Alamo Defenders Ossuary -- Cathedral San Fernando de Bexar, San Antonio TX USA - Charnel Chapels, Charnel Houses and Ossuaries on Waymarking.com

The San Fernando de Bexar cathedral in downtown San Antonio TX is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Antonio. The oldest cathedral in Texas, the cathedral was built between 1738 and 1746.

In December 1835, a small group of Texian revolutionaries stormed the run-down Mission San Antonio de Valero, now known as the Alamo, kicked out the Mexican soldiers who had been holding it, and took full control of the village of San Antonio de Bexar. Three months later, after a long siege and protracted fighting, the Mexican Army finally overran the Alamo and killed almost all those inside.

Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and Col. William B. Travis were the most famous of all the Texas heroes who died at the Alamo that day.

For more on the battle of the Alamo, see here: (visit link)

After the battle, the bodies of the defenders were denied the rites of Christian burial by General Santa Anna. He ordered the bodies dragged into funeral pyres and set alight. The burned bones lay exposed for months. After the end of the Texas Revolution, Lt. Col. Juan Seguin was ordered back to San Antonio to gather what remains he could find of the Alamo defenders and give them a proper burial.

In 1936, several mixed bones, hair, and fragments of burned 1830s-era military uniforms were discovered during some renovations to the area around and under the altar at the Cathedral. The Archbishop knew he had disturbed the remains of the Alamo defenders. He ordered the remains tastefully and reverently placed on display while a suitable ossuary monument was built.

In 1938 the bones were reinterred in a small marble ossuary which sits in a place of honor near the main entrance to the Cathedral.

Today visitors from around the world come to the Cathedral de San Fernando de Bexar to pay their respects to the bones of the valiant defenders of the Alamo.

Some more reading on the final resting place of the bones of the Alamo defenders can be found here: (visit link)

An article arguing that the bones may NOT be those of Crockett Travis and Bowie is here: (visit link)

Active: yes Accessible: yes Admission fee: free Web documentation: [Web Link]

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