THE ALAMO
In San Antonio in early 1836, 6,000 Mexicans marched to The Alamo to fight a groups of Texas of 187 strong, They were led by Colonel William B. Travis. During 10 days of fighting, the Mexicans climbed over the wall’s of The Alamo., to defeat the Texans they killed a woman . her baby, and a slave were killed. Among the dead were frontiersmen Davy Crockett and the Bowie brothers. Following, is a description of how the Alamo fell.
On February 24, 1836 Colonel Travis wrote a letter requesting aid in his own handwriting to all the people of Texas and all Americans. It was carried to Gonzales by Captain Albert Martin, It was first delivered upon his arrival on the Feb 25th to Smithers. Who then carried it on the San Felipe on the Feb. 27th.
His letter explained the difficulty him and his men were having defending The Alamo against Santa Anna and his men. At the end of the letter he explains that if they do not receive aid, then they will fight till VICTORY OR DEATH. He also explains that, to this point, no men has lost his life. Following is an exact replica of his writing.
COLONEL TRAVIS LETTER:
“Commandancy of the AlamoBexar, Fby. 24th, 1836 To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World Fellow Citzens & Compatriots---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 enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion , otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken---I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls---I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & everything dear to the American character, to come are tour aid, with all dispatch---The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four of five days. If this call is neglected, 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.
Ramos, Raul A. Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861. The University of North Carolina Press. 2008.
"After Mexico gained it's independence from Spain in 1821, it faced internal power struggles that left it in a volatile state of rebellion and instability for years." In 1846, the Mexican government, under the dictator Santa Anna, went to war with the United States. As an outcome of that war, Mexico lost a large amount of land--the land we now know as Texas. In 1854, Juan Alvarez and his troops led a successful revolt to drive Santa Anna out of power. One of Alvarez's strongest supporters was a man by the name of Benito Juarez, a Zapotec Indian leader. In 1855, Juarez became the minister of Justice under the new regime and issued two new controversial laws. One denied the right of the church and military courts to try civilian cases and the other made the sale and distribution of church lands legal. Many people disagreed with these laws and for three years a civil war raged between the two sides. In 1861 Juarez took control of the capital, Mexico City, and put his new Constitution into effect. Not only had Juarez's laws split the country, they had caused the civil war that left Juarez in debt to Spain, England, and France. The three countries were concerned about the debt, so they held a meeting in London, at which Spain and Britain decided to waive the debt in exchange for military control of the Custom House in Vera Cruz. France did not agree to these terms and invaded Mexico in 1861 in hopes of defeating the country and disposing of Juarez. The French troops--deemed among the best trained and equipped in the world--marched into the city of Puebla on May 5, 1862, expecting no resistance. The French army consisted of 6,000 men under the command of Marshal Lorencz. The French were met by an armed force of 2,000 peasants under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza. The Mexican guerilla forces successfully defended their positions and attacked and drove back the French forces. Victory, however, was short lived. Within a year, France had successfully conquered Puebla and the rest of Mexico, and went on ruling there until 1867 when Juarez was once again restored to power. He ruled the country until his death in 1872. Cinco de Mayo, therefore, does not celebrate Mexico's independence, rather it symbolizes "the right of the people to self determination and national sovereignty, and the ability of non-Europeans to defend those rights against modern military organizations.
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, a Mexican military general and statesman, brought a large Mexican force with him and began to enter the city of San Antonio. The few men left behind to defend the city retreated back to the Alamo, a fort near San Antonio. Their forces grew slightly when James Bowie, an American frontiersman, and William B. Travis, a soldier from South Carolina, brought in some reinforcements including David Crockett, a famous frontiersman and former congressman, into the Texan forces. These two men, William B. Travis and James Bowie, would eventually become co-commanders at the battle of the Alamo. The newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Texan army, Sam Houston, said that they should abandon San Antonio because of the insufficient troop numbers and firepower (www.History.com). James Bowie and William B. Travis decided to stay and fight against the enemies. They thought if they abandoned the city then the Mexican army would take over all of Texas. As Santa Anna and his men pressed on, the battle started to unfold. For thirteen, long days the few Texans held off Santa Anna’s army from taking over the city. Santa Anna had his men surround the Alamo and begin to attack. With each attempt to take over the Alamo the Texan fought off the invaders from taking over the fort. Santa Anna would order his men to move in for another attack, but with each attack he lost more men. During one of the attacks, William B.Travis declared, “I shall never surrender or retreat! I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country- Victory or Death!” As Santa Anna ordered his remaining troops to attack one last time they breached the Alamo’s walls and began to fight with the Texans. The Texan soldiers began hand-to-hand combat with the Mexican army. Any type of weapon one could find was used, this included
In the afternoon of February 23, 1836, Santa Anna’s army arrived in San Antonio. The Texan defenders retreated to the well-fortified Alamo. Santa Anna had given the defenders time to escape if they wanted, but the Texans stayed, confident with their weaponry. With the few soldiers he had, Colonel Travis sent requests to Colonel James Fannin for reinforcements, but received none. Fannin thought that the 300 men he had wouldn’t make a difference and may not arrive in time. Of the 200 defenders, there were settlers who wanted independence as well as a dozen Tejanos who joined the movement. Although they believed in ind...
At the start of the film we are set in the year 1836 in the Mexican State of Coahuila and Tejas town of San Antonio de Bexar, the site of the Alamo. We can see massive amounts of fallen Texan Defenders and the Mexican Army invaders dispersed around the battle site. The film then flashes back to the year 1835 where we see Dennis Quaid, Sam Houston, attending a party where he is trying to persuade others at the party to migrate to Texas. Houston meets David Crockett, Billy Bob Thornton, and discusses what Crockett will receive if he moves to Texas. We are later presented with a shot of a group of people having a meeting discussing the matter of what action to take after
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Bauer, K. Jack. “Mexican War,” Handbook of Texas Online, last modified June 15, 2010, accessed May 2, 2014, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qdm02
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