Who Will Go With Old Ben Milam? LbNA #29034

Benjamin Rush Milam was a hero of the Texas Revolution whose most famous, and last, act of bravery inspired Texans to continue the fight for liberty. This was the Battle of Bexar (San Antonio). In 1835 Milam went to Monclova, the capital of Coahuila and Texas, to urge the new governor, Agustin Viesca, to send a land commissioner to Texas to provide the settlers with land titles. Viesca agreed to do this. However, before Milam could leave the city, word came that Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had overthrown the representative government of Mexico, had established a dictatorship, and was en route to Texas with an army. Viesca fled with Milam, but both were captured and imprisoned at Monterrey. Milam eventually escaped and headed for the Texas border, which he reached in October 1835. By accident he encountered a company of soldiers commanded by George Collinsworth, from whom he heard of the movement in Texas for independence. Milam joined them, helped capture Goliad, and then marched with them to join the main army to capture San Antonio. While returning from a scouting mission in the southwest on December 4, 1835, Milam learned that a majority of the army had decided not to attack San Antonio as planned but to go into winter quarters. Convinced that this decision would be a disaster for the cause of independence, Milam then made his famous, impassioned plea: “Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?” Three hundred volunteered, and the attack, which began at dawn on December 5, ended on December 9 with the surrender of Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos and the Mexican army. Milam did not survive to witness the victory, however. On December 7 he was shot in the head by a sniper and died instantly. In 1897 the Daughters of the Republic of Texas erected a monument at Milam’s gravesite in Milam Park, San Antonio. The marker was moved in 1976, and the location of the grave was forgotten until 1993, when a burial was unearthed that archeologists think is probably Milam’s. Milam County was named for Ben Milam.

Directions:
Milano is located on SH 36 between Caldwell and Cameron. When you get to Milano, go north on FM 3242 4.7 miles. You will see Liberty Community Church on the left and Liberty Cemetery next to it. Drive past the church and look for the gate at the north end of the cemetery. You can park here off the road and walk or, if the gate is open, you can drive in.

To the box:
Go through the gate and walk straight ahead on the road past the gazebo on the right. When the road turns, walk straight between two old oak trees and look for another gnarly oak straight ahead next to the chain-link fence. The letterbox is located between the tree and the fence, covered with leaves and stuff. I thought Liberty cemetery was an appropriate place for this tribute to Old Ben Milam.