Richard Andrews (soldier)

Captain
Richard Andrews
1936 Texas Centennial Monument
Personal details
Born1800
Sandersville, Georgia
DiedOctober 28, 1835 (aged 35)
Mission Concepción, San Antonio de Béxar, Mexico
NicknameBig Dick
Military service
Branch/serviceTexian Militia
Texian Army
Years of service1827-1835
Battles/wars

Richard Andrews (1800-1835) was a Texian merchant and soldier who was the first killed in action casualty of the Texas Revolution during the Battle of Concepción on October 28, 1835. He is a folk hero (the "Nathan Hale of Texas") for his purported final words "I am a dead man, but don't let the other boys know it. Tell them to conquer or die."[1][2]

He is purportedly also the first wounded in action casualty of the war at the Battle of Gonzales on October 2, 1835. However, Samuel McCulloch Jr. is considered by some historians to be the first at the Battle of Goliad on October 10, 1835.[3]

  1. ^ Hazlewood, Claudia (June 9, 2010). "ANDREWS, RICHARD". TSHA.
  2. ^ Anna J. Hardwicke Pennybacker, A History of Texas for Schools. rev. ed. Austin, TX: Author, 1908.
  3. ^ Thompson, Nolan (June 15, 2010). "MCCULLOCH, SAMUEL, JR". TSHA.