Benjamin Milam | |
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| Born | (1788-10-20)October 20, 1788 Frankfort,Virginia (now part of Kentucky) |
| Died | December 7, 1835(1835-12-07) (aged 47) San Antonio,Coahuila y Tejas,Mexico |
| Allegiance | American |
| Service | Kentucky Militia Mexican Army Texian Army |
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Benjamin Rush Milam (October 20, 1788 – December 7, 1835) was an American colonist ofMexican Texas and a military leader and hero of theTexas Revolution. A native of what is nowKentucky, Milam fought beside American interests during theMexican War of Independence and later joined theTexians in their own fight for independence, for which he assumed a leadership role. Persuading the weary Texians not to back down during theSiege of Béxar, Milam was killed in action while leading an assault into the city that eventually resulted in the Mexican Army's surrender.Milam County, Texas and the town ofMilam are named in his honor, as are many other placenames and civic works throughout Texas.
Ben Milam was born inFrankfort, Kentucky on October 20, 1788, when Kentucky was still considered part ofVirginia.[1] He was the fifth of six children born to Moses Milam and his wife, Elizabeth Pattie Boyd. Raised in the remote western frontier of the earlyUnited States, Milam had little formal schooling. As a young man, he enlisted as a private in the 8th Regiment of the Kentucky Militia and eventually was commissioned a lieutenant. He served in theWar of 1812.[2]
In 1818, after learning of the trading opportunities with theNative Americans living along the upperRed River, Milam traveled from Kentucky toSpanish Texas to trade with theComanche.[1][2] While there, he metDavid G. Burnet, who at the time was living with the Indians in an attempt to recover from a case oftuberculosis.[2]
InNew Orleans in 1819, Milam metJosé Félix Trespalacios andJames Long, who intended to lead afilibustering expedition to Texas to helpMexican revolutionaries in theirongoing fight for independence fromSpain.[2] Milam decided to join the pair on what became known as theLong Expedition.[1][2]
The expedition capturedNacogdoches in the summer of 1819 but fell apart when confronted by a Spanish army. With help from Milam, Long regrouped his forces nearGalveston the following year. By 1821, Milam had broken with Long's new expedition. While Long marched toPresidio La Bahía, Milam and Trespalacios traveled toVeracruz andMexico City; both parties met a hostile reception and were quickly imprisoned.[2] While in prison, Long was mysteriously shot and killed by a guard, and Milam came to believe that the murder had been arranged by Trespalacios. This incident drove Milam and some of his friends to plot to kill Trespalacios, and when that plot was discovered, Milam was again imprisoned.[2]
Milam and his friends were sent to Mexico City, where they were held until the fall of 1822, whenJoel R. Poinsett, U.S. Commissioner of Observation to Mexico, secured their freedom. With the exception of Milam, all were returned to the United States on thesloop-of-warUSSJohn Adams.[2]
By the spring of 1824, Milam had returned to Mexico, which was adopting the new republican form of government established by the1824 Constitution of Mexico. Trespalacios and Milam reconciled, and Milam was granted Mexican citizenship and commissioned as acolonel in theMexican Army.[1][2]
In 1825, Milam and Arthur G. Wavell, an English general in the Mexican Army, became partners in a silver mine operation inNuevo León. The two also obtainedempresario grants in Texas. In 1829, Milam sought to organize a new mining company in partnership with David G. Burnet, but their efforts failed due to a lack of funds. Milam and Wavell's empresarial efforts also failed when their contract was canceled by the Mexican government for an insufficient supply of new citizens for their colony in Texas, followinga new law passed in 1830.[2]
In 1835, Milam went toMonclova, the capital ofCoahuila y Texas, to urge the new governor,Agustín Viesca, to send a land commissioner to Texas to provide settlers there with land titles. However, before Milam could leave the city, word arrived that Mexican PresidentAntonio López de Santa Anna had overthrown the representative federal government and established a dictatorship.[1] Governor Viesca fled with Milam, but both were captured and imprisoned atMonterrey. Milam eventually escaped thanks to sympathetic jailers, who also supplied him with a horse.[2]
By chance, Milam encountered a company ofTexian soldiers commanded by George Collinsworth, from whom he learned of the movement for independence in Texas. Milam joined them, helping tocapture Goliad on October 10, 1835.[2] He wrote: "I assisted Texas to gain her independence. I have endured heat and cold, hunger and thirst; I have borne losses and suffered persecutions; I have been a tenant of every prison between this and Mexico. But the events of this night have compensated me for all my losses and all my sufferings."
He then joined the mainTexian Army in its attempt to expel all Mexican forces from Texas by capturingSan Antonio in the ongoingSiege of Béxar. While returning from a scouting mission in the southwest on December 4, 1835, Milam learned that a majority of the army was considering retreating into winter quarters instead of continuing on with the planned attack on San Antonio.[2]
CommanderEdward Burleson and his council of officers were reluctant to attack, and the next day at 3 PM, Milam went to Burleson's tent to ask permission to call for volunteers to storm the city. Burleson had little choice but to go along with Milam's plan. Milam was convinced that putting off the final assault on San Antonio would be a disaster for the cause of independence.[2] He then made his famous impassioned plea: "Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?" Three hundred men cheered their support for Milam and volunteered to attack at dawn on December 5.[1][2]
Plans were quickly made for a two-column surprise attack. The volunteers would form at an abandoned mill, Molino Blanco or Zambrano's mill, at 3 AM, while Burleson would hold the rest of the army in reserve. At the same time, Captain James C. Neill would open fire on theAlamo, the center of the Mexican Army's defensive position, with two cannons to distract the Mexican soldiers. Early on December 5, Colonel Milam and ColonelFrank W. Johnson each led a column of attackers into the heavily fortified city, where they eventually seized a foothold and entrenched their position overnight.[citation needed]
On December 7, 1835, the Texians renewed the attack and progressed further into the city, capturing another foothold, but Milam was killed while leading the attack. Standing with Johnson andHenry Karnes near the Veramendi house, Milam had been trying to observe theSan Fernando church tower with a field telescope given to him byStephen F. Austin when he was shot in the head by a Mexican rifleman and killed instantly.[1][2] He fell into the arms ofSamuel Maverick. Robert Morris was chosen to take over Milam's command of the first division.[citation needed]
The Mexican Army lost more than 400 killed, deserted, or wounded in the ensuing battle. Texian losses were only 20 to 30 killed. The siege ended on December 9, 1835, when GeneralMartín Perfecto de Cos sent a subordinate to negotiate a truce with the Texians. Morris gave Cos and his troops six days to leave the Alamo. Burleson provided the Mexican Army with as many supplies as he could spare, and the Mexican wounded were allowed to remain behind to be treated by Texian doctors.
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