This is a stirring call to fly to the aid of the Alamo, penned by Provisional Governor Henry Smith, printed by Baker and Bordens on February 29, 1836.  It was inspired by and printed in tandem with Travis' Victory or Death letter.

Of the 300 copies of this broadside printed, four are known to exist today, one of which went missing from the state archives and has yet to be found. To the best of my knowledge, it has never been reproduced.

Travis wrote his plea into history on the second day of the Alamo siege. This broadside, which shared a printer's sheet with a transcription of the Travis letter, was published on the seventh day of the siege. 

Somewhat ironically, Feb. 29 was a time of relative quiet in the Alamo, while the Provisional Government went up in flames. Though nobody was in agreement about what was to be done about the Alamo, it was unclear who had the authority to act even if consensus was achieved.

I'll explain...

Six weeks prior to the printing of this broadside, on January 17, Sam Houston wrote to Provisional Governor Henry Smith that if he approved, Houston would remove all munitions from the Alamo and blow it up. Houston didn't think the post could be sustained by volunteers and there were more important places to concentrate men.

There were a few problems with Sam's suggestion:

1. Governor Henry Smith did not agree.
2. The Alamo was garrisoned by volunteers. Houston commanded the regular army. The volunteer leaders in San Antonio were willing to "die in [the] ditches" in Bexar.
3. Sam was writing to a governor who had been impeached a week before and nobody was steering the ship. The Provisional Government was kaput.

So how and why did Henry Smith issue this broadside, signing off on it as Governor?

Simple. He refused to leave after he was impeached and removed from office by the Council. The powers of the Provisional Governor weren't clearly enumerated. The Provisional Lieutenant Governor didn't approve of the impeachment and didn't much want higher office in the temporary government.

Turns out there's much that can go wrong in a hastily assembled emergency government. There was much squabbling but not much doing. Nobody was in charge. Confusion would abound until the Convention began its work on March 1.

Delegates to the Convention were arriving at Washington-on-the-Brazos when Smith drafted this appeal. To his mind, he was still governor and the Alamo garrison needed reinforcements, dammit. 

His plea draws on Travis's sentiments and icons of American patriotism, and reads, in part:

The enemy are upon us! A strong force surrounds the walls of San Antonio, and threaten that Garrison with the sword. Our country imperiously demands the service of every patriotic arm, and longer to continue in a state of apathy will be criminal. Citizens of Texas, descendants of Washington, awake! arouse yourselves!! .."Now is the day and now is the hour" that Texas expects every man to do his duty.

Fellow-citizens, I call upon you as your executive officer to “turn out;” it is your country that demands your help. He who longer slumbers on the volcano, must be a madman. He who refuses to aid his country in this, her hour of peril and danger is a traitor. All persons able to bear arms in Texas are called on to rendezvous at the town of Gonzales, with the least possible delay armed and equipped for battle. Our rights and liberties must be protected; to the battle field march and save the country. 

Physical Details

• 9 by 12 inches - fits in a standard size frame
• Printed in South Texas on fine art watercolor paper
• Limited Edition of 254 hand-numbered copies

 
It is printed on acid free fine art paper with an elegant ever so lightly textured finish. This surface allows the inks to 'bite', reproducing the shading and tonality of the original map vividly, beautifully, and exactly. 

The inks are guaranteed color-fast for 80 years, which means you won't need to lay out the extra money for UV glass. You can hang it in direct sun and it will be just as bright when it's passed on to the next generation as the day it ships.