FRANCISCO ANTONIO RUIZ (ca. 1804-1876) A native of San Antonio, Francisco Antonio Ruiz was the eldest son of José Antonio Ruiz, one of men who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence during the thirteen-day siege of the Alamo.  At that time, Francisco Antonio Ruiz served as alcalde (mayor) of San Antonio, and was under house arrest by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.  After the Alamo fell, Santa Anna ordered Ruiz to identify the bodies of the Alamo’s leaders and to dispose of the dead.  Ruiz’s eye-witness account of the Alamo battle is one of the most vivid that has survived.

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