Remembering the Alamo: The Alamo

Remembering the Alamo: The Alamo Story The battle of the Alamo in 1836 is one of the most interesting and contested historical events on the American continent. Not only are many of the events contested, the lives and reputations of individuals such as Davy Crockett are also heatedly discussed among historians. Nevertheless, one fact remains incontestable: although the Texians lost, the battle of the Alamo in 1836 leads to the defeat of the Mexican Army within the Texas Province.

This paper discusses the background of the Alamo, the events that lead to the battle in 1836, important names during and after the battle, and the impact that the battle had on the Mexican Army and the Texas Province. These are all significant and shows how initial defeat is not necessarily the beginning of final defeat. Indeed, the battle of Alamo inspires greatness not only in the individuals who were directly or indirectly involved, but also in the nations affected by these individuals.

Background The Alamo originated as the Misi n San Antonio de Valero; it was constructed as a home for missionaries and Indian converts in 1724, and served in this capacity until 1793. During this year, the five missions were secularized and given to the Indian residents remaining at the time. These residents continued to work on the farms, and as such formed part of the growing San Antonio community. At the turn of the century, the Spanish military took over the mission.

It is also from this army that the Alamo was named after the soldiers' hometown, Alamo de Parras, Coahuila. The mission then became not only a refuge and hospital for soldiers, but also served as the key site of the ten years of struggle for Mexican independence. Indeed, the Alamo served both Revolutionaries and Royalists at the time, and continued to serve all types of military personnel, including Spanish, Rebel, and Mexican, until the Texas Revolution.

As such, the Alamo and San Antonio served as key sites during the Revolution, specifically leading up to the 1836 Alamo battle. The battle was preceded by specific political events and forces. Specifically, revolts at the time were inspired by the increasingly dictatorial rulership of the Mexican President, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. During October 1835, Mexican federalists began to revolt against the President's rule by means of an armed uprising against the government.

In response, Santa Anna assembled his Army of Operations in Texas, comprising recruits from all sectors of society, including convicts. Meanwhile, the Texian army was in the process of systematically defeating the Mexican troops in Texas, resulting in the surrender of General Martin Perfecto de Cos, Santa Anna's brother-in-law, on December 9. At this time, the Texian army comprised mostly recent arrivals in the form of United States adventurers, reinforcing the Mexican view of outside influences attempting to invade their country. This perceived interference further fueled Santa Anna's rage.

He banned taking prisoners of war, and foreigners fighting in Texas were executed summarily. Although Santa Anna notified President Andrew Jackson of this policy, the information was not widely distributed to the Texian Army: most American recruits were unaware of the immediate danger to their lives. During this time, when Texian soldiers established an outpost at the Alamo, the complex stretched across 3 acres, with an interior plaza with a chapel to the west and the Low Barracks to the south.

The east was bordered by the Long Barracks, and the north contained a cattle pen. These buildings were surrounding by a wall that was 2.75 fee thick. Improvements for battle were bade by Green B. Jameson, the Texian engineer. The garrison was however still greatly undermanned, with dwindling provisions. Fewer than 100 soldiers were left at the Alamo by January 6, 1836. III. The Way to Battle Colonel James C.

Neill, the acting commander at the Alamo, requested reinforcements in terms of troops and supplies, realizing that the garrison would not be able to withstand an extended siege. There was however not much organization in the Texian government, one of the problems being that four different men claimed command over the Texian army. As a result of these difficulties, James Bowie was sent to the Alamo on January 19 to destroy the complex. However, a lack of draft animals made it impossible to remove the artillery.

In addition, Neill persuaded Bowie of the strategic importance of the location. Upon deciding to remain, Bowie and Neill wrote to Governor Henry Smith, notifying the latter that they would "rather die in these ditches than give it up to the enemy." Smith then sent William B. Travis, a cavalry officer, to Bexar with a reinforcement of 30 men on February 3, with Davy Crockett arriving five days later.

