Discovery of remains of Ben Milam in 1848

[bmoses]

I'm just curious. Were there any independant or non-San Antonio researchers involved in this project? I'm sure they were objective with their analysis, but it doesn't hurt to have an outsider looking into things.

I agree with you RangerRod, a good dose of skepticism is typically a good thing.

In this case, the principal forinsic anthropologist to perform an analysis on the skeleton of Benjamin Rush Milam was Dr. Douglas Owsley, Head of the Division of Physical Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. I don't believe there is a better more well-respected forinsic anthropoligist in the United States and probably not in the world. Dr. Owlesy has worked on countless forensic cases (more than 10,000 skeletons according to one web site) including but not limited to:

• curator of the Smithsonian's vast Native American skeletal collection
  
• exhumation and identification of the remains of kidnapped American journalists in Guatemala
  
• identification of U.S. servicemen from the Persian Gulf War
  
• examination of Jamestown Colonists
  
• examination of Kennewick Man
  
• identification of Branch Davidians after the disaster in Waco
  
• identification of Confederate sailors
  
• identification of war victims in Croatia
  
• examination of skeletons excavated from Easter Island
  
• identification of September 11 victims
  
• exhumation and identification of Colonel Joseph Bridger
  
• exhumation and identification of Outlaw Wild Bill Longley
  

Dr. Owsley said it was Colonel Milam and, lacking additional DNA evidence, that will have to be good enough for me.

[stuart]

rangerrod said:

That was one hell of a magic bullet. What is that, like 800 or 900 feet from the
eastside of the river to the Veramendi Place? It seems like that long-fire musket
ball would have had to possibly go around a few trees, over a wall, then ranged
upward in order to hit Milam in the face and blow out his top left parietal. I have
seen rounds do some funny things in the human body, but they usually wait until
they actually hit a bone or something. Of course it is just a mural. It seems more
plausable to me that Ol' Ben was tagged by a nasty sniper sitting in some other
tall structure. I'll have to read up on this subject a little more to comment further.
All for now. Adios.

That range is within the capabilities of a clean Baker used by a competent marksman and although generally speaking there may well be a lot of physical obstructions between the firing position and the target area that's all to the good when someone thinking himself safe wanders into the clear lane under observation.

To be honest I'm a lot happier with the notion of a shot from low down rather than the popular (but rarely accurate) stereotype of a sniper in a tall building.

[Rich Curilla]

stuart said:

rangerrod said:

That was one hell of a magic bullet. What is that, like 800 or 900 feet from the
eastside of the river to the Veramendi Place? It seems like that long-fire musket
ball would have had to possibly go around a few trees, over a wall, then ranged
upward in order to hit Milam in the face and blow out his top left parietal. I have
seen rounds do some funny things in the human body, but they usually wait until
they actually hit a bone or something. Of course it is just a mural. It seems more
plausable to me that Ol' Ben was tagged by a nasty sniper sitting in some other
tall structure. I'll have to read up on this subject a little more to comment further.
All for now. Adios.

That range is within the capabilities of a clean Baker used by a competent marksman and although generally speaking there may well be a lot of physical obstructions between the firing position and the target area that's all to the good when someone thinking himself safe wanders into the clear lane under observation.

To be honest I'm a lot happier with the notion of a shot from low down rather than the popular (but rarely accurate) stereotype of a sniper in a tall building.

AND it is only 300 feet from the tree to the location of the Veramendi back door. Probably NO trees in the way, since the shot would have been almost totally over the river. The south garden wall -- the only wall in between -- was, by that time, almost total rubble from the Mexican cannon atop San Fernando. So... NOTHING in between the Baker and old Ben's head.

[sloanrodgers]

Well it sounds like at least one independant expert is
involved. I really don't intend to play Devil's advocate
for this grave site so close to Halloween. Small pieces
of the puzzle don't seem to fit to me and I'm just tryin'
to figure them out here. I am confused about the real
location of this mysterious sniper.

What contemporary source places him on the river or at a
certain distance ( 300 - 800 ft. etc. ) from the Veramendi
House? Trajectory, ballistics and eyewitness accounts of
Old Ben Milam's's dramatic death appear very relevent in
establishing the true nature of his demise, burial and re-
burials.

[Rich Curilla]

I don't know if I've ever heard of the primary source for the sniper story. I'd be curious to know. My comments are only relative to the alleged tree and the distance to the Veramendi Palace yard.

[sloanrodgers]

rlcgtt said:

I don't know if I've ever heard of the primary source for the sniper story. I'd be curious to know. My comments are only relative to the alleged tree and the distance to the Veramendi Palace yard.

I can't find an early source for a long distance shot either. Apparently
nobody really knows where this death dealing bullet originated. They
have only speculated that it came from a so-called sniper across the
river for some reason.

I've also found no contemporary source that implies Milam was shot in
the face while looking upward, which effected a blow-out of his upper
left parietal bone as stated by Dr. Henkes on the previous page. Most
contemporary reports simply state that Milam was shot in the head as
he entered or stood in the Veramendi Courtyard. Modern sources have
implied that Milam was hit in the forehead (Alamo de Parras) or temple
(Son of De Witt County), but I'm not sure where this information comes
from. I would be interested in some contemporary data giving an exact
entry wound location, but doubt there is any.

