One Texian was killed on this occasion.
On March 3, 1000 further Mexican troops reinforced Santa Anna's army, which now amounted to almost 2,400. Santa Anna began to plan a direct assault on the fort on March 4. A visit from a local woman to negotiate a Texian surrender, according to historians, is likely to have increased Santa Anna's impatience for battle. It was decided that the fort would be attacked on March 6. On the evening of March 5, the Mexicans strategically ceased their bombardment of the fort, and as planned, the Texian army fell into exhausted slumber.
Planning for the final assault began just after midnight on March 6, and Santa Anna gave the order to advance at 5:30 AM. The Mexican army advanced from all sides, killing the three sleeping Texian sentinels outside the walls. The subsequent battle cries finally woke the Texian army. In the battle itself, William B. Travis was one of the first to die on March 6. Although greatly advantaged by numbers, it is interesting to note that the Mexican army had some tactical disadvantages when advancing upon the Texians. The formation of the column for example was such that untrained recruits tended to fire badly and injure those in front of them. Their tight concentration also provided a good target for Texian artillery. The Mexicans however soon gained the advantage of their numbers. Starting at the north wall, the Mexicans began to scale and enter the fort. They pursued the Texians who were fleeing, killing most of them. Some of the Texian army retreated to the barracks and chapel, from where they could continue the defense. Having advanced well into the effort, the Mexican soldiers replaced the Texian flag with the Mexican one. They secured complete control of the Alamo within an hour. At the time of battle, Bowie was too ill to participate, and died in bed, while the last of the Texians who died were the eleven men at the cannons in the chapel. One of the last was Jacob Walker, who attempted to hide the women who were at the fort.
The battle of the Alamo was over by 6:30 AM on March 6. In their zeal to ensure that all the Texians were dead, some Mexican soldiers accidentally killed each other; some of the Mexican generals lost control of their bloodthirsty troops. Soldiers continued to fire into dead bodies for 15 minutes after the buglers were ordered to sound a retreat.
V. Important names and heroes of the Alamo
There were several important role players during the battle of the Alamo. Travis and Santa Anna were certainly at the forefront of these. Notably, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and James Bowie played some of the most important role during this significant time. Each of these men, as will be seen, had his own reasons for joining the revolution effort and ultimately the battle of the Alamo.
Davy Crockett, for example, was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1827. After some success in his political career, he was consecutively defeated in elections held during 1833 and 1834. Upon these defeats, Crockett made the decision to go to Texas. Crockett's exact fate during the Battle of Alamo is uncertain. There are many differing accounts, of which one is that he is among a group of Texians who surrendered and were subsequently executed. Others provided accounts in which Crockett died only after killing numerous of the Mexican army. Many believe that stories of his surrender were spread not so much to discredit Crockett as to do so with Santa Anna's reputation as villain.
Whichever the true story is, Crockett has left an interesting legacy, which was reborn during the 1950s in the form of a Walt Disney television series. This sparked further debate surrounding the accuracy of Crockett's representation and reputation. Although the prominence eventually waned, Crocket remained a prominent name and role in subsequent films depicted the Alamo battle and history.
James Bowie began his career as a land speculator. After a near-fatal battle in which he killed the Rapides Parish sheriff with a large knife, he decided to move to Texas in 1828. His prowess with the knife on this and subsequent occasions led to the popularization of the weapon as the "Bowie knife."
In Texas, Bowie established himself and was elected as commander of the Texas Rangers in 1930. Their task was to keep the peace and protect the colonists from hostile Indian attacks. From here, Bowie was involved in several military establishments, and began his journey towards Alamo...
Alamo was a heroic struggle against impossible odds and it was a place where men had made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and hence Alamo still remains a hallowed place and shrine of Texas liberty. This battle provided a sense of honor to the Texas revolution. With the chain of events in 1836, its importance was that it delayed Santa Anna's army in san Antonio, it enabled Sam Houston to
Alamo In Sleuthing the Alamo, James Crisp does not think that Sam Houston gave the racist "half Indian Mexicans" speech. This is contrary to the fact that the speech has been widely attributed to Sam Houston. "The words of the speech were harsh," as Crisp states it (p. 10). Houston speaks about the "phlegm of the indolent Mexicans," and calls them "half-Indians," thus denigrating both Tejanos and Native Americans," (cited by
Some have described this facade as "a showy and impressive piece of Tuscan architecture,' with arched doors surrounded by elaborate floral carvings, twisting columns, and shell-topped niches for statuary" (Tarin). However, I find the facade quite common and uninteresting. I would much prefer to see a more ornate and intricate style, such as the style I employed in my final plans of the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, which
The fact that such a small number of Texan patriots were able to withstand the onslaught of so many Mexicans seemed like a potent dramatization of a conflict between native vs. white, where whites 'proved' their superiority, and slave vs. free, where whites fighting to defend 'their' territories against a 'dictatorial' power. Eventually, despite the loss of the Alamo, the Texans prevailed and the Mexican President Santa Anna was taken
The victor in this clash was definitely the Texans who suffered far less physical damage and reported only casualty and one severe wounding after the clash. The Mexicans, however, were not so lucky and reported heavy losses in both their artillery and soldiers. The day ended with no more exciting events (Williams; Barker). Santa Anna Reinforced Under the command of General Cos, a large force was advancing from the direction of Vince's
History of Texas questions, (2-3 sentences each question), one page. Explain the Empresario system. What is it? And what is the purpose of it? After the successful Mexican War of Independence liberated Mexico from Spanish rule in 1821, the 1824 Constitution of Mexico joined Texas with the state of Coahuila to form the new state of Tejas y Coahuila. In order to increase the population within this unsettled frontier, and protect it
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