Today In Western History: The Alamo Falls

Today at 5:00pm, in 1836, a dreadful silence breaks out over a former mission and important but indefensible, and undermanned fort as the shelling stops. The shelling is over, and the uneasy quiet is louder than the shelling that had preceded it.  The leader of the men in the makeshift fort, Col. William Barrett Travis  uses the time to separate

William Barrett Travis, Commander of the Alamo
William Barrett Travis,
Commander of the Alamo

the men from the boys as he takes his sword and draws a line in the sand.  Anyone who wishes to leave the fort may do so without question or shame, as those who stay behind are aware they are fighting to the death.   One hundred and eighty-seven men will cross the line to stand beside him.  Of these men, some are recognizable names to the world.  One is a former congressman from Tennessee, David Crockett, known to all as Davy Crockett.  Another man

Davy Crockett, Indian fighter, politician, and hero of the Alamo
Davy Crockett, Indian fighter, politician, and hero of the Alamo

is a citizen of the bayous, and a well-known fighter in his own right, known for the fancy piece of cutlery named in

Bowie knife 300px

 

James Bowie, Hero of the Alamo
James Bowie,
Hero of the Alamo

his honor.  He is James Bowie, known to all as the great knife-fighter, Jim Bowie.  The men at the Alamo know what they are dying for, it is their task to buy time for General Sam Houston to turn his undisciplined Texas forces into

Sam Houston
Sam Houston, Texas Governor and Hero of Texas’s War of Independence

a real army to defeat General Santa Anna.  Across the way, General Antonio De Lopez Santa Anna prepares for the

General Antonio Lopez de    Santa Anna
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

coming battle.  The fort itself is not the real issue, the real reason for taking the fort is sending a message to the rebels about the uselessness of resistance to his will.  He will take the fort, and punish the traitors and rebels for their insolence and disrespect of his power.  He will not be defeated by this rabble.

                                                                                      

                                                                                      

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Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com

Today In Western History: William Barrett Travis Calls For Help

February 24  —

Wi lliam Barrett Travis, Commander of the Alamo
Wi lliam Barrett Travis,
Commander of the Alamo

On this day in 1836, in San Antonio, Texas, Colonel William Travis issues what will become a famous call for help on behalf of the Texan troops defending the Alamo, an old Spanish mission and fortress under attack by the Mexican army on their way to crush the Texan’s revolt.

A native of Alabama, Travis moved to the Mexican state of Texas in 1831. He soon became a leader of the growing movement to overthrow the Mexican government and establish an independent Texan republic. When the Texas revolution began in 1835, Travis became a lieutenant-colonel in the revo-lutionary army and was given command of troops in the recently captured city of San Antonio de Bexar (now known as San Antonio). On February 23, 1836, a large Mexican force commanded by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana arrived suddenly in San Antonio. Travis and his troops took

General Antonio Lopez de    Santa Anna
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

shelter in the Alamo, where they were soon joined by a volunteer force led by Colonel James Bowie

James Bowie,  Hero of the Alamo
James Bowie, Hero of the Alamo

Also joining in the fight, legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett and some of his fellow Tennessee

Davy Crockett, Indian fighter, politician, and hero of the Alamo
Davy Crockett, Indian fighter, politician, and hero of the Alamo

fighters, to help Texas gain its independence from Mexico, Though Santa Ana’s 5,000 troops heavily outnumbered the several hundred Texans, Travis and his men determined not to give up. On February 24, they answered Santa Ana’s call for surrender with a bold shot from the Alamo’s cannon. Furious, the Mexican general ordered his forces to launch a siege. Travis immediately recognized his disad-vantage and sent out several messages via couriers asking for reinforcements. Addressing one of the pleas to “The People of Texas and All Americans in the World,” Travis signed off with the now-famous phrase “Victory or Death.”

Only 32 men from the nearby town of Gonzales responded to Travis’ call for help, and beginning at 5:30 a.m. on March 6, Mexican forces stormed the Alamo through a gap in the fort’s outer wall, killing Travis, Bowie and 190 of their men. Despite the loss of the fort, the Texan troops managed to inflict huge losses on their enemy, killing at least 600 of Santa Ana’s men.  But it turned out to be a major mistake for Santa Ana.  He won the battle and lost the war because of this fight.

The brave defense of the Alamo became a powerful symbol for the Texas revolution, helping the rebels turn the tide in their favor. At the crucial Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 910 Texan soldiers com-manded by Sam Houston defeated Santa Ana’s army of 1,250 men, spurred on by cries of “Remember

Sam Houston
Sam Houston,
Texas Governor and Hero of Texas’s War of Independence

the Alamo!” The next day, after Texan forces captured Santa Ana himself, the general issued orders for all Mexican troops to pull back behind the Rio Grande River. On May 14, 1836, Texas officially became an independent republic.

                                                                                      

To purchase a signed copy of Larry Auerbach’s novel “A MATTER OF HONOR”, Click Here

 Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com