Travis, << TRAV ihs, >> William Barret (1809-1836), fought in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, during the war for Texas’s independence from Mexico. He commanded the Texans who died defending the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Travis was born on Aug. 1, 1809, near Red Bank, South Carolina. He taught school and practiced law in Alabama before he moved to Texas in 1831. Before the Alamo, he led troops at Anahuac and San Antonio. See also Alamo .