From the Annals of the Founders –  In 1806, Juan Seguín was born in San Antonio.  Seguin was an early opponent of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and participated in the Battle of Bexar which drove Mexican forces out of San Antonio in 1835.  He was commissioned as a Captain in the regular Texas army and joined William B. Travis at the Alamo.   He escaped death in the final battle only because Travis sent him through the Mexican lines to carry his famous “never surrender or retreat” letter.  JS got the letter through and returned with men to reinforce the crumbling mission only to find that it had already fallen.  He continued to serve and after the revolution became the only Hispanic Texan in the Senate of the Texas Republic and later served as mayor of San Antonio.