported by his friend Benton, who shot one of them and the other took to his heels. The wound was only a flesh one, and although it bled profusely, the surgeon staunched it. The Mexicans kept up a vigorous siege for several days, in which their loss was tremendous, the riflemen always killing their man at each discharge; generally putting a ball through the head. At length after withstanding repeated attacks for two weeks, with a continual bombardment, the last assault was made on the morning of the 6th of March, by the whole Mexican army, led by Santa Anna in person, consisting of 3000 men, and the place after a most bloody defence was carried about sunrise, after seven hours hard fighting. The whole garrison were put to death, except a woman and the negro servant of Col. Travis, and the wounded, together with seven men who asked for quarter. The rest all fought like bloodhounds; and Col. Crockett’s body was found in an angle of two buildings with his big dagger in his hand, and around him were lying seventeen dead Mexicans, eleven of whom had come by their deaths by his dagger, and the others by his rifle and four pistols, which laid beside him. In the dark he had a decided advantage over them, as they could not get behind him, and he stabbed them as they passed by in the charge. He had received two musket balls in his body, both of which were mortal. A smile of scorn played on his features. Col. Bowie was murdered in his bed, and Col. Travis shot himself to prevent falling into the enemy’s hands. Lieut. Dickerson tied his child to his back and jumped off a house, and thus killed himself. In the siege of Bexar the Mexicans lost 3000 men. This great slaughter is ascribed to the fact of each man in the fort having eight guns. The flag used by the Mexicans was a blood red one, instead of the old tri-colored one. The bodies of the slain were taken and thrown in a heap in the centre of the fort and burnt. When the body of Crockett was brought along, the Mexican general Cos said, So brave a man ought not to be burnt like a dog; but after a little hesitation he said, Never mind, throw him on. Thus perished Crockett, in a noble cause. Fear was a word he knew not the definition of. It was calculated that during the siege he killed no less than 85 men, and wounded 120 besides, as he was one of the best rifle shooters of the west, and he had four rifles, with two men to load constantly, and he fired as fast as they could load, nearly always hitting his man; but the distance was so great that he could not put the ball through a mortal place every time.

  Explanatory Notes

  PREFACE.

  1 Printed by T. K. & P. G. Collins. The publishers were in reality Carey and Hart of Philadelphia. The four lines of poetry on the title page, credited to “The Author” (i.e., Richard Penn Smith masquerading as Crockett), are printed here as found in the first edition, including the mysterious phrase, “shoulder flook,” which has no obvious meaning. However, “Cut stick” may be found in Eric Partridge’s Dictionary of the Underworld (1961 edition) as a slang term for “depart,” so perhaps Smith’s obscure language has some recondite meaning. The editorial staff at Penguin Group (USA) would welcome enlightenment on this matter.

  2 the Bee hunter. This sentimental creation was undoubtedly adapted from Paul Hover, a bee-hunter who figures importantly in Fenimore Cooper’s The Prairie (1827), the third published of the Leatherstocking Tales.

  3 Austin. Stephen F. Austin (1793-1836) was the son of Moses Austin (1761-1821) and the heir to a grant of 66,000 acres of land in Texas, then under Mexican control. Attempting to fulfill the proviso that the land be colonized by three hundred families, in 1822 Austin set up a trading center that became the town bearing his name. He was in effect the ruler and chief empresario (colonial leader) of Texas, which greatly prospered under his leadership. Although opposed to the idea of Texas independence, in 1833 he traveled to Mexico City to negotiate the separation of Texas from the state of Coahuila, which was regarded by the Mexican government as a veiled attempt to annex Texas to the United States. Austin was jailed without trial until his release in 1835, when he returned to Texas and joined the revolution against Mexico. In 1836 he was defeated in the presidential election held in the now-independent republic of Texas by Sam Houston, but having successfully obtained U.S. support for Texan independence, he served as the president’s secretary of state until his death.

  4 General Castrillon. D. Manuel Fernandez Castrillon was in command of one of four “columns” under the command of General Santa Anna organized to attack the Alamo. In one version of Crockett’s death (included in Smith’s narrative) he is credited with having asked Santa Anna that the brave American not be executed. Castrillon was later killed in the decisive battle of San Jacinto. The story of the twice-recovered diary is of course a fiction.

  5 Charles T. Beale / Alex J. Dumas. These are fictitious names, part of Smith’s complex hoax. As an author familiar with French drama, Smith undoubtedly knew of Alexandre Dumas (père), well known in France by 1836 as a writer of melodramatic historical plays, and by 1844 famous in America as the author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. But knowing that Dumas’s name would mean nothing to his probable audience, Smith was having a little joke, suggesting the sophistication and subtlety of the hoaxer.

  CHAPTER I.

