18 miles south of San Antonio along Farm Road 1937 one finds the unincorporated community of Losoya, Texas, and at 18555 Leal Road in Losoya one finds the El Carmen Cemetery. Numerous nineteenth-century journals and other written records show the origin of this cemetery to be the burial of the dead after the Battle of Medina. Fought on August 18, 1813, the Battle of Medina was the result of a failed attempt by a republican army of the north ----- which consisted of 1,200-1,500 Mexicans, Anglo-Americans, and Native Americans ----- to free Mexico for royalist Spanish rule. The royalist army was victorious in what was the bloodiest battle ever fought on Texas soil. Hundreds of men who died on the battlefied were interred at this site between 1813 and 1817. The church of Nuestra Senora del Carmen origin to a chapel built over the soldiers' burial crypt. The burial site became a community as pioneer settlers established homes in the area. Among those interred are the families of Domingo Losoya and Dionicio Martinez, who received Mexican land grants surrounding the cemetery property. Also buried there is Enrique Esparza, the last living survivor of the Alamo. Enrique was 8 years old when the battle was fought and his father, Gregorio Esparza, was killed in defense of the fortress. In a famous 1907 interview, Enrique gave a vivid account of the battle
Enrique Esparza - September 1824-December 20, 1917
Son of Alamo Defender Gregorio Esparza, 11 year old Enrique, his Mother, two brothers and sister were present at the siege of the Alamo by the Mexican army (February 23-March 6, 1836)
Hidden in a pile of hay, the youth saw his father fall and witnessed the Heroic death of James Bowie on his sick bed. He the watched the bodies of the Tecasn burn in two hug pyres.
Enrique Esparza's eye witness story later became invaluable for he was one of the few survivors
take time to explore this solemn cemetary and notice many of the familiar names from old San Antonio's past and hopefully future