William Barrett Travis

Meet the twenty-six-year-old lawyer who commanded Texas’ most famous garrison for thirteen incredible days and penned the words, “I shall never retreat or surrender—victory or death.”


William Barrett Travis is the first scholarly biography of the legendary Alamo commander. Historian Archie P. McDonald treats his subject not merely as a god-like hero, but as the complete human being that he was. The result is an in-depth study that searches for an understanding of Travis’ character and multifaceted personality. The result is an exciting and entertaining, but above all contemplative analysis of Travis and the Texas War for Independence.