  1 go ahead. The first allusion in Smith’s narrative to Crockett’s famous motto, “Be sure you are right, then go ahead,” but by no means the last.

  2 Major Jack Downing. Satiric persona invented by the Maine newspaper publisher Seba Smith (1792-1868) and later taken over by the anti-Jacksonian journalist Charles A. Davis. (See Introduction.)
r />   3 Post Office … public lands. Policy matters on which Crockett differed with the Jackson administration. (See Introduction.)

  4 Little Flying Dutchman. Derogatory reference to the ancestry, physical stature, and character of Martin Van Buren (1782- 1862), a powerful Democratic politician. Former senator from New York and governor of that state, he was Jackson’s secretary of state before becoming, in 1833, his vice president. Elected president in 1836 (after Crockett’s death), defeated in the election of 1840 by the Whig candidate, William Henry Harrison, his antislavery sentiments eventually led to Van Buren’s departure from the Democratic party.

  5 “the greatest and the best.” Sarcastic reference to President Andrew Jackson.

  6 “the Government.” Epithet frequently used by Crockett for President Jackson, a reference to his absolute power, evinced by his removal of government funds (“deposites”) from Biddle’s National Bank. (See Introduction.)

  7 Adam Huntsman. Tennessee lawyer and democratic politician, who under the pen name “Black Hawk” published a satiric, pseudo-biblical “Chronicles” in 1833 that impugned Crockett’s motives regarding the Land Bill. He defeated Crockett in the congressional election of 1835. (See Shackford, 139-40.)

  8 the Hero. Andrew Jackson, also called “the monster” below.

  9 Sam Patch. Native of Pawtucket, R.I. (c. 1807-1827), who gained notoriety by leaping into rivers from great heights until his death from same. (See Introduction.)

  10 Job Snelling. The cunning Yankee was by 1836 becoming a comic stereotype, thanks in part to sketches like this, inspired by similar anecdotes in Matthew St. Clair Clarke’s Life and Adventures of Colonel David Crockett of West Tennessee (1833).

  CHAPTER II.

  1 governor Carroll. William Carroll (1788-1844), Democratic politician and hero of the War of 1812, was governor of Tennessee, 1821-1827 and 1829-1835, and a prominent supporter of Andrew Jackson. The substance of the pages that follow was taken, often verbatim, from a letter from Crockett to Carey and Hart written after his defeat in the election of 1835. (See Shackford, 205-06.)

  2 Governor Poindexter. George Poindexter (1779-1835) was a prominent Mississippi Democratic politician who was briefly governor of his state (1820-1821), hence his title here, but was more importantly a U.S. senator from 1830 to 1835, and like Crockett a frequent critic of President Jackson.

  3 Globe. The Washington Daily Globe was edited by Francis P. Blair (1791-1876) from 1830-1845, and was a stalwart Democratic organ, founded by President Jackson. Blair originated the phrase “the democracy” in reference to Jackson’s administration. (Cf. Crockett’s “the Government.”)

  4 Fitzgerald. William Fitzgerald defeated Crockett in the congressional election of 1831.

  5 Grundy. Felix Grundy (1777-1840) was a distinguished lawyer and Democratic politician from Tennessee. Serving in the U.S. Congress from 1811 to 1815, he was by 1836 a U.S. senator who was often at odds with President Jackson but a party loyalist nonetheless. Still, he was hardly “the General’s pet.”

  6 show them the White feather. The presence of a white feather in the tail of a fighting cock (cf. “game cock” above) was taken as a sign of inferior breeding and therefore indicated a lack of courage.

  7 “occupation’s gone.” Othello, III, 3, line 357.

  8 Webster, Clay, and myself. Smith here is placing Crockett in distinguished company. Daniel Webster (1782-1852) and Henry Clay (1777-1852) were the most powerful Whigs of their day. They were frequently thought of (by themselves as well as others) as potential presidential candidates, and Clay was nominated by the anti-Jackson party as its candidate in 1831, but was badly beaten in the election of 1832. He thenceforth became a ferocious senatorial adversary of Jackson’s policies, mounting attacks tantamount to harassment and taking positions pretty much echoed by Colonel Crockett.

  9 Flemish account. One showing a deficit.

  10 M’Adamized road. A pavement made up of crushed stone rolled over with great pressure, hence smooth, the invention of J. L. McAdam (1756-1836). Perhaps also a punning reference to Crockett’s opponent in the election of 1835, Adam Huntsman.

  11 Peleg Longfellow. The reference would seem to be to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), who within a decade would emerge as America’s most popular poet, but who in 1836 was (like Alexandre Dumas) an unknown quantity in the United States, having just returned from Germany to assume a professorship of modern literature at Harvard. The reference is even more intriguing if one realizes that Longfellow’s maternal grandfather was Peleg Wadsworth (1748-1829), a brigadier general in the American Revolution.

