"T" is for Travis, William Barret [1809-1836]. Soldier. Travis was born in Edgefield District, but in 1818 his family moved to Alabama. He studied law, and published a small newspaper, the Claiborne Herald. In debt, he abandoned his pregnant wife and infant son and fled to Texas. Travis set up a law practice and began a life of drinking, gambling, and womanizing—all of which he carefully recorded in his diary. When the Texas Revolution broke out in 1835, he was commissioned a major and later promoted to lieutenant colonel. In January 1836 the Governor of Texas ordered Travis and a detachment of thirty men to reinforce the garrison at San Antonio. On the morning of March 6, 1836, William Barrett Travis was killed as the Mexican Army began its final assault on the Alamo.