informal introduction/inquiry

[Jim Boylston]

1. Does any written (interview) documentation exist that relates how Mrs. Dickinson recalled Galba Fuqua attempting to speak with a broken jaw?

First, welcome to the forum, Aaron. Your question set me off on a search for the documentation of this incident, and the earliest mention I can find of the scene is in A.J. Sowell's 1884 book, "Rangers and Pioneers of Texas." Fuqua is, however, identified as "Albert Fuqua" rather than Galba Fuqua.

I found no mention of this incident in any of the Dickinson interviews.

It's always illuminating to go back and look for "first occurrences" of stories related to Alamo mythology. Sometimes the results are surprising.

Jim

[Allen Wiener]

I could find no record of it in Hansen. She repeats the Wolfe story in many interviews. I see the Fuqua in much later magazine articles without, of course, any citation.

Allen

[thenightoff]

Thank You, I looked in Alamo Reader as well. I did also find that March 6 will fall on a Sunday after leap year (as it did 1836) in 2016.

[Paul Sylvain]

First, a hearty "welcome aboard".

It's funny, though, how almost every written account of the final assault (at least those that I have read) mentions the boy running up to Mrs. Dickinson, holding his shattered jaw and trying to speak to her.

One book I'm reading now is Bill Groneman's "Eyewitness to the Alamo (Revised Edition)" which I picked up a couple weeks ago. Bill puts all the various letters and published articles in order, by date written (letters) or publication (various alleged interviews and published accounts). The Fuqua story doesn't appear in Groneman's book until entry number 29 in Chapter 3. It is attributed to Susanna Hannig (Dickinson) in 1884 "According to Andrew Jackson Sowell in his book Rangers and Pioneers of Texas".

In Groneman's comments about the story, he states the following:

"Sowell probably learned this story from his uncle of the same name who heard the story directly from Dickenson. Sowell reports that his uncle Andrew ' ...was just preparing to start [for San Antonio] when Mrs. Dickenson arrived with the fearful news [of the fall of the Alamo]. Galba Fuqua was a young resident of the town of Gonzales who died at the Alamo."

It's interesting that this story did not surface in any prior recorded or published account until 48 years after the battle. However, as we all know here, it in itself does not necessarily mean that this drama did not play out in the waning moments of the battle. We continually discover new aspects of the Alamo's story, it seems, even 174 years later.

Paul

[Jim Boylston]

It's funny, though, how almost every written account of the final assault (at least those that I have read) mentions the boy running up to Mrs. Dickinson, holding his shattered jaw and trying to speak to her.

It's a very strong image, but I'm not sure I buy it. Mrs. D almost always mentions seeing the death of Warner/Walker...she was seemingly haunted by the memory...but she never mentions Fuqua in any of the published interviews that I've seen.

I'm inclined to think that Sowell was more concerned with writing a compelling narrative than with accurate reporting. It'd sure be nice to find an early source for the story, but Sowell's book doesn't provide one.

Jim

[Paul Sylvain]

I tend to agree with you, Jim, and actually had the same exact thoughts in mind for the same reasons. Almost from the first published interviews, Mrs. D mentions Warner/Walker, but nothing appears about Fuqua until 48 years later, and only by way of a third-hand account. I mean, it's possible, but I tend to think (post-battle shock or otherwise) that this sort of incident would have been as burned into her mind as strongly as Warner/Walker. You would think it would have made its way into print as part of a first-hand interview in the days or weeks following the battle, not 48 years later and not directly from her.

Paul