Milam's exact location inside the Veramendi Courtyard when he was shot
is also up for debate. Some sources imply he was entering the northside
of the yard while others state that he was near the south wall or plaza
entry. All of these factors obviously affect the ballistics and trajectory
of this famous bullet, thus the effect it had on Milam's skull.

[sloanrodgers]

This topic is probably more dead than Halloween, but I'll resuscitate it briefly
to add a bit of information or perspective on Col. Ben Milam's demise within
the Veramendi courtyard. Velasco school teacher Rev. Chester Newell simply
states that Col. Milam was " shot in the head " in his 1838 book, The History
of the Texas Revolution. Newell could have expanded on this dull ending to
a great man's heroic death with eyewitness testimony or the Dec. 14, 1835
after-action report of Col. F. W. Johnson, but was possibly a little lazy in his
historical research. Johnson reported:

"In the evening the enemy renewed a heavy fire from all the positions which
could bear upon us; and at half-past three o'clock, as our gallant commander,
Colonel Milam, was passing into the yard of my position, he received a rifle-
shot in the head, which caused his instant death; an irreparable loss at so
critical a moment."

Being that Col. Johnson was there at the Veramendi House and wrote a very
detailed and contemporary account of the battle, this would seem to be the
end of the discussion on Ol' Ben Milam's death. But of course other evidence,
interpretation and people with agendas have to come into play and muddy up
the clear stream of history. It is very telling that F. W. Johnson doesn't say
anything about a lone " sniper " killing Milam or that he knew where the shot
originated. In fact, it sounds like the lead was really flying from all directions
into the Veramendi yard and a bullet just happened to tag Col. Milam in the
head. Most authors (H. Yoakum, J. H. Brown, R. M. Wilbanks, L. Garver, etc)
have used a less detailed version of Col. Johnson's Milam account, while other
historians have tried to improve on it without giving their sources. I've found
a few more eyewitness accounts of this event, which may shed a "little more"
light on Milam's death and what occurred afterward.

[sloanrodgers]

I'm sure the interested know there is a secondary account for
Ben Milam's death in Sam Maverick, Texan:1803-1870, which is
edited by his grandaughter, Rena Maverick Green. On page 23,
of the book, a son of Sam Maverick quotes his father. During a
visit to the old Veramendi House, Sam Maverick stated: "There
[apparently pointing to the southeast corner of the Veramendi]
Ben Milam was shot- as he staggered back I caught him in my
arms." This doesn't seem to show that Milam had just entered
the yard near the famous doors as implied by others. Maverick
implies that Col. Milam crossed the yard and was killed closer
to the river. Milam was supposedly buried in the yard exactly
where he was killed. Tejano comrade Manuel Cerbera stated
that he was present at Col. Milam's death in a 1874 Republic
Claim (208-294) and says that he helped bury Old Ben near
the southern wall facing the yard.

[TRK]

rangerrod said:

This topic is probably more dead than Halloween

Halloween, like historical debates, has a way of coming around again

Maverick implies that Col. Milam crossed the yard and was killed closer to the river. Milam was supposedly buried in the yard exactly where he was killed. Tejano comrade Manuel Cerbera stated
that he was present at Col. Milam's death in a 1874 Republic
Claim (208-294) and says that he helped bury Old Ben near
the southern wall facing the yard.

Well, Francis W. Johnson, who evidently was an eyewitness, wrote in his book, A History of Texas and Texans (1914), p. 356, that Milam "was buried in the yard--east side--of the Veramendi house."

[sloanrodgers]

Well, Francis W. Johnson, who evidently was an eyewitness, wrote in his book, A History of Texas and Texans (1914), p. 356, that Milam "was buried in the yard--east side--of the Veramendi house."

Thank you trk. This is the first time I've seen this later version
of Johnson's memories of the tragic event. I wish he had been
a little more specific as this could be pretty much anywhere in
the courtyard-like area. In my opinion this does not contradict
the locations given by Maverick and Cerbera as they were also
east of the house. Perhaps Johnson saw where Ben Milam was
shot, but didn't actually see where he was specifically buried in
the yard. Milam's body may have also been moved after he was
hit to a safer place, then returned to the Veramendi for burial.

I had a nice long talk with George Nelson on this topic yesterday
and he informed me that there are several witness statements to
Milam's death where I thought there were very few. I have found
four more soldiers, who claimed they saw Milam's demise, but they
are all typically vague as to where he was shot in the Veramendi
yard, except one. Herman Ehrenberg, Creed Taylor, Joseph Lopez
Thomas "Mag" Stiff and W. D. Dewees gave accounts consistant
with Ben Milam being shot in the head in the general area given
by Col. Johnson, Maverick and Cerbera.

