ISAAC MILLSAP
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BIOGRAPHY
BORN: 1795 at Staunton, Augusta, Virginia______
MARRIED: 23 Sept 1819 at Bogue Chitto, Pike, Missippissi
DIED: 6 March 1836_______________________
BURIED: Cremated at the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas__
SPOUSE: Mary Blackburn_________________________
BORN:_____________________________________
DIED:____________________________________
BURIED:_______________________________________
ACHIEVEMENTS
ALTHOUGH we are not direct decendants of Isaac, he is one of the notable members of the Millsap family. The first record of Isaac appeared in Cocke County, Tennessee from the following document:
"Personally appeared Thomas Millsaps, Basheba Millsaps, and James Millsaps before me William Lillard, Justice of the Peace of the County aforesaid and made oath in due form that Isaac Millsaps went into the service of the United States on or about the 10th day of September 1814 and was about nineteen years of age when he went into the service as a ----- and that the said Isaac Millsaps is and always ----- for the son of Thomas and Basheba his wife sworn to and subscribed this 21st day of March 1817.
AFTER that time, he moved to Missippissi. While there, he married his spouse who was blind. Later on, they moved their family to San Antonio, Texas. They had 6 or 7 children, although no one knows the names of two of them.
IN Isaac's daughter Mary's death notice, it stated that her father fell at the Alamo and her two brothers lost their lives at the Battle of San Jacinto. It was at that battle that Sam Houston led an army of Texans in the defeat of Santa Ana's army. The Texans massacred the Mexicans to avenge the death of those at the Alamo. It is ironic that Isaac's two sons lost their lives in retaliation for the death of their father.
AT this point, it is worth examining what was the cause of Texan's battle for independence that resulted in the deaths at the Alamo. When Santa Anna was campaigning for the presidency of Mexico, one part of his platform was that he supported the Mexican constitution of 1824 and would keep it intact. Once elected, however, Santa Anna decided the Mexican people were not sufficiently advanced to live under a democracy, so he scrapped the constitution and installed himself as a military dictator. That act more than any other was responsible for the Texas revolution.
WHEN American colonists began settling in the Mexican state of Texas, they did so according to the rules of the 1824 constitution. When their protections provided under that document were withdrawn, the Texans rebelled. This rebellion was not unlike the cause of the Patriots revolution against England. Since Isaac's family supported the War of Independence, it would only seem natural that Isaac would follow in his family's tradition.
SOME notable Texans were originally for the restoration of the constitution rather than for independence. Sam Houston originally favored restoring the constitution out of fear that an independence stance might cost Texas the support of loyalist Mexican citizens living in the province of Texas who supported the restoration of the 1824 constitution. Other prominent Texans along with most of the men at the Alamo favored outright independence. There were overwhelming evidence that any time spent contemplating alternate solutions contrary to what the men of the Alamo were fighting for, other than independence for Texas, would be time wasted.
THERE is a story that Isaac wrote one of the last documents to leave the Alamo. This letter was part of the Billy Millsaps' papers. The document's authenticy is debated with some claiming that it is a forgery. In part, written on the morning of March 3, 1836, Isaac is supposed to have written:
My Dear, Dear Ones,
We are in the fortress of the Alamo a ruined church that has most fell down. The Mexicans are here in large numbers they have kept up a constant fire since we got here. All our boys are well & Capt. Martin is in good spirits. Early this morning I watched the Mexicans drilling just out of range they were marching up and down with such order. They have bright red and blue uniforms and many canons. Some here at this place believe that the main army has not come up yet. I think they are all here even Santanna. Col. Bowie is down sick and had to be to bed I saw him yesterday & he is still ready to fight. He didn't know me from last spring but did remember Wash. He tells me that help will be here soon & it makes us feel good. We have beef and corn to eat but no coffee, bag I had fell off on the way here so it was spilt. I have not seen Travis but 2 times since here he told us all this morning that Fanning was going to be here early with many men and there would be a good fight. He stays on the wall some but mostly to his room. I hope help comes soon cause we can't fight them all. Some says he is going to talk some tonight & group us better for Defence. If we fail here get to the river with the children all Texas will be before the enemy we get so little news here we know nothing. There is no discontent in our boys some are tired from loss of sleep and rest. The Mexicans are shooting every few minutes but most of the shots fall inside & no harm. I don't know what else to say they is calling for all letters, kiss the dear children for me be well & God protects us all.
Isaac
If any men come through there tell them to hurry with powder for it is short I hope you get this & know-I love you all.
THERE are several points about the letter which seem suspicious. But the most compelling are the following three contentions:
(1) The letter is simply signed "Isaac" and, in the days of the Alamo conflict, it was very rare indeed for a writer to sign documents with only the first name. But the signature may have been the norm in addressing a personal letter to his blind wife and children. Even today, some letters written to one's family members are only signed with one's given name because the family knows your surname. A formal letter or a letter to a lesser known acquaintance dictates that your surname is included as part of the signature.
(2) There is some graphic evidence that the handwriting used in the letter appears to be similar to that of the infamous forger John Laflin. He was known to have been operating in Texas about the time the letter appeared. But, a lot of people have similar handwriting so the similarities between Isaac and the forger Laflin may be a coincidence.
(3) Perhaps the most damaging evidence against the letter's authenticity came from Michael Green, archivist of the Texas state library. He claims that the signature on the letter does not appear to match the other known signatures from Isaac. Green also advised that there is a difference in the spelling used for the name from other signatures. But, variances in styles and even in spelling used in signatures on the Texas frontier are not unheard of. Even in the present time, I have noticed signature styles and spelling changes on different documents from the same signator - probably due to maturity or whim.
THE authenticity of Isaac's document appears to be real in light of the personal nature of the letter. But the letter was used to refute the accounts of the Alamo from other sources. Therein, these conflicts has put the letter's creditability in doubt. Therefore, only the reader can judge the veracity of a personal letter intended only to be read by his family members.
SOURCES:
(1) DAR Patriot Index, Page 471.
(2) Tennessee Roster of Revolutionary Ancestors.
(3) "The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors" by the Alamo DAR chapter.
(4) The Alamo museum's file on Isaac Millsap. A typescript copy of Isaac's letter can be found in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo.
(5) Austin, Texas Archives of original records and pension to decendants of the Alamo.
(6) Wallace O. Chariton, "Exploring the Alamo Legends", Wordware Publishing, 1992.
Researched by: Dennis P. Arntzen
UPDATED - 1 JANUARY 2003
