Yapton man's part in the Battle of the Alamo

At a critical stage of the Texas Revolution a large Mexican army surrounded a makeshift fortification known locally as the Alamo. It was there that a small defensive force of mostly Texans had become holed up, and where they vowed to ‘never surrender or retreat’.

After a siege lasting 13 days, the Mexicans assaulted the fortification during the early hours of Sunday, March 6 1836. Except for a few women and children, and one male slave, everyone inside was killed. Among the dead was William Daniel Hersee.

“His name appears on the Spirit of Sacrifice memorial which stands adjacent to the Alamo complex in San Antonio, Texas, and he is known to have been born in England. A further study of official documentation in England such as the Register of Births Deaths and Marriages, and census returns, etc, revealed that he was born in West Sussex, to Charles and Jane Hersee, and he was baptised at South Stoke, Arundel, on April 6 1806. He married Ann Maria (formerly French) on April 22 1826, at Yapton near Bognor Regis and they had four children.

“William took his family to America, and subsequently lived in New York, until moving to New Orleans.

"He is believed to have already held the rank of sergeant when he arrived in Texas in 1834 so he may have been in the British army. He is listed on the original muster roll as belonging to Captain Carey’s Artillery Company, which gained the name Invincibles during the siege and actually acted as a kind of military police.”

“In 1836 Texas fought for independence from Mexico, and when William heard that a unit was being mustered in his town to go to San Antonio to fight, he joined Captain Carey’s Artillery Company. He took part in the siege of Bexar when the Texans defeated the Mexicans. However, on hearing that the notorious Mexican leader, Generalissimo Santa Anna, was on his way to San Antonio with a large army, he, along with Colonels William Barret Travis (who was also from an English family), James Bowie and Davy Crockett, and about another 180 men, chose to defend a former mission complex known as the Alamo on the other side of the San Antonio River which they had turned into a makeshift fort.

“After a siege which lasted nearly two weeks, during which the defenders suffered continuous cannon bombardments and sniper fire, in arid conditions and with little sustenance, the Mexican army assaulted the Alamo on the early morning of March 6 1836, and after a fierce battle all the Texans capable of bearing arms were killed, including Gunner Hersee and all of his men, and their bodies were unceremoniously burned.

“The front of the Alamo chapel has been preserved in San Antonio as a memorial to William Hersee and all the other defenders.”