William Blazeby: English-born Captain and Defender of the Alamo (1795–1836)
By: Bill Groneman
Revised by: Steven Douglas Lukefahr
Published: November 1, 1994
Updated: February 3, 2026
William Blazeby, defender of the Alamo, son of William and Frances (Robinson) Blazeby, was born in England in 1795. Reared in Ipswich in Suffolk County, his father was a butcher and a cordwainer (leather shoemaker). His family worshipped at the Church of St. Matthew as members of the Anglican Church of England. He likely attended one of the common charity schools in Ipswich. As a young man, Blazeby moved to Norwich in Norfolk County, where he entered the printing trade. During the Regency Era major social divisions occurred between the protected wealthy upper class and a growing impoverished population. In about 1830 Blazeby, seeking a more promising future, migrated first to New York and then soon settled in New Orleans, where he was employed as a printer at the Louisiana Advertiser.
Upon the outbreak of the Texas Revolution in fall of 1835, Blazeby joined the First Company of the New Orleans Greys as a private under Capt. Thomas H. Breece. This company of volunteers boarded the steamer Washita, destined for Natchitoches via the Mississippi and Red Rivers. By the time the Greys reached Nacogdoches, Blazeby was made the company’s quartermaster. He rode a piebald horse from Nacogdoches to Washington-on-the-Brazos. There, on November 20, 1835, Blazeby exchanged his horse for a fresh mount and wrote a promissory note for the repair of company rifles.
Upon the company’s arrival at the seat of war, Blazeby took part in the siege of Béxar, and was promoted to second lieutenant. In late December Sam Houston ordered Capt. Breece to proceed on a recruiting mission for more volunteers. Blazeby was later promoted to captain of infantry and commander of the Greys under Lt. Col. James C. Neill. On December 31, 1835, a formal meeting of Neill’s troops was held with Blazeby serving as chairman. This was in response to the departure of the majority of the garrison on the Matamoros Expedition in accordance with the plan of Col. Frank W. Johnson and James Grant. At the meeting, several key resolutions were drafted involving the rights and privileges of the residual Béxar garrison. These resolutions were published in the Telegraph and Texas Register, along with addendum written by Blazeby, noting that the adoption of the resolution “[t]hat we consider it highly essential that the existing army remain in Bejar” was “occasioned by the marching of two-thirds of the volunteer army for Matamoros, putting the safety of the Bejar in jeopardy, and taking with them the ammunition, clothing, and provisions, intended for the winter supply of this garrison.”
On February 1, 1836, the garrison voted for two delegates to attend the Convention of 1836 in Washington-on-the-Brazos. Blazeby was among four officers who certified the election results. Santa Anna and the vanguard of his army (about 1,500 troops) occupied Béxar on February 23. Confined to the Alamo compound, Blazeby commanded an infantry company of roughly twenty-one volunteer riflemen (mostly former members of the New Orleans Greys). Blazeby died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. After the battle Santa Anna sent the captured New Orleans Greys flag to Mexico.
Before his death at the Alamo, Blazeby wrote to his family in England. He stated that he was in Texas, had joined the New Orleans Greys, and was fighting the Mexican army. He did not mention the Alamo, which suggests that the letter was written before his arrival there. On February 3, 1838, the Board of Land Commissioners of Harrisburg County granted a bounty for one-third of a league of land to the heirs of William Blazeby. The land bounty was issued as Fannin 1st Class Headright no. 908 in Wilbarger County. However, Blazeby’s family never claimed his bounty.
Bibliography:
Daughters of the American Revolution, The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors (San Antonio, 1976). Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Muster Rolls of the Texas Revolution (Austin, 1986). Bill Groneman, Alamo Defenders (Austin: Eakin, 1990). John H. Jenkins, ed., The Papers of the Texas Revolution, 1835–1836 (10 vols., Austin: Presidial Press, 1973). Steven Douglas Lukefahr, “William Blazeby: English Captain of the Alamo,” Alamo Dispatch no. 203 (Spring 2025).
Time Periods:
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Bill Groneman Revised by Steven Douglas Lukefahr, “Blazeby, William,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/blazeby-william.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
FBL67
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- November 1, 1994
- February 3, 2026
