Today in 1836, before the sun had risen over the former Mission San Antonio de Valero, the Mexican Army led by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had killed all the Texican defenders barricaded behind its walls. As one witness said, the silence was profound and deafening after the battle ended. Santa Anna himself stood by as the few survivors were allowed to gather their belongings and begin the long trek east. Mrs. Dickinson, the lately widowed wife of one of the defenders, and her entourage were likely nearly to Austin by the time a huge funeral pyre was set ablaze by Don Francisco Antonio Ruiz, the Alcalde of San Antonio. All the bodies of the dead Texicans were incinerated in the huge fire. The Alcalde stated that there were one hundred and eighty-two Anglo-Americans placed in the fire. The dozen or so Mexicans who were among the Alamo defenders were allowed Catholic burials by Santa Anna.
The Battle of the Alamo lasted less than one hour after the Mexican Army charged the mission for the third and final time. Once the walls and doors were breached, vicious hand-to-hand fighting commenced. The choreography of that final combat was outlined with the bodies of the fallen soldiers as the Texicans retreated further and further inside the Alamo compound. By the time Colonel Jim Bowie and his slave were killed in Bowie's bedroom, all the Texicans and at least 600 Mexican soldiers lay dead on the floors of the one-time Spanish mission.
Today we honor the dead heroes, whose sacrifice at the Alamo made possible the Texas victory at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Most of the heroes of the Alamo were common men. Today when we think of the Battle of the Alamo we usually remember just four people: William Barrett Travis, Jim Bowie, David (Davy) Crockett, and of course, the evil Santa Anna. But I would like to take this time to honor all the dead equally, as the three most famous defenders would not have held the Alamo for even one hour without those other, nearly forgotten, citizen soldiers.
I would also like to honor the Mexican soldiers who fell that day. They, too, were mostly ordinary men who were selected by Destiny to meet their fate hundreds of miles from their homes back in Mexico proper. These men, every bit as brave as the Texicans, obeyed their orders without question and followed their commanders into Eternity that morning. You see, the Mexican troops, for the most part, were armed with obsolete muskets that the Mexican government had purchased from Napoleon. These weapons were smooth-bore weapons with an effective range of about three hundred yards. They were intended to be fired into a standing opponent massed in ranks directly in front of the charging force. By contrast, most of the defenders were armed with rifled muskets that were capable of accurate fire at over seven hundred yards. The first two or three hundred Mexican soldiers never got within a hundred yards of the Alamo before they were cut down by Texas forces. A little known aside regarding the Mexican Army was that many of the soldiers' wives and other relatives had followed them from across the Rio Grande into Texas and then continued with them for the three hundred or so miles from El Paso to San Antonio. Those women were there and watched as their husbands were sacrificed in the service of their country. How very sad must have been that terrible sight and the mourning that followed. I do not believe it is unpatriotic to acknowledge the bravery of the Mexican soldiers nor to sympathize with the widows and families of those brave men even as we honor our own heroes.
In all likelihood the Battle of the Alamo would not have taken place at all if Fate had not decreed the meeting of two arrogant men so long ago in 1836. For one, Jim Bowie had been sent by General Sam Houston to the Alamo with express and specific orders to destroy the useful buildings and then bring the provisions and artillery back to Houston's forces in East Texas. Instead, Bowie decided that the Alamo could be defended. He disobeyed Houston's direct orders and fortified the Alamo. Second, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, himself a very arrogant man, decided that he needed to prove a point to the Texicans by killing all the Alamo defenders and destroying the mission compound. By the time Santa Anna ordered the breaching of the Alamo walls, he knew that neither the doomed men in the Alamo nor the fort itself were very important to the outcome of the rebellion.
General Santa Anna could have ended the Texas Revolution in just a few weeks by simply bypassing the Alamo, leaving a couple of hundred of his soldiers to wait out the starving Texicans, and continuing on to meet and destroy Houston's forces that were then in training near Fort Velasco. But Santa Anna opted to force the battle. His own generals counseled against the March 6th attack, as they knew the cost of taking the fortified mission would be much too dear for the little advantage to be gained. Santa Anna knew what the cost would be as well, but chose to sacrifice his men rather than wait a few days and simply starve out the Texas soldiers. But the die was cast, the Alamo was attacked, and today in 1836 one of the most famous battles of all time was fought, and was etched forever into history. The Battle of the Alamo paved the way for the creation of the Republic of Texas, and ten years later, the great State of Texas.
