The Immortal 32
Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In Memory of the Immortal 32 Gonzales men and boys who, on March 1, 1836 fought their way into the beleaguered Alamo to die with Colonel William B. Travis for the Liberty of Texas. They were the last and only reinforcements to arrive in answer to the final call of Colonel William B. Travis. Names and ages of the Immortal Thirty-Two: Captain Albert Martin, 30; Isaac G. Baker, 32; John Cane, 34; George W. Cottle, 38; David P. Cummings, 27; Squire Damon, 28; Jacob C. Darst, 48; John Davis, 25; William Dearduff; Charles Despallier, 24; William Fishbaugh; John Flanders, 36; Dolphin Ward Floyd, 29; Galba Fuqua, 16; John E. Garvin, 27; John E. Gaston. 17; James George, 34; Thomas Jackson; Johnny Kellogg, 10; Andrew Kent, 38; George C. Kimball, 26; John E. King, 26; William P. King, 24; Jonathan L. Lindley, 31; Thomas R. Miller, 41; Jessie McCoy; Isaac Millsaps; George Neggan, 28; Wm. E. Summers, 24; George W. Tumlinson, 27; Robert White, 30; Claiborne Wright, 26. Other Gonzales men who fell at the Alamo. Daniel Bourne, 26; George Brown, 35; Jerry C. Day, 20; Almaron Dickerson, 26; Andrew Duvalt, 32; John Harris, 23; Wm. J. Lightfoot, 25; Marcus L. Sewell, 31; Amos Pollard, 33. Survivors of the Alamo Massacre, Mrs. Almaron Dickerson and baby daughter, of Gonzales.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On March 1, 1836, thirty-two men and boys from Gonzales slipped through the Mexican lines and into the besieged Alamo — the only reinforcements to answer William B. Travis's final plea for help. They ranged from a sixteen-year-old to a man of forty-eight, and all of them died in the fall of the fortress days later. This memorial names each of the Immortal 32 alongside other Gonzales men lost at the Alamo.
Why it matters
Their choice to enter a fight they knew was likely hopeless became one of the defining acts of sacrifice in the Texas Revolution and the American frontier's founding legends.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
By late February 1836, the Texas Revolution had reached its crisis. Texians and Tejanos had risen against Mexico's central government the previous fall, and Gonzales had a special place in that story. The revolution's first shots were fired there in October 1835, over a small cannon and the famous "Come and Take It" challenge.
Now Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna had marched an army north to San Antonio de Béxar, and a small garrison was holed up in the old mission called the Alamo. Its commander, William B. Travis, sent out urgent letters asking for reinforcements. Gonzales, about seventy miles to the east, was one of the closest settlements that could answer.
At the same moment, delegates were meeting at Washington-on-the-Brazos, where they declared Texas independent on March 2, 1836. The men inside the Alamo were fighting for a republic that was being born while they were under siege.
People & events
Answering Travis's call, a small band of Gonzales men and boys rode west. Albert Martin, a captain, had himself carried one of Travis's appeals for help. On March 1, 1836, they fought their way through the besieging lines into the Alamo. The marker records that they were the last and only reinforcements to arrive in answer to Travis's final call. All of them died when the Alamo fell days later, on March 6.
The marker lists them by name, many with ages: farmers, tradesmen, fathers, and sons from a single frontier town. Some, like Galba Fuqua, were in their teens, and some were in middle age. Historians still debate the exact number and identities of the reinforcements and some of the ages recorded, which is common with frontier records from a chaotic war. But "the Immortal 32" has become how Texas remembers them.
Gonzales lost more than those 32. The marker names other local men who died at the Alamo, among them Almaron Dickerson (more often spelled Dickinson). His wife, Susanna, and their baby daughter survived the battle. Susanna then carried the news of the Alamo's fall back east, and her account helped make the defenders' sacrifice known to the world. For Gonzales, it meant a town full of widows and fatherless children.
Its place in the American story
The Alamo is one of the most powerful symbols in American memory, and the Gonzales men are among the most moving parts of its story. They chose to enter a fortress already surrounded by a much larger army, and that choice turned a military defeat into a lasting idea of courage and sacrifice. "Remember the Alamo" became the battle cry when Texian forces won at San Jacinto weeks later.
The story also connects to the larger struggle over Texas, which became an independent republic and joined the United States in 1845. That annexation helped lead to the U.S.-Mexican War and to a reshaping of the American West. The war's history is complicated, and many Americans and Mexicans have remembered it in very different ways.
Above all, this memorial is a reminder that famous battles are fought by ordinary people. A single town gave up a large share of its men in one week. Behind the legend are families, farms, and a community that had to carry on.
If you visit
Take time with the names. This memorial is meant to be read, not just glanced at. Look for family names that repeat, and notice the range of ages. Reading them one by one makes a famous event personal. Think of it as a roll call of a town's sons, husbands, and neighbors.
Gonzales is a fine place to spend a few hours. It calls itself the town where the Texas Revolution began, and the community proudly remembers both the "Come and Take It" fight and the men it sent to the Alamo. Look for other historic sites and memorials around town.
For a meaningful road trip, follow the Gonzales men's route west to San Antonio and the Alamo itself, about seventy miles away. Standing at the shrine after reading these names gives the story a weight that no textbook can match.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · William B. Travis
- · Albert Martin
- · Almaron Dickerson
- · Susanna Dickerson
Related events
- · Battle of the Alamo
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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