Charles Colson Hieskell: Alamo Defender and Texas Revolutionary (1791–1836)
By: Bill Groneman
Revised by: Steven Douglas Lukefahr
Published: January 27, 2025
Updated: January 27, 2025
Charles Colson Hieskell, Alamo defender, son of Godlove and Margaret (Hampton) Heiskell (Charles later changed the spelling of his surname), was born on April 6, 1791, in Winchester, Virginia. He briefly lived in Missouri as a farmer before migrating to and settling in Nacogdoches in 1822. Some years later, Hieskell volunteered as a private to fight in the Texas Revolution. He may have fought in the siege of Béxar and later was a member of the Bexar garrison in Capt. William R. Carey's artillery company. On February 1, 1836, the garrison voted for two delegates to send to the Convention of 1836 in Washington-on-the-Brazos. His name was recorded as “C. C. Hieskell.” There is confusion between Charles Colson Hieskell and his cousin, Charles Marion Heiskell. The latter was from Knox County, Tennessee. He left Tennessee in 1835; however, there is no record of him being in Texas. There is also confusion between Charles Colson Hieskell and Charles Ready Haskell, but the latter was executed at the Goliad Massacre. Charles Colson Hieskell died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.
Bibliography:
Daughters of the American Revolution, The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors (San Antonio, 1976). Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Muster Rolls of the Texas Revolution (Austin, 1986). Bill Groneman, Alamo Defenders (Austin: Eakin, 1990). Steven Douglas Lukefahr, “In Search of Alamo Defender ‘Charles Haskell,’” Alamo Dispatch no. 197 (Spring 2023).
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Bill Groneman Revised by Steven Douglas Lukefahr, “Hieskell, Charles Colson,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hieskell-charles-colson.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
FHI88
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- January 27, 2025
- January 27, 2025