Joseph Lopez gave a detailed account of Milam's death when he
filed a pension application for service during the Battle of Bexar
as a member of Capt. Thomas Breece's company. Lopez basically
stated in his overly long republic claim narrative that Milam was
shot through the temples while standing in the yard under the
arch way in the forenoon hours. He even says that Milam was
wearing a white blanket coat. The only problem with Lopez's
story is that it is almost certainly made up for his fraudulent
pension claim. Lopez didn't even know the hour of the day
that Milam was killed.

[Rich Curilla]

Isn't there a primary Sam Maverick account? Seems like I remember a first person statement from Maverick where he says that Milam was shot just beyond the entrance and even fell into Sam's arms. What am I remembering?

[billchemerka]

rlcgtt said:

Isn't there a primary Sam Maverick account? Seems like I remember a first person statement from Maverick where he says that Milam was shot just beyond the entrance and even fell into Sam's arms. What am I remembering?

Maverick's diary about the Siege of Bexar begins with a Sept. 5, 1835 entry when he departed Gonzalez for Bexar. Three months later on Dec. 5th, he wrote: "Attack made, myself going with Col. Milam at the head of the right division." No additional report in this account about Milam's death.

[TRK]

rlcgtt said:

Isn't there a primary Sam Maverick account? Seems like I remember a first person statement from Maverick where he says that Milam was shot just beyond the entrance and even fell into Sam's arms. What am I remembering?

Possibly the account that Frederick C. Chabot recited in his book, The Alamo: Mission, Fortress, Shrine (San Antonio: 1936), p. 27. Chabot's book is a patchwork of unattributed quotations from other books, strung together with his own comments and narratives. His account of the siege and storming of Bexar apparently quoted from Henderson Yoakum's History of Texas (1855) and perhaps other, uncredited sources. Concerning Milam's death, Chabot wrote (quotation marks are not mine, but those as given as in the book):

". . . Milam, while crossing from his own position to the Veramendi house, was struck by a rifle-ball in the head and instantly killed." It is generally believed that he was hit by a sharp-shooter concealed in a cypress tree on the river bank. "He fell in the gateway of the building," into the arms of San Meverick [sic], "and was buried by his comrades in arms within a few feet of the spot." [end of quotation]

So, here you have Milam getting shot while, by implication, crossing Soledad Street, collapsing dead in the "gateway," and being buried a few feet away. (To belabor some previous arguments here, it must have been one tall cypress tree on the river bank for a sharpshooter to send a bullet past the Veramendi house and hit a guy in the street.)

Somebody with access to Yoakum's History of Texas might be able to verify if the passages Chabot is quoting derive from that book. If so, Yoakum served with John C. Hays' Texas Mounted Volunteers at Monterrey in 1846 and may have talked to some veterans who were, or claimed to have been, at the siege of Bexar. However, Chabot's version of the location of Milam's death contradicts a number of credible, eyewitness versions.

It also be interesting to know if Yoakum was the source for Milam's dying in the arms of Sam Maverick.

I found one other source for this dramatic scenario: The Memoirs of Mary A. Maverick, pp. 128-29, contains a paper by George Cupples, M.D., delivered in 1870 in which he offered that Milam was "shot through the head; and by his side stood Mr. Maverick." A note at the bottom of the page adds that Maverick was shot "about twenty feet back of the Veramendi home" and that Maverick "stood beside Milam and caught him in his arms as he fell dead." Of course, Cupples offers no documentation for his account.

[Allen Wiener]

For what it's worth, I looked this up in Hardin's book, "Texian Illiad," and he has this to say:

"He [Milam] had entered the courtyard of the Veramendi house and was scannning the defenses through a field glass when Felix de la Garza, a marksman reputed to be 'the best shot in the Mexican army' spotted him. Cos had posted sharpshooters in the trees along the river, where they had a clear view of the plaza and its environs. From that vantage point, de la Garza marked his target, aimed his Baker rifle, and fired. Milam dropped. De la Garza's shot took 'Old Ben' neatly through the head, killing him instantly.

"Texians were stunned and enraged by news of Milam's death. Retaliation came swiftly. Someone had seen a puff of smoke from the trees just after the fatal shot, and now all eyes turned toward the river. The rebel riflemen saw the outline of a man in the branches, and several aimed and fired at once. De la Garza's corpse pitched from the tree, struck the beveled bank, and tumbled into the river. Other Mexican marksmen remained active, but Texian marksmen employed their rifles to advantage and soon cleared the treeline of snipers."

Hardin gives the following sources for this account in his footnotes: Garver, "Benjamin Rush Milam," pp. 196-l97; Morphis, "History of Texas, 120; DeShields, "Tall Men with Long Rifles," 74-75; and Yoakum, "History of Texas," 29.

AW

[TRK]

Allen, the second paragraph you quoted appears to derive from Creed Taylor, as quoted in De Shields. Morphis, for his account of Milam's death, simply quoted from Francis Johnson's official report (basically, Milam killed by gunshot to head in yard of Veramendi house.) Garver sheds no light on the Felix de la Garza story, and I don't have access to Yoakum, to see if he repeated the story, so it looks like De Shields (1935) may have been the first to report it.