Question: What was the name of William Barret Travis’s slave whose life was spared by General Santa Anna so he could warn Texans not to resist the Mexican army’s advance?
Answer: Joe. Although he fought during the battle, he was escorted to Sam Houston’s camp along with fellow Alamo survivor Susanna Dickinson with the intent that their account of the battle would persuade Texans to abandon their arms. After being questioned by the Texas Cabinet, he was returned to Travis’s estate, from which he escaped a year later. Joe’s first-person account of the events at the Alamo is an essential contribution to historians’ understanding of what happened during the battle.