  12 carrier’s address. Generally a poem printed on a single sheet of paper, called a “broadside,” which was purportedly addressed by a newsboy (“carrier”) to his customers at Christmastime in hopes of receiving a cash present. These ephemeral productions were hardly prestigious works, though they are interesting aspects of American popular culture. As an aspiring poet, Smith was familiar with such matters (and perhaps knew of Longfellow’s early work for magazines as well). What follows next is clearly a demonstration of his own talents and should have tipped off the reader early on that the Exploits were spurious, for Colonel Crockett never revealed a talent or taste for poetry.

  CHAPTER III.

  1 promised … freedom. As Shackford tells us, at the start of his trip to Texas Crockett was concerned only with locating a promising site for his new farm, planning to be joined there by his family as soon as he was established.

  2 tortled. Adapted from “tortile,” an adjective meaning twisted or winding, suggesting here a circuitous hence slow passage.

  3 Biddle. Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844), here joined to Webster and Clay as a prominent Whig, was an accomplished scholar and statesman who in 1822 became president of the second National Bank of the United States, and was the target of the Jackson administration’s attack on that institution. (See Introduction.)

  4 Betsey. Smith is confused here. Named for his wife, Elizabeth, Crockett’s favorite rifle, described by Clarke’s Life in 1833, was not the one given him by the “Young Whigs” of Philadelphia on Independence Day in 1834, which was left at home when he departed for Texas. (cf. note to p. 27, below)

  5 came to a clearing. The anecdote that follows was taken from a sketch in A. B. Longstreet’s Georgia Scenes (1835). Titled “Georgia Theatrics,” it was according to James D. Hart’s Oxford Companion to American Literature (1941 ed.) “used in Crockett’s Autobiography, ” when it is presumably this book that was meant.

  6 some things can be done as well as others. Another reference to Sam Patch’s boast.

  7 Benton. Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858) was a prominent Missouri statesman; elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1820, he remained in that body for thirty years. In the 1830s he was a spokesman in the Senate for Jackson’s administration and supported the president’s attack on the National Bank. He was nicknamed “Old Bullion” because of his ardent support of hard (gold and silver) currency, to which further mention is made below.

  8 Isaac Hill. Hill (1789-1851), another supporter of Jackson, was a Democratic senator from New Hampshire from 1831 to 1836, when he became governor of that state until 1839.

  9 Dick Johnson. Richard M. Johnson (1780-1850) was a Democrat from Kentucky, a hero of the War of 1812 (credited with killing Tecumseh), and a member of Congress who was a close friend of President Jackson. He supported his positions even when disagreeing with them—as in the president’s attack on the bank. He was rewarded by Jackson by being chosen as Van Buren’s running mate in the election of 1837. The “wool grower” tag is a reference to the fact that Johnson, who never married, had two children by Julia Chinn, a mulatto he inherited from his father’s estate; after her death he consorted, sequentially, with two mulatto (“high yellow”) sisters.

  10 Lieut. Randolph. In 1833, while reading a newspaper aboard a steamboat bound for Fredricksburg, Virginia, the president was suddenly struck in the face by Robert B. Randolph, a former navy
lieutenant who had been dismissed from the service for theft, on Jackson’s orders. Trapped between a table and his chair, Jackson could not rise to defend himself. Randolph was arrested and brought to trial, but the general (by then returned to private life) asked Van Buren to pardon his assailant. This was the first time in U.S. history that a president had been physically attacked and the incident suggested the vast changes affecting the republic at large. (See Remini, 252-53.)

  11 slang-whang. Colloquial, often abusive speechifying. (See also p. 48.)

  CHAPTER IV.

  1 took a horn. Probably colloquial but perhaps a literal reference to a drinking horn.

  2 Dick Johnson … darkie. See note to page 21, above.

  3 forgave Colonel Benton. Refers to a violent brawl in 1813 involving Thomas Hart Benton, his brother, Jesse, and General Jackson, which left the Hero of New Orleans badly wounded and the Benton brothers in danger of their lives in Nashville, from which they soon departed. In 1823, when Benton (then a resident of Missouri) and Jackson served together in the U.S. Senate, they resolved their past differences with a handshake. (See Remini, 69-71.)

  4 When it came to my turn. In Fenimore Cooper’s The Pathfinder, Leatherstocking actually succeeds in firing a bullet so that it lands on top of one previously fired at a target. Cooper borrowed the feat from Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, where an arrow splits another already in the bullseye. By contrast, Crockett’s trick is a variation of the shell game, in which the gambler palms a pea so that the shell selected by the unsuspecting dupe is shown to be empty. (See below, p. 43.) But the resemblance between the two episodes is suggestive. Notably, Mark Twain included the unlikely display of Leatherstocking’s marksmanship in “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses.”