High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! William Barret Travis (August 9, 1809 ? March 6, 1836) was a 19th century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texian Army, and commanded the Republic of Texas forces. He died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution from the Republic of Mexico. He was born in Saluda County, South Carolina, to Mark and Jemima Travis in 1809; records differ as to whether his date of birth was the first or ninth of August, but the Travis family Bible indicates that he was born on the ninth.