Ted Poe: “It was in the cold, dark, damp, moldy walls of a beat-up old Spanish mission that was already 100 years old at the time.…”

“It was in the cold, dark, damp, moldy walls of a beat-up old Spanish mission that was already 100 years old at the time. He was a 27-year-old lawyer from South Carolina and also from Alabama. He was the commander of 187 volunteers from 13 countries and most of the States in then the United States. His men were surrounded by several thousand of the enemy. It was the Alamo. It had been turned into a makeshift fort, and the commander was William Barret Travis. Mr. Speaker, he wrote the following letter 179 years ago this very night, February 24, 1836. It is entitled Commander of the Alamo, February 24, 1836: To all the people of Texas and all Americans in the world, fellow citizens and compatriots: I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannon fire for over 24 hours, but I have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded surrender at its discretion; otherwise, the fort will be put to the sword. I have answered that demand with a cannon shot, and the flag still waves proudly over the north wall. I shall never surrender or retreat. I call upon you in the name of liberty and patriotism and everything dear to our character to come to my aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to 3 or 4,000 in 4 or 5 days.…”