The Texans held out for 13 days, but on the morning of March 6 Mexican forces broke through a breach in the outer wall of the courtyard and overpowered them. Santa Anna ordered his men to take no prisoners, and only a small handful of the Texans were spared. One of these was Susannah Dickinson , the wife of Captain Almaron Dickinson who was killed and her infant daughter Angelina. The Mexican forces also suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of the Alamo, losing between and 1, men.
From March to May, Mexican forces once again occupied the Alamo. For the Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became a symbol of heroic resistance and a rallying cry in their struggle for independence. The victory ensured the success of Texan independence : Santa Anna, who had been taken prisoner, came to terms with Houston to end the war. In , the United States annexed Texas. For many years afterward, the U. Army quartered troops and stored supplies at the Alamo.
In , the state of Texas purchased the Alamo, later acquiring property rights to all the surrounding grounds. Today, more than 2. The 4. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. He attacked on March 6, , overrunning the approximately defenders in less than two hours.
None of the defenders survived. Many myths and legends have grown about the Battle of the Alamo , but the facts often give a different account. Mexico gained independence from Spain in , and at the time, Texas or rather Tejas was part of Mexico.
In , Mexico's leaders wrote a federalist constitution, not much different from that of the United States, and thousands of people from the U. The new colonists brought enslavement with them. In , the Mexican government outlawed the practice, specifically to discourage that influx since it was not an issue there.
He annulled the constitution and set up centralist control. Some Texians and Tejanos wanted the federalist constitution back, some wanted centralist control to be based in Mexico: That was the main basis for the turmoil in Texas, not independence.
San Antonio was captured by rebellious Texans in December General Sam Houston felt that holding San Antonio was impossible and unnecessary, as most of the settlements of the rebellious Texans were far to the east. Houston sent Jim Bowie to San Antonio: his orders were to destroy the Alamo and return with all of the men and artillery stationed there. Once he saw the fort's defenses, Bowie decided to ignore Houston's orders, having become convinced of the need to defend the city.
The official commander of the Alamo was James Neill. However, he left on family matters leaving Lt. William Travis a ne'er-do-well and enslaver who had no military reputation before the Alamo in charge. There was a problem with that, though. About half of the men there were not enlisted soldiers, but volunteers who technically could come, go, and do as they pleased. These men only listened to Jim Bowie, who disliked Travis and often refused to follow his orders.
This tense situation was resolved by three events: the advance of a common enemy the Mexican army , the arrival of the charismatic and famous Davy Crockett who proved very skilled at defusing the tension between Travis and Bowie , and Bowie's illness just before the battle. Seeing the massive Mexican army on their doorstep, the Texan defenders hastily retreated to the well-fortified Alamo. During the first couple of days, however, Santa Anna made no attempt to seal the exits from the Alamo and the town: the defenders could very easily have slipped away in the night if they had so desired.
But they remained, trusting their defenses and their skill with their lethal long rifles. In the end, it would not be enough. Lieutenant Travis sent repeated requests to Col. James Fannin in Goliad about 90 miles to the east for reinforcements, and he had no reason to suspect that Fannin would not come. Every day during the siege, the defenders of the Alamo looked for Fannin and his men but they never arrived.
Fannin had decided that the logistics of reaching the Alamo in time were impossible and, in any event, his or so men would not make a difference against the Mexican army and its 2, soldiers. There were many native Texans—Mexican nationals referred to as Tejanos—who joined the movement and fought every bit as bravely as their Anglo companions. Both sides included prominent Mexican citizens. Among the men in Travis's forces who died were 13 native-born Texans, 11 of Mexican descent.
Santa Anna's forces included a mix of former Spanish citizens, Spanish-Mexican criollos and mestizos, and several indigenous young men sent from the interior of Mexico.
Many of the defenders of the Alamo believed in independence for Texas, but their leaders had not declared independence from Mexico yet. It was on March 2, , that delegates meeting in Washington-on-the-Brazos formally declared independence from Mexico.
Meanwhile, the Alamo had been under siege for days, and it fell early on March 6, with the defenders never knowing that independence had been formally declared a few days before. Although Texas declared itself an independent republic in , the Mexican state did not recognize Texas until the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in Davy Crockett, a famous frontiersman and former U.
Crockett's fate is unclear. And this whole independence thing was thrust on them way before they were ready. They were armed with lances, sabers, short-barreled infantry muskets and the Pageant carbine, a British surplus rifle.
The hapless soldiers wrapped rags around their feet and packed grass and hay inside the rags. When they were not fighting frostbite and disease, the men endured repeated attacks from Comanches, who raided them for muskets, blankets and food. With no idea who they would be battling and no combat experience, these shabby, half-starved peasants hardly inspired fear.
Inside, the fewer than Texians grew anxious. Ominously, the general had raised a blood-red flag, signifying that no quarter would be given. Crockett did his best to keep up spirits, playing tunes on his fiddle. He just wanted to avoid failure at all costs. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion [meaning the safety of surrendered men would not be guaranteed], otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken.
I shall never surrender or retreat. Victory or Death. Travis had already appealed to Col. James W. Fannin, a West Point dropout and slave trader who had about men and four cannon, but little ammunition and few horses, at the Spanish presidio at Goliad, some miles away. Fannin set out for San Antonio on February 28, but three wagons broke down almost immediately, and crossing the flooded San AntonioRiver consumed precious time. When the men made camp, they neglected to tie up their oxen and horses, many of which wandered off in the night.
Fannin returned to Goliad, where he ignored additional pleas from Travis. Santa Anna must have known the Alamo would be no match for his forces.
Built by Spanish priests with Indian labor, the mission was never meant to be a fortress. Lacking extended walls or rifle parapets, it was almost impossible to defend—not because it was too small but because it was too big. The morning of March 3 brought bad news. Then, on March 4, one thousand fresh Mexican soldiers arrived from the west.
Once again Santa Anna refused to negotiate terms. His decision was purely political, says Hardin. But Santa Anna wanted to be able to write back to Mexico City that he had annihilated the rebels. Documentary accounts of the final battle, on March 6, are based largely on journals of Mexican officers and the stories of a few noncombatant survivors who had sheltered inside the Alamo.
At about a. Viva Santa Anna! Viva la Republica! The Texians filled their cannons with every available piece of metal—hinges, chains, nails, bits of horseshoes—and sprayed deadly shot over their tightly bunched attackers, who carried axes, crowbars, ladders and muskets fixed with bayonets. The carnage caused some Mexicans to attempt retreat, but officers forced them back into battle at swordpoint. The wounded shrieked in agony, some begging to be put out of their misery.
Then Santa Anna sent in more troops, bringing the assault forces to nearly 1, Within about half an hour, the Texians retreated toward the barracks and chapel, hemmed in hopelessly for one last, bloody stand. Almaron Dickinson to his wife, Susanna.
If they spare you, save my child. Some Texians tied white cloths to bayonets and thrust them through the broken walls, screaming their wish to surrender in whatever Spanish they could command. Historian Alan Huffines believes as many as 50 defenders, not accounted for in the oft-cited number of killed, fled the Alamo over the low east wall, only to be slaughtered by Mexican lancers positioned outside the fortress.
Stricken by what is now thought to be typhoid pneumonia, delirious and probably near death, Bowie was slain in his bed.
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