"Tychicus will tell you everything." Ephesians 6:21

Each year I attend the meetings of the National Prayer Committee.  This year they were held in San Antonio, TX.  Prior to these meetings, I mentioned to a cousin of mine that I would be in San Antonio.  He told me that there was a “Fuqua” who was killed in the Alamo.

So, when I had a couple extra hours, I traveled to the Alamo with my friends Bob Hirtzel and Jan Stahl to see what I could find out.  And… sure  enough…  I found that Galba Fuqua had, in fact, fought and died there.  With a little internet sleuthing, here is what I have found out.

Galba was born in Alabama on March 9th, 1819 to Silas and Sally Fuqua.  He was their third child and first son.  By 1825 Sally had given birth to four more children.  She evidently died soon after that.  Silas, responding to the 1820 Texas land grant act, bought at least 80 acres on the east bank of the San Marcos river about 70 miles east of San Antonio, Texas and moved his family there.  Silas died in 1834.

In February, 1836 Galba was in Gonzolez, TX, a few miles south of his father’s land.  He was active in a group called the Ranging Company of Mounted Volunteers.  Word came on February 23rd that help was needed at the Alamo, so he and (probably) some of these Volunteers soon responded to the need.  He arrived at the Alamo on March 1st.

Santa Ana was a war hero and was elected president in 1835.  He soon became more of a dictator.  He removed the constitution and also “recalled” the land grants that Mexico had made in response to the Texas land grant act.  So, he rallied a large army to retake the land of Texas.  By February, 1836, he had set a siege on the Alamo.  The primary attack took place 5 days after Galba had arrived.

On March 6th, 3 days shy of his 17th birthday, Galba was killed along with 189 others who were there.  As he was dying a women named Susan Dickinson later claimed that during the battle, Galba came to her and tried to tell her something. He was unable to deliver his message because his jaw had been broken in the fighting.  My guess is that he was hit in the jaw with the butt of a rifle then stabbed with a bayonet.

I have also found that Galba is a distant (veeeery distant) relative.  His great-grandfather (Ralph Fuqua, b.1693 in Virginia) is the brother of my great (x6) grandfather (William Humphreys Fuqua, b.1688 also in Virginia).  They were both first generation Fuquas born in America.  Their father, Guillaume, was born in France.  The spelling of his name was Fuoquet.

Thank you, Tychicus

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