It was only after the beginning of the siege that about 400 further volunteers arrived at the Alamo to help defend the mission against the Mexican army. Throughout the siege, Travis continued to send letters requesting reinforcements. Settlers gathering in Gonzales initially waited for Colonel James Fannin with more reinforcements. Some of these settlers grew impatient and began marching to Bexar on February 27. Travis sent Samuel G. Bastian to Gonzales in search of the reinforcements.

On his way, he found the group marching from Gonzales and offered to lead them the rest of the way to the Alamo. Bastian and three other men were however driven away by a Mexican attack. It was dark at time, and when the remaining 32 men reached the Alamo, the Texians assumed them to be Mexican, and attacked them. They were however convinced of the mistake when they heard a wounded soldier curse in English.

Meanwhile, Fannin attempted to march from Goliad to the Alamo with 320 men along with artillery reinforcements. This mission was however abandoned for reasons that remain unclear: Fannin claimed that his officers requested the journey to be cancelled, while the officers in turn blamed Fannin for the retreat. Some 50 men from Fannin's group once again attempted the march to Alamo. At Cibolo Creek, the marchers found a further group of men also waiting for Fannin.

On March 3, Travis sent three men to find Fannin, unaware that the original rescue mission had been abandoned. The men reached Cibolo Creek just before midnight and found the Texian reinforcements 20 miles from the Alamo. Some of these men managed to break through the Mexican lines towards the Alamo on March 4, while others were driven away. IV. The Battle of Alamo, 1936 General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his Mexican army were not without their problems either.

Having begun their preparations for the 1836 siege by the end of the previous year already, the Mexican Army of Operations began marching north by the end of December, 1835 27. The army crossed the Rio Grande on February 12, their progress being stifled by dwindling rations, record low temperatures, and Comanche raids. The Texian army however remained blissfully unaware of the slow but sure Mexican progress, crippled as they were in terms of animals and manpower to engage in proper spying procedures.

Hence, although Bexar residents began warning the army that the Mexicans were approaching on February 16, Travis nonetheless disregarded such rumors to the extent that his army enjoyed celebrations for George Washington's birthday on February 22. The Alamo was left unprotected, and would have been seized if sudden rains had not interrupted the Mexican advance. Bexar residents fled the town on February 23 in anticipation of the Mexican arrival. The Texian army was somewhat surprised to find Mexican troops a mere 1.5 miles outside Bexar.

Unprepared, the soldiers were obliged to gather what cattle and food they could from the abandoned town. Desperate, the Texians also requested an honorable surrender, the conditions of which the Mexicans rejected in favor of unconditional surrender. Bowie and Travis were in mutual agreement that this was unacceptable. It was at this time that Travis sent couriers to Gonzales and Goliad with urgent requests for additional reinforcements. By the afternoon of the same day, about 1500 Mexican troops had occupied Bexar. The siege had begun.

The Mexican army far outnumbered the Texians, and were determined to maintain this advantage: troops were stationed to the north and east of Alamo to prevent reinforcements from these directions. The following day saw the arrival of a further 600 Mexican troops, and further soldiers were stationed on the road to Gonzales, and later 800 more soldiers were stationed on the road to Goliad. In addition, the Mexican army established artillery batteries to the south, east, and southeast of the fort, which slowly but surely closed in upon the fort.

During the first week, the Mexican and Texian armies matched their fire power. On February 24, the first fatal shot was fired at a Mexican scout. Several Mexicans crossed the San Antonio River on February 25, entering abandoned shacks close to the Alamo. Texian soldiers burned the huts under cover fire from the Alamo, after which the Mexicans retreated to Bexar. On February 26, Travis began to order fire power conservation in anticipation of further battle. The Texians burned more huts and were also engaged by Colonel Juan Bringas.

One Texian was killed on this occasion. On March 3, 1000 further Mexican troops reinforced Santa Anna's army, which now amounted to almost 2,400. Santa Anna began to plan a direct assault on the fort on March 4. A visit from a local woman to negotiate a Texian surrender, according to historians, is likely to have increased Santa Anna's impatience for battle. It was decided that the fort would be attacked on March 6.

