On this day in 1836, the Battle of the Alamo is fought. Despite a valiant defense by the Texans (then called Texians), the Mexican Army is victorious.
Those in the Alamo had been under siege ever since February 23, when Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna’s 1,500-man army arrived at the Alamo. The Texians were badly outnumbered: Depending on whose figures you believe, the number defending the Alamo was between 150 and 250 people.
The youngest of these Texians was 16 and the oldest was 56.
When Santa Anna arrived at the Alamo, he sent a courier with a demand that the Texians surrender. The Texians responded defiantly—with a cannonball! The Texas spirit was born early, wasn’t it?!
The Alamo’s commander dispatched messengers, who snuck past the hastily constructed Mexican earthworks.
“I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours,” William B. Travis wrote on the 24th, “& have not lost a man . . . . I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid . . . . 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 — Victory or Death.”
Unfortunately, Travis’s letters were to no avail. Help was on the way, but few of these reinforcements were able to arrive in time.
Matters looked bleak for the Texians, to say the least.
Legend has it that Travis, seeing the difficulty of the mission, drew a line in the sand. He asked any man willing to defend the Alamo to step over the line. All but one man crossed over. These men knew they would likely give their lives in defense of the mission, but they did it anyway. They did not want to surrender their position to Santa Anna.
The Mexicans launched their final assault in the early morning hours of March 6. Almost every Texian defender was killed, including three famous figures: Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett. Travis was defending the north wall of the Alamo when he was killed, early in the battle, by a shot to the head. Bowie probably died in the Low Barrack. He was ill and confined to bed when the battle started. Crockett’s death is more of a mystery. He either died during battle or he was executed by Santa Anna afterwards.
Maybe one of the bravest acts at the Alamo? During the course of the siege, 32 men snuck past the Mexican lines and joined their fellow Texians inside the Alamo. They had to know that they were volunteering to go to their death. Yet they joined the battle anyway.
Those men truly meant the words written by Travis: VICTORY OR DEATH!
The Texians went down swinging, and the Mexican army took heavy losses that day. In the meantime, roughly 20 women and children inside the Alamo were spared. The youngest of these was a 15-month-old girl. Another legend has Travis hanging his personal “cat’s-eye” ring around the toddler’s neck before the final battle began.
You already know that “Remember the Alamo!” became a rallying cry for the Texians in the wake of the battle. A little over a month later, the Texians would win the Battle of San Jacinto in a mere 18 minutes.
Naturally, that is a story for another day.
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Primary Sources:
Alamo, Battle of the (Texas State Historical Association website)
Chronology (The Alamo website)
James Donovan, The Blood of Heroes: The 13-Day Struggle for the Alamo--and the Sacrifice that Forged a Nation (2013)
Thom Hatch, Encyclopedia of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution (2016)
William Barret Travis, Letter From the Commandancy of the Alamo (1836) (reprinted HERE)