Alamo Burial Tradition: Only Defenders Interred On-Site

The tradition that only Alamo defenders are buried at the Alamo applies specifically to those who died in the 1836 battle. Most fatalities were Mexican soldiers (estimates 400–600), whose bodies were burned or buried in mass graves nearby—not inside the mission.

A few non-defenders were later interred on the grounds, notably Susanna Dickinson (survivor, died 1883) and her daughter Angelina. The Alamo's current cemetery area holds memorials, not mass graves.