Juana Navarro Alsbury

Who was Juana Navarro Alsbury?

Juana Navarro Alsbury was one of the few Texian survivors of the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution in 1836. As Mexican forces entered her hometown, San Antonio de Bexar, on February 23, Alsbury's cousin by marriage, James Bowie, brought her with him to the Alamo Mission so that he could protect her. Bowie, the co-commander of the Texian forces, collapsed from illness on the second day of the siege; Alsbury nursed him throughout the remainder of the siege. On March 4, Texian co-commander William Barret Travis sent her as an emissary to Mexican commander Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna to negotiate an honorable surrender for the Texian forces. She made no headway, and her visit likely increased Santa Anna's impatience to end the siege in a spectacular fashion. Santa Anna launched an early-morning assault on the Alamo on March 6.

Most Texian troops were killed during the Battle of the Alamo. Two of them died in front of Alsbury. One Texian was killed trying to protect Alsbury, her sister Gertrudis, and her young son Alijo Perez Jr., from Mexican troops. The other was found hiding in her room. The women were rescued by a Mexican officer and interviewed by Santa Anna before being released.