On the evening of March 5, the Mexicans strategically ceased their bombardment of the fort, and as planned, the Texian army fell into exhausted slumber. Planning for the final assault began just after midnight on March 6, and Santa Anna gave the order to advance at 5:30 AM. The Mexican army advanced from all sides, killing the three sleeping Texian sentinels outside the walls. The subsequent battle cries finally woke the Texian army. In the battle itself, William B. Travis was one of the first to die on March 6.

Although greatly advantaged by numbers, it is interesting to note that the Mexican army had some tactical disadvantages when advancing upon the Texians. The formation of the column for example was such that untrained recruits tended to fire badly and injure those in front of them. Their tight concentration also provided a good target for Texian artillery. The Mexicans however soon gained the advantage of their numbers. Starting at the north wall, the Mexicans began to scale and enter the fort.

They pursued the Texians who were fleeing, killing most of them. Some of the Texian army retreated to the barracks and chapel, from where they could continue the defense. Having advanced well into the effort, the Mexican soldiers replaced the Texian flag with the Mexican one. They secured complete control of the Alamo within an hour. At the time of battle, Bowie was too ill to participate, and died in bed, while the last of the Texians who died were the eleven men at the cannons in the chapel.

One of the last was Jacob Walker, who attempted to hide the women who were at the fort. The battle of the Alamo was over by 6:30 AM on March 6. In their zeal to ensure that all the Texians were dead, some Mexican soldiers accidentally killed each other; some of the Mexican generals lost control of their bloodthirsty troops. Soldiers continued to fire into dead bodies for 15 minutes after the buglers were ordered to sound a retreat. V.

Important names and heroes of the Alamo There were several important role players during the battle of the Alamo. Travis and Santa Anna were certainly at the forefront of these. Notably, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and James Bowie played some of the most important role during this significant time. Each of these men, as will be seen, had his own reasons for joining the revolution effort and ultimately the battle of the Alamo. Davy Crockett, for example, was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1827.

After some success in his political career, he was consecutively defeated in elections held during 1833 and 1834. Upon these defeats, Crockett made the decision to go to Texas. Crockett's exact fate during the Battle of Alamo is uncertain. There are many differing accounts, of which one is that he is among a group of Texians who surrendered and were subsequently executed. Others provided accounts in which Crockett died only after killing numerous of the Mexican army.

Many believe that stories of his surrender were spread not so much to discredit Crockett as to do so with Santa Anna's reputation as villain. Whichever the true story is, Crockett has left an interesting legacy, which was reborn during the 1950s in the form of a Walt Disney television series. This sparked further debate surrounding the accuracy of Crockett's representation and reputation. Although the prominence eventually waned, Crocket remained a prominent name and role in subsequent films depicted the Alamo battle and history.

James Bowie began his career as a land speculator. After a near-fatal battle in which he killed the Rapides Parish sheriff with a large knife, he decided to move to Texas in 1828. His prowess with the knife on this and subsequent occasions led to the popularization of the weapon as the "Bowie knife." In Texas, Bowie established himself and was elected as commander of the Texas Rangers in 1930. Their task was to keep the peace and protect the colonists from hostile Indian attacks.

From here, Bowie was involved in several military establishments, and began his journey towards Alamo by signing up as a private under Fannin. Bowie was instrumental in preparing Alamo for battle. Although it was a crushing defeat, and although he died somewhat ingloriously in illness, Bowie's legacy lives on in his role as one of the prominent leaders prior to the battle itself. Sam Houston move to Texas was instigated by a somewhat unsavory trial brought about by a disagreement with an anti-Jacksonian Congressman.

In Texas he began to be involved in the politics of the time, and came to support Texan independence from Mexico. With his prominent involvement for this cause, Houston became a Major General of the Texas Army, and later Commander-in-Chief. As such, he negotiated a settlement with the Cherokee in 1836. While not directly involved at the Alamo battle, Houston nonetheless serves as a preserver of its legacy and the instigator of its future effects.

He was forced to retreat from Gonzales in response to Santa Anna's superior forces, but soon avenged the fallen of Alamo. Houston led the battle of San Jacinto, as mentioned above, and thus established final victory for Texas. Here he was twice elected president of the Republic of Texas, and served from 1836 to 1838, and subsequently from 1841-1844. Houston's legacy culminates in the.