Scottish Brave Hearts
There were many brave men at the Alamo, and many were Scot or of Scot descent. John McGregor, a native of Scotland, had a home in Nacodoches, Texas before deciding to travel to San Antonio to the fight in the Siege of Bexar. It was said that he and his bagpipes would duel with Davy Crockett and his fiddle during lulls in the battle at the Alamo. Mr. McGregor, a Second Sergeant at the Alamo always won the battle of most noise! In fact, there were 3 other native Scotsmen who fought and died at the Alamo. They were: Richard W. Ballantine, Isaac Robinson, David L. Wilson. Many more were of Scot Heritage: Robert Allen, Joseph Kerr, William King, James Stewart, William Johnson, James Robertson, John Ballentine, Robert Campbell, John Harris, Andrew Harrison, William Harrison, John Hayes, and possibly more.
By mid-February, a force of 187 men barricaded in the old Alamo mission compound. Among them were nearly 40 men of Irish heritage, beginning with two descendents of Ulster Irish immigrants, the leader, Col. William Barrett Travis, and Crockett. At least a dozen, with names like Jackson, McGee, Nolan, and McCafferty, were Irish born. The rest are believed to be either of Irish or Irish-American heritage. Such as: Samuel Burns, Stephen Dennison, Andrew Duvalt, Robert Evans, William Jackson, Burke Trammel, and William Ward.
Lewis Johnson
Aye, these brave lads, who fought to the death at the Alamo, whose Celtic bravery is reflected in these quotes of the past:
83 CE "Think, therefore, as you advance to battle, at once of both your ancestors and of your posterity."...Calgucus, Celtic general at Mons Grapius, Scotland before the battle with the Roman Agricola
"I did not undertake the war for private ends, but in the cause of national liberty..." Vercingetorix to Caesar
"The Celts were fearless warriors because "they wish to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets, that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another..." Julius Caesar
"We have no word for the man who is excessively fearless; perhaps one may call such a man mad or bereft of feeling, who fears nothing, neither earthquakes nor waves, as they say of the Celts"...Aristotle