Ben Milam
Cameron, Milam County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Benjamin Rush Milam, born in Kentucky 1788. Soldier in the War of 1812. Trader with the Texas Comanche Indians, 1818. Colonel in the Long Expedition in 1820. Empresario from 1826 to 1835. Benjamin Rush Milam participated in the capture of Goliad, October 9, 1835; was killed in San Antonio December 7, 1835 while commanding the Texas forces which later captured the town. Who will follow Old Ben Milam into San Antonio? Erected by the State of Texas 1936 with funds appropriated by the Federal government to commemorate one hundred years of Texas Independence.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Kentucky-born Benjamin Rush Milam fought in the War of 1812, traded with the Comanche, and became an empresario recruiting settlers to Mexican Texas before joining the fight for independence. In late 1835 he rallied hesitant Texian volunteers with the cry 'Who will follow Old Ben Milam into San Antonio?' and led the assault that took the town—though he was killed by a sniper on December 7 before it fell. The State of Texas raised this monument in 1936 for the independence centennial.
Why it matters
Milam's death and battle cry became rallying symbols of Texas independence, embodying the frontier settlers who turned Mexican Texas into a breakaway republic.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Rush Milam
Related events
- · Siege of Bexar
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Green-Batte House
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Built in 1847 of logs and locally made brick, this was among Cameron's earliest homes, raised by George Green, a surveyor who had fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in Texas's 1836 fight for independence. As the frontier town matured, board siding went up in the 1850s and later owner R. L. Batte, Sr. added rooms while raising his own children and many orphans under its roof. The now-enclosed cabin survives as a layered record of two families and a young Texas.
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George Green fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive 1836 clash that won Texas its independence from Mexico. Beyond the battlefield he served as a ranger and surveyor, helping map and secure the young republic's frontier, and became an honored citizen of Milam County. The State of Texas erected this marker to his memory in 1962.
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