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At a critical stage of the Texas Revolution a large Mexican army surrounded a makeshift fortification known locally as the Alamo. It was there that a small defensive force of mostly Texans had become holed up, and where they vowed to 'never surrender or retreat'. After a siege lasting thirteen days, the Mexicans assaulted the fortification during the early hours of Sunday, 6 March 1836. Except for a few women and children, and one male slave, everyone inside was killed.All this is well known, and to this day the Alamo Mission is an American national monument sacred to the people of Texas. The Battle of Alamo sits alongside such dramatic last stands as Little Big Horn and Rorke's Drift as one of the most heroic and sacrificial battles against the odds in military history. But what few realise is that a large number of those who fought and died for Texas at the Alamo were British.For the first time, the stories of these men, their lives and their deaths at the Alamo, are revealed. They include an Englishman named William Blazeby, who led a troop of New Orleans Greys; a Scotsman named John McGregor, who took to his bagpipes and accompanied Davy Crockett on the fiddle to keep up the spirits of the defenders; and an Irishman named Robert Evans, who, as Master of Ordnance was shot down while trying to set light to the gunpowder in the chapel when the battle was lost.Through men such as these, the full story of this iconic encounter in the history of the United States of America is told in detail by the author. The roles of the opposing commanders, the infamous General Santa Anna and Lieutenant Colonel William 'Buck' Travis, are also examined. At the same time, James Bancroft also investigates the death of James Bowie, renowned, of course, for his large hunting knife, and Davy Crockett. Exactly how the so called 'King of the Wild Frontier' met his end has been the subject of controversial debate ever since Texas fought off its Mexican shackles - thanks in no small measure to those Britons who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their American comrades on the crumbling walls of the Alamo more than 185 years ago.

During the crisis year of 1792 when war against France was at its closest, a variety of societies and associations of 'Loyal Britons' were set up throughout Britain. Their aim was to organise patriotic, anti-French forces in defense of king and country, and to help maintain the established order.The need to provide an internal defense force resulted in the Volunteer Act of 1794. It witnessed the formation of hundreds of volunteer regiments on the upswell in loyalist sentiment following the disorder and instability witnessed across the Channel in Revolutionary France.By 1798, there were 118,000 volunteers but, faced with the possibility of a French invasion of Southern England, William Pitt's government aimed to expand this number substantially. By 1804 there were an astonishing 380,000 volunteers under arms and the various Corps made up half to one third of all the home service forces. When we add in those volunteers who agreed to serve overseas, as garrison troops in India for example, the number grows to approximately 800,000 - meaning that around one in every five adult males participated in military activities. This amazing groundswell of patriotic fervour has seldom been investigated before.Using diaries and archive sources, this book seeks to explore the 'Dad's Army' of the Napoleonic Wars. These men were far more than local bands of volunteers, they represented a militarisation of society not previously seen and which was repeated again when the world was thrown into war in the twentieth century.