Peter James Bailey: Alamo Defender and Texas Hero (1812–1836)
By: Ronald G. Bailey
Published: November 1, 1994
Updated: July 22, 2020
Peter James Bailey, Alamo defender, the son of Gabriel and Sabra (Rice) Bailey, was born in Kentucky in 1812. He graduated from Transylvania University with a degree in law in 1834. In January 1836 he came to Texas in company with Daniel W. Cloud and others from Logan County, Kentucky. They took the oath of allegiance before John Forbes at Nacogdoches on January 14, 1836, and were enrolled in the Texas army. Bailey and Cloud were members of the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers. They perished with David Crockett in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. For Bailey's service to Texas, his heirs received land parcels that are now in Archer, Baylor, and Hamilton counties. Bailey County in the Texas Panhandle was named in Peter Bailey's honor.
Bibliography:
Albert Curtis, Remember the Alamo Heroes (San Antonio: Clegg, 1961). 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). Amelia W. Williams, A Critical Study of the Siege of the Alamo and of the Personnel of Its Defenders (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, 1931; rpt., Southwestern Historical Quarterly 36–37 [April 1933-April 1934]).
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Ronald G. Bailey, “Bailey, Peter James III,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bailey-peter-james-iii.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
FBACH
- November 1, 1994
- July 22, 2020
