ESPALIER, CARLOS (1819-1836). Carlos Espalier, Alamo defender, was born in Texas in 1819. He was said to be a protégé of James Bowie. He died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836, at age seventeen. Because of similarity in names the claim has been made that Carlos Espalier and Charles Despallier are the same person, but the claim is not accepted by most historians. Espalier's aunt, Doña Guardia de Luz, was his heir and was granted lands for his service.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Daughters of the American Revolution, The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors (San Antonio, 1976). Bill Groneman, Alamo Defenders (Austin: Eakin, 1990). 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]).
