Alamo Reprieve Lasts Only Five Years For Dimmitt

On March 12, 1836, six days after the fall of the Alamo, Gen. Sam Houston sent an urgent message to Goliad ordering Philip Dimmit to meet him at Gonzales. Few Anglo-Americans came to Texas sooner than the young Kentuckian, who arrived at San Antonio in 1823, the same year Stephen F. Austin got the final go-ahead to populate the Mexican province.  Dimmitt learned Spanish, married a local girl and became a successful and popular trader with posts at Victoria, Goliad and Lavaca Bay.    On March 12, 1836, six days after the fall of the Alamo, Gen. Sam Houston sent an urgent message to Goliad ordering Philip Dimmit to meet him at Gonzales.

    Few Anglo-Americans came to Texas sooner than the young Kentuckian, who arrived at San Antonio in 1823, the same year Stephen F. Austin got the final go-ahead to populate the Mexican province.  Dimmitt learned Spanish, married a local girl and became a successful and popular trader with posts at Victoria, Goliad and Lavaca Bay.

    When discontent flared into defiance of the central government in the summer of 1835, planters and merchants almost to a man denounced the hotheads that dared to rock the boat.  They had a good thing going and were not about to risk it all in a reckless confrontation with their Mexican hosts.

    Dimmitt was the exception.  As soon as he learned Santa Anna was sending his brother-in-law to put the upstarts in their place, he suggested kidnapping Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos the moment he set foot in Texas.  But Cos and his 400 troops landed without incident at Copano Bay and reached Goliad on Oct. 2, the day the first shots of the rebellion were fired at Gonzales.

    Deciding Dimmitt’s abduction plan was a mighty fine idea, George Collinsworth made a beeline for Goliad with the Matagorda militia.  When the would-be kidnappers passed through Victoria, Dimmitt and 30 rancheros joined up and informed Collinsworth that Cos had gone to San Antonio leaving only a token contingent to defend Goliad.

    The Texans caught the rearguard by surprise and after a half-hour battle accepted the surrender of Presidio La Bahia.  Attracted by the quick and easy victory, colonists streamed into Goliad and on or about Oct. 14 elected Dimmitt commander.      

    Dimmitt stayed busy in Goliad, to say the least.  In a single week, he issued an “Appeal to the Inhabitants of Texas Residing East of the Guadalupe” to drum up public support and designed the first flag of the Revolution.  

    “I have had a flag made,” he wrote to Austin in a letter dated Oct. 27, 1835, “the colours, and their arrangement the same as the old one (with) ‘Constitution of 1824’ displayed on the white, in the centre.”  The banner, believed to have flown over the Alamo, was a symbolic pledge of allegiance to the constitution Santa Anna had scrapped.  

    But Dimmitt’s commitment to Mexican rule of any kind soon came into question.  Gov. Agustin Viesca, who had escaped from one of Santa Anna’s dungeons after being jailed for criticizing his dictatorship, sought sanctuary in rebel-held Goliad.  Dimmitt gave Viesca shelter but refused to recognize his authority as governor, a clear sign he was leaning toward revolution rather than reform.

    Under pressure from leading colonists hostile to any loose talk about independence, Austin officially relieved Dimmitt of his command on Nov. 18.  However, the Goliad garrison not only refused to remove him but gave him a unanimous vote of confidence.

    Three weeks later, Dimmitt went to San Antonio with a small portion of his detachment for the climax with Cos. Dimmitt then hurried back to Goliad, where he encouraged Ira Ingram to draft the first declaration of independence and to create a new flag for the occasion – a severed, bloody arm holding a sword against a white background.

    The radical document as well as the provocative flag with the unmistakable meaning renewed calls for Dimmitt’s removal.  This time he obliged his detractors by resigning and returned to San Antonio with 30 followers to reinforce the Alamo.

    Although most of his men chose not to stay, Dimmitt stuck around and surely would have died had fate not intervened.  He happened to be away from the Alamo on a scouting mission, when Santa Anna showed up ahead of schedule on Feb. 23, 1836.  

    Caught outside the walls, Dimmitt spent several days waiting for the opportunity to slip back inside.  But to his disappointment the chance never came, and he reluctantly rode to Victoria to raise a relief column for his doomed comrades.

    Dimmitt dutifully answered Houston’s summons of March 12, but by the time he made it to Gonzales the town was crawling with Mexican soldiers and the Texas Army was in full retreat.  Delayed by the evacuation of civilians, Dimmitt did not catch up with Houston until April 22, the day after the Battle of San Jacinto.

    Philip Dimmit probably knew that it was just a matter of time until his enemies took their revenge.  High-ranking Mexicans, who had once considered him one of them, now regarded him a despicable traitor.

    Mexican troops raided Dimmitt’s trading post near present-day Corpus Christi on July 4, 1841, took the owner and everybody else on the premises captive and spirited them back across the border.  

    Facing execution or indefinite detention, Dimmitt committed suicide with a deadly drug overdose.  These were his last words:  “I do not fear death but dread the idea of ending my life in a loathsome dungeon.  Tell them I prefer a Roman’s death to the ignominy of perpetual imprisonment, and that my last wish is for my country’s welfare.”   

    Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at haile@pdq.net or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549.  And come on by www.twith.com for a visit!