Last Updated on November 6, 2016 by ACGS Webmaster
John McGregor
Born December 1, 1797 (questionable)
Died March 6, 1836
The MacGregor Connection:
There is much controversy concerning John McGregor’s early life, but none about him being a McGregor
March 2nd is recognized as Texas Independence Day. On that day in 1836, 59 “Texians” as they styled themselves, gave birth to a dream. They declared Texas, then a province of Mexico, to be a sovereign nation – the Republic of Texas. They did so even as a battle was raging in San Antonio de Bexar at a mission called the Alamo. Four days later, on March 6, the Alamo fell with the loss of the entire garrison, some 180-odd men. (The exact number of Alamo defenders has never been established). Four of those men were Scots.
The names of four Scots, Richard W. Ballantine, Isaac Robinson, David L. Wilson, and “Alamo John” McGregor, who died that day have slipped slowly and surely into the mists of time.
Yet time has a way of changing history, or at least our perception and understanding of it. Still far from being a household name like Travis, Bowie, and Crockett, McGregor is becoming the best known of the Scots, as he was the “piper at the Alamo.” He is said to have entertained the troops by engaging in musical duets/duels with Davy Crocket – he on the pipes and Crockett on the fiddle. Presumably McGregor won those melodic skirmishes by the very nature of the volume of the pipes.
It’s been assumed that these musical interludes were meant to lift the spirits of the embattled garrison, and no doubt there is truth in that assumption. However, to position McGregor’s piping in this context alone, as that of an early “morale officer”, is believed by a growing number to disregard the more traditional role of the piper in battle.
Genealogy researcher Barbara Zoe Alexander best explains this in a 1992 paper she authored at the behest of the Clan Gregor Society in Scotland, wherein she writes:
“A pity Texas’ historians have never recognized the significance of McGregor’s role on that day; that what appears to them as a quaint whimsy on his part, was really dead serious duty, and he saw that duty through – “to the deid.” What a different story it would have made, if they had realized that the custom of playing the pipes in battle is forever meshed with Scottish tradition, for the piper was to Celtic warfare what the drummer and bugler were in later wars – and more. He was the heartbeat of the Clan, the keeper of their collective spirit, the recorder of their deeds, victories and tragedies. The tunes he played had special meaning to his people, and could rally men and stir their emotions like nothing else. Further, he went into battle expecting to die – and knowing his value to the battle tactics and spirits of his Clansmen, the enemy were generally eager to oblige. Even the soldiers of Mexico, who’d never heard the squall of the bagpipe, instinctively knew this man, McGregor, could not be allowed to live.
In that proud tradition of the Scottish pipers, John McGregor upheld the honor of his ancestors and on March 6, 1836, passed into the ranks of legend.”
It was not until over a decade later, in 2004, when the modern Alamo movie was released, that the public first caught a fleeting glimpse of McGregor perched on the mission wall with his pipes. This was possibly the first public acknowledgement that music other than “El Deguello” may have sounded during the battle. (Even today historians disagree whether Santa Anna’s band actually played “El Deguello” to signal that no quarter would be given.)
The 1960 movie has become a cult classic despite glaring historical inaccuracies. The 2004 remake of “The Alamo” acknowledged piper John McGregor with a fleeting appearance at approximately 40 minutes into the film.
Then, visiting Texas in 2009, Scot journalist Kevin McKenna learned the story of McGregor and his fellow Scots. McKenna questioned why the Scots’ contribution was ignored in a short film shown at the Texas shrine and then wrote an article about their role in the historic battle for “The Observer.” This renewed public attention began a process that culminated a year later in a ceremony at the Alamo on April 8, 2010, to honor the memory and the contribution of McGregor and his fellow Scotsmen.
While the Saltire had long been displayed at the Alamo, as had the flags of
all the nations represented by its defenders, never before had there been a memorial to the dead of a single nation. Scotland would be the first to be so honored.
Placed at the Alamo on that day was a plaque hewn out of Caithness stone. It reads, “From the people of Scotland in memory of the four native Scots and the many other defenders of Scots ancestry, who gave their lives at the Alamo on March 6, 1836.”
This plaque was placed at the Alamo in 2010. Over half of the mission’s defenders are believed to have Scot heritage. Photo credit: San Antonio Express News
Texas and Scotland share a history of birth on the battlefield and from those battles emerged heroic characters whose names remain larger than life. John McGregor’s name has not yet reached such lofty heights.
While Texas’ Independence was declared as the battle at the Alamo was raging (13 Days of Glory), independence was not won until more than a month later, when the Texian army defeated Santa Anna at a place near present day Houston, Texas, called San Jacinto. That battle lasted a mere 18 minutes. “Remember the Alamo” was one of the battle cries of the day.
Memorative Plaque at the Alamo
The Alamo
Links about John McGregor
Zoe Alexander and her research
Texas State Historical Association