Byrd Lockhart was born 1782 in Virginia. He served as chairman of a meeting denouncing the Fredonian Rebellion and pledging support for the Mexican government. In April he was put in charge of a row of blockhouses in Gonzales that served as protection against Indians. Later in 1827 he opened a road from Béxar through Gonzales and along the right bank of the Lavaca River to Matagorda Bay. At the outbreak of the Texas Revolution Lockhart was requested by James W. Fannin, Jr., to act as a scout below San Antonio de Béxar. At this time he was serving with Stephen F. Austin, but he became separated from Austin’s command near the Medina River on November 12, 1835. During the Siege of Béxar, Lockhart served as a private, along with his son, Byrd, Jr., in Capt. John York’s company. On January 17, 1836, James C. Neill, John W. Smith, José Francisco Ruiz, and Lockhart were appointed commissioners by James W. Robinson to treat with the Comanche Indians, who were threatening Béxar. On February 4 Lockhart was named with Mathew Caldwell and William A. Mathews to raise volunteers in Gonzales and Milam for the ranging company. On February 23 he mustered into service the Gonzales Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers. He returned to Béxar and the Alamo. It is possible that he rode with the Gonzales Ranging Company, which arrived on March 1. He and Andrew Jackson Sowell were sent from the Alamo a short time before the battle to obtain supplies for the garrison, which saved them from being caught in the massacre when the Alamo fell. Lockhart later served the Texan army as the captain of a spy company. He died in 1839, and the town of Lockhart is named in his honor.
Smith, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson Smith was born 1808 in Virginia. He entered Texas in 1835 as a member of the Georgia Battalion and saw action during the Siege of Béxar. Afterward he was attached to James Walker Fannin’s Goliad command. As a member of William Ward’s contingent Smith, a private in Uriah I. Bullock’s company, fought at the battle of Refugio. He retreated from Refugio with others in Ward’s command but was later captured near Victoria. He was one of sixteen men detained by the Mexicans at Victoria on March 23 to build a boat and was thus spared from the Goliad Massacre. He was, however, twice wounded, by a bullet in the hand during the battle of Refugio, and by a bayonet in the buttock while a prisoner. Late in April 1836 he escaped from the Mexicans and on June 15 was honorably discharged by Thomas Jefferson Rusk. He died on February 16, 1890, and was buried in Morton Cemetery, Richmond.
Moore, Francis
Francis Moore joined the Texas army, probably in October 1835, and participated in the Siege of Béxar.
Sharp, John
John Sharp was one of the signers of a petition calling for a general convention of the people of Texas to “quiet the present excitement” against Mexican rule. He served at the Siege of Béxar, and on November 28, 1835, he and seven other citizens of Brazoria County petitioned the provisional government of Texas to fortify the east end of Galveston Island, the mouth of the Brazos River, and the entrance to Matagorda Bay against Mexican naval forces. To pay for these installations and their garrisons, the committee suggested the opening of customhouses at those ports of entry. On March 24, 1836, Sharp was elected first lieutenant of Capt. Robert J. Calder’s Company K of Col. Edward Burleson’s First Regiment, Texas Volunteers, and he immediately returned to Brazoria, apparently as a recruiting officer. There on March 27 he wrote his assurances to his fellow citizens that Sam Houston’s army would not retreat from the Colorado River but would march west, pushing the Mexican army before it. “Let but the men of Texas turn out, with arms in their hands, resolved to be free or die,” he wrote, “and their families will be as safe here as on the other side of the Sabine.” Sharp returned to the army in time to serve at the battle of San Jacinto. In 1837 Sharp was aboard the schooner Julius Caesar when it was captured by a Mexican naval squadron, and he was imprisoned for a time with William H. Wharton at Matamoros. He died in Velasco on August 17, 1840.
Pollard, Amos
Dr. Amos Pollard, chief surgeon of the Alamo garrison, was born 1803 in Massachusetts. In 1834 Pollard traveled to Texas by way of New Orleans. He took part in the fight for the Gonzales “come and take it” cannon, the opening skirmish of the Texas Revolution, on October 2, 1835. He later marched on San Antonio de Béxar as a private in Capt. John York’s volunteer company. On October 23, 1835, he was appointed surgeon of the regiment by Stephen F. Austin. After the Siege of Béxar Pollard remained in the town as chief surgeon of the Texan garrison, on the staff of Lt. Col. James C. Neill. He cared for the sick and wounded of the garrison and also set up a hospital within the Alamo. On February 23, 1836, Antonio López de Santa Anna’s Mexican army besieged the Alamo. A portrait of him was done sometime before he moved to Texas. Besides Travis, Bowie, and Crockett, he is the only Alamo defender of whom a portrait was done from life. A copy of the portrait is on display in the Alamo. Pollard died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836, probably defending the Alamo hospital.
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