Along the Road alon GSenera ions

Dani Reed

Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson (1813 – October 7, 1883) and her infant daughter, Angelina, were among the few American survivors of 1836 Battle of the Alamo. Her husband, Almaron Dickinson, and 185 other Texian defenders were killed by the Mexican Army. Born in Tennessee’s Williamson County, she never learned to read or write and married when she was only 15 years old.

Susannah and other civilians took refuge in the chapel during the battle. After the fighting, Santa Anna ordered that the Tejano civilian survivors be allowed to return to their homes in San Antonio. Each woman received $2 and a blanket and was allowed to go free and spread the news of the destruction that awaited those who opposed the Mexican government. When the small party of survivors arrived in Gonzales on March 13, they found Sam Houston, the commander of all Texian forces, there with about 400 men. After survivors related the details of the battle and the strength of Santa Anna’s army, Houston advised all civilians to evacuate and then ordered the army to retreat. Thus began the Runaway Scrape, in which much of Texas’ population, including the acting government, rushed eastward to escape the advancing Mexican army.

Susanna remarried, died in 1883, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin. The house her husband built in Austin in 1869 became a museum, The Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig Museum, dedicated to Susanna and the other Alamo survivors.