В здании суда округа Грегг установлена мемориальная доска с текстом знаменитого письма «Победа или смерть»

Plaque of ‘Victory or Death’ letter finds home at Gregg County Courthouse Published 5:35 am Thursday, August 13, 2026 “I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna – I have sustained a continual bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man …” The opening lines of the famous “Victory or Death” letter penned by Col. William B. Travis paint a picture of a fierce battle, and they’ve earned their place in Texas and American history. Now, they’re on display at the Gregg County Courthouse in Longview. The nonprofit Alamo Letter Society has installed a bronze plaque commemorating the historic letter, also referred to as the Alamo letter or the Travis letter, on the fourth floor of the courthouse. Installation was completed in early August, more than a year after Gregg County commissioners voted to allow the plaque to be displayed. The nonprofit letter society aims to put the same kind of plaque in courthouses across Texas to educate people about a critical piece of Texas history: the Alamo, the place where Texas began. Travis wrote the 220-word Alamo letter Feb. 24, 1836, the second day of the 13-day attack on the San Antonio fort by the Mexican Army during the Texas Revolution. This February marked the letter’s 190th anniversary. The letter was a desperate plea for reinforcements from outside the beleaguered Alamo. Travis stated that he and his men would never surrender or retreat, and he called on people “in the name of liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch.” “If this call is neglected,” Travis wrote, “I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country —- victory or death.” Travis held true to his word; he and all the men defending the Alamo were killed March 6, 1836. But their courage and grit inspired others to keep fighting, and Texas independence was won April 21 as soldiers in the Texan Army cried out: “Remember the Alamo!” The idea to place plaques at county courthouses came about in 2023, when Bill McNutt and his family —- owners of Collin Street Bakery —- visited the Alamo, Longview business owner Barry Hamblett told commissioners in 2025. The family read a plaque with the text of Travis’ letter, and McNutt’s daughter asked her father: Why aren’t plaques such as these all over Texas? McNutt set out to get plaques at all county courthouses, working with other Texans to form the Alamo Letter Society. Funds are raised and donated to produce the plaques, which are then given to county courthouses. The News-Journal reported in 2025 that Marshall Roberts, a member of the organization, paid for the $4,500 Gregg County plaque. The plaque is 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall and weighs more than 200 pounds. Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt said he is glad to have the marker at the courthouse. “It’s a real piece of Texas history,” he said. “Texas might not be Texas if it weren’t for the Alamo.”