James Bonham
James Bonham | |
---|---|
Born | February 20, 1807 Saluda County, South Carolina |
Died | March 6, 1836 (aged 29) San Antonio, Texas |
Allegiance | Republic of Texas |
Service/ | Texian Army |
Years of service | 1835-1836 |
Rank | Second lieutenant |
Battles/wars |
James Butler Bonham (February 20, 1807 – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American soldier who died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. He was a second cousin of William B. Travis and was a messenger of the Battle of the Alamo. His younger brother, Milledge Luke Bonham, was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War, and served as Governor of South Carolina from 1862 to 1864.
Early life
Bonham was born, along with his sibling (Milledge Luke Bonham) in what is now Saluda County, S.C. on February 20, 1807. He was the son of James and Sophia Butler (Smith) Bonham. The family home, called Flat Grove, is still standing and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bonham entered South Carolina College in 1824. In 1827, in his senior year, he led a student protest over harsh attendance regulations and the poor food served at the college boardinghouse. He was expelled, along with the entire senior class. In 1830, Bonham practiced law in Pendleton, but was found in contempt of court after caning an attorney who had insulted one of Bonham's clients. When ordered to apologize by the sitting judge, he refused and threatened to tweak the judge’s nose. Bonham was sentenced to ninety days for contempt of court.
He served as an aide to
In October 1834, Bonham moved to
Texas and the Alamo
On December 1, 1835, he wrote to Sam Houston from San Felipe volunteering his services for Texas and declining all pay, lands, or rations in return. In December 1835, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Texas cavalry, but apparently was not assigned to any specific unit. He had time to set up a law practice in Brazoria and was advertising the fact in the Telegraph and Texas Register by January 2, 1836.
Bonham and Houston quickly developed a mutual admiration. After being in Texas for only one month Bonham recommended to Houston that William S. Blount of North Carolina be granted a commission as a captain in the Texas cavalry, which he later regretted due to the Blount family's questionable character. On January 11, 1836, Houston recommended to
He was sent by Travis to obtain aid for the garrison at Bexar on about February 16, 1836. He visited
""At the end, the weary Bonham, a lawyer, a Carolinian of exulted family and a friend of Travis, turned his mount around and rode back toward San Antonio. He was told it was useless to throw away his life. He answered back that Buck Travis deserved to know the answer to his appeals, spat upon the ground, and galloped west into his own immortality."
Thus, Bonham returned to the Alamo on March 3, bearing through the Mexican lines a letter from Robert McAlpin Williamson
Legacy
History of Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Timeline | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Texas portal | ||||||||||||||||||
The town of
"Flat Grove," Bonham's home in Saluda, is the only known birthplace of an Alamo defender still in existence. It is maintained as a museum. In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS James B. Bonham was named in his honor.
In Southeastern Conference (SEC) college football, the Texas A&M Aggies and the South Carolina Gamecocks, Bonham's alma mater, began a cross-divisional rivalry in 2014 with the schools competing for the Bonham trophy.[1]
See also
References
- ^ Kirshner, Alex (29 September 2017). "The whole history of the South Carolina-Texas A&M rivalry takes 2 minutes to read". SB Nation.
Sources
- Bonham, William N. (1990). James Butler Bonham: Messenger of Defeat. True North Books.
External links
- Photo of Bonham's home from the Saluda County Historical Society via Wayback Machine
- James Bonham Biography
- James Bonham from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Bonham Trophy results Texas A&M vs. South Carolina in college football