Remember The Alamo! And God bless Texas!
The Battle of the Alamo lasted less than one hour after the Mexican Army charged the mission for the third and final time. Once the walls and doors were breached, vicious hand-to-hand fighting commenced. The choreography of that final combat was outlined with the bodies of the fallen soldiers as the Texicans retreated further and further inside the Alamo compound. By the time Colonel Jim Bowie and his slave were killed in Bowie's bedroom, all the Texicans and at least 600 Mexican soldiers lay dead on the floors of the one-time Spanish mission.
Today we honor the dead heroes, whose sacrifice at the Alamo made possible the Texas victory at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Most of the heroes of the Alamo were common men. Today when we think of the Battle of the Alamo we usually remember just four people: William Barrett Travis, Jim Bowie, David (Davy) Crockett, and of course, the evil Santa Anna. But I would like to take this time to honor all the dead equally, as the three most famous defenders would not have held the Alamo for even one hour without those other, nearly forgotten, citizen soldiers.
I would also like to honor the Mexican soldiers who fell that day. They, too, were mostly ordinary men who were selected by Destiny to meet their fate hundreds of miles from their homes back in Mexico proper. These men, every bit as brave as the Texicans, obeyed their orders without question and followed their commanders into Eternity that morning. You see, the Mexican troops, for the most part, were armed with obsolete muskets that the Mexican government had purchased from Napoleon. These weapons were smooth-bore weapons with an effective range of about three hundred yards. They were intended to be fired into a standing opponent massed in ranks directly in front of the charging force. By contrast, most of the defenders were armed with rifled muskets that were capable of accurate fire at over seven hundred yards. The first two or three hundred Mexican soldiers never got within a hundred yards of the Alamo before they were cut down by Texas forces. A little known aside regarding the Mexican Army was that many of the soldiers' wives and other relatives had followed them from across the Rio Grande into Texas and then continued with them for the three hundred or so miles from El Paso to San Antonio. Those women were there and watched as their husbands were sacrificed in the service of their country. How very sad must have been that terrible sight and the mourning that followed. I do not believe it is unpatriotic to acknowledge the bravery of the Mexican soldiers nor to sympathize with the widows and families of those brave men even as we honor our own heroes.
In all likelihood the Battle of the Alamo would not have taken place at all if Fate had not decreed the meeting of two arrogant men so long ago in 1836. For one, Jim Bowie had been sent by General Sam Houston to the Alamo with express and specific orders to destroy the useful buildings and then bring the provisions and artillery back to Houston's forces in East Texas. Instead, Bowie decided that the Alamo could be defended. He disobeyed Houston's direct orders and fortified the Alamo. Second, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, himself a very arrogant man, decided that he needed to prove a point to the Texicans by killing all the Alamo defenders and destroying the mission compound. By the time Santa Anna ordered the breaching of the Alamo walls, he knew that neither the doomed men in the Alamo nor the fort itself were very important to the outcome of the rebellion.
General Santa Anna could have ended the Texas Revolution in just a few weeks by simply bypassing the Alamo, leaving a couple of hundred of his soldiers to wait out the starving Texicans, and continuing on to meet and destroy Houston's forces that were then in training near Fort Velasco. But Santa Anna opted to force the battle. His own generals counseled against the March 6th attack, as they knew the cost of taking the fortified mission would be much too dear for the little advantage to be gained. Santa Anna knew what the cost would be as well, but chose to sacrifice his men rather than wait a few days and simply starve out the Texas soldiers. But the die was cast, the Alamo was attacked, and today in 1836 one of the most famous battles of all time was fought, and was etched forever into history. The Battle of the Alamo paved the way for the creation of the Republic of Texas, and ten years later, the great State of Texas.
Remember The Alamo! And God bless Texas!
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