What Really Happened at the Alamo?

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The Alamo
Before the Siege
The Siege
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

Several myths and legends have been put in place concerning what really happened at Alamo in San Antonio. Many films, songs, and stories have been composed based on the events that occurred in this fort over a hundred years ago during the Texas war of independence from Mexico. The fort transformed from the original intention of being a mission center for the Spanish Catholic Church to accommodate a variety of people who were fighting others.

The building changed hands for many times during each of the wars. It presented a strong defensible post for any army. The last siege before the independence of Texas from Mexico has particularly generated interest on several forums. Historians have different ways of telling the story of what actually transpired during this siege. This paper looks at the events that occurred in the last siege. Besides, it looks at the events that led up to the siege and the actual days of the siege.

The Alamo

Work in the Alamo fort began in 1724 when the Catholic Church started building a mission station for its missionaries. The site was initially called Mission San Antonio de Valero (Thompson, 2005). During the time of building the mission station, the state of Texas was officially under Spanish control.

In 1793, the Spanish people who had now controlled Texas for a while now decided to do away with the mission at the center and instead offer its land to be cultivated by the local Indians who grew crops for their livelihood. The mission was also turned into a Spanish Calvary unit station. Soldiers who found residence here renamed the site from Mission San Antonio de Valero to Alamo, which took after their hometown of Alamo de Parras, Coahuila (Sullivan, 1997).

The Alamo housed many different installations for the Spanish army. The first hospital in Texas was situated at ‘Long Barrack’ (Sullivan, 1997). When Mexico fought for its independence for ten years, the population living in Alamo was marked with royalist inhabitants and revolutionaries (Thompson, 2005).

The Alamo continued to be inhabited after the Mexican war of independence by the Mexican armed forces after they ousted the Spanish people who were the tenants before them. According to Thompson (2005), the Mexican military continued to inhabit the Alamo until the Texas revolution where they were defeated in an outstanding battle that has since evolved into folklore. The building is made of limestone and adobe. Having lasted for over 250 years, it still stands strong since renovation has been carried out on several occasions.

Before the Siege

The siege at Alamo has gone down in history as the most phenomenal in Texas. The history of the Alamo is important to discuss in relation to the siege. As stated earlier, the Alamo was a Spanish Catholic mission whose work was completed late in 1758 (Thompson, 2005).

The Spaniards later secularized the institution, with the Indian locals being allowed to farm around its land. The Alamo was turned into a Spanish base that housed the military. According to Thompson (2005), it changed ownership a number of times during the fight for independence for Mexico from the Spanish colonization.

When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, Texas was largely uninhabited. The United States’ population that had taken hold of the northern side of the state wanted to migrate here to own lands and cultivate it. The initial American immigrants to Texas were the trappers who were followed by the mountain men (Cavendish, 2012).

The immigration rate increased on a daily basis, with thousands of immigrants being drawn mainly from the states of Tennessee and Alabama (Sullivan, 1997). The immigrants who followed the mountain men mainly came to farm. They secured large tracts of land for this activity. The land was also cheap, with 1000 acres costing as little as a cent.

The population of American immigrants grew considerably. Ten years after the independence of Mexico, the population of Americans in Texas was about two thirds of the total population. This growth in population prompted the Mexican congress to draft legislation that prohibited further immigration into Texas in 1830. The unfulfilled colonization contracts were suspended (Thompson, 2005).

The foreigners were also required by law to carry a passport whenever they were walking away from their homes, with the passports being issued by the Mexican Consulate (Sullivan, 1997). At the time of the legislation, the inhabitants of Texas were angered by it, thus opposing it, with their leaders leading from the front. Four years after the legislation came into effect, Santa Anna was the ruler of Mexico. He started a dictatorial rule over the country.

One of the provocative actions that Santa Anna carried out was to order the leaders of the immigrant who dominated Texas to be arrested. A full-blown war between the state of Texas and Mexico erupted. As the state of Texas fought for independence, Alamo was again converted into a battleground, with each of these armies at one time occupying the building before a siege forced them out.

The most famous of the sieges was the final one (Bicheno, 2004). This siege has generated interest, with filmmakers making several movies about it. Besides, several books have been published with reference to the siege in addition to a collection of music on the same matter.

The Siege

The siege of Alamo lasted for 13 days, beginning on February 23, 1836 (Myers, 1948). Mexicans had been defeated at the fort a year before. The general in charge at the time was Martin Perfecto de Cos who is said to be Santa Anna’s brother-in-law (Huffines, & Zaboly, 1999).

Therefore, the Mexican leader had a score to settle with the Texas inhabitants of the fort. He chose to attack it during this date instead of concentrating on other parts of Texas. His reason for fighting this battle was a personal one that was hidden in the military strategy. The men inside the fort had vowed to protect it together with their lives. They were heavily armed at the time of the siege.

In the first day of the siege, news of the impeding attack from the Mexicans circulated in the fort. The locals had to pack their belongings and leave to safer areas where they would be out of harm. By the time the inhabitants knew of the attack, the Mexican army was 8 miles away being led by the Mexican leader Santa Anna (Sullivan, 1997).

A caution bell rang in the fort at an hour past midday warning people who were tasked with the fort’s defense to take their positions as their enemies were approaching. The men who were left to defend the fort were 146. They consisted of some few regular army personnel and a number of volunteers, with the group being led by Travis and Bowie (Cavendish, 2012).

Approximately two hours after the alarm had been sounded, Santa Anna and his men had taken control of the surrounding town of San Antonio. They had taken this control without encountering any resistance. The first strategy that the fort inhabitants had to do was to strengthen the perimeter walls through the positioning of some men at the wall. This place was feared to be the most vulnerable of all areas, and hence the most difficult to defend (Huffines, & Zaboly, 1999).

As Travis was setting up the perimeter defense, Bowie as his colleague attempted to negotiate with the Mexican ruler. However, his attempts did not generate any interest from Santa Anna who left the Aide-de-Camp to reply that her people needed to surrender unconditionally (Huffines, & Zaboly, 1999). The men declined surrendering as requested by Santa Anna and vowed to fight to the end.

The standoff continued late into the night. As Travis and his men prepared for imminent attacks, the Mexicans made gun emplacements for which they would use to pound the fort. Santa Anna’s men continuously fired onto the fort throughout the next day. However, since the walls were strong enough, there was insignificant damage to the fort. The only challenge for the men holed up inside was how to get supplies in and out of the fort (Huffines, & Zaboly, 1999).

One of the most important things that the men needed was reinforcements since their Mexican enemies outnumbered them. Travis needed 500 more men to effectively defend the fort and/or stand any chance against the Mexicans at the battle. There were also few men to fire the artillery. The food supply was also inadequate to last them for a long time similar to the gunpowder that was insufficient for sustaining the fight (Bicheno, 2004).

Another advantage that Santa Anna and his men had over Travis and his group was the adequate amount of food and water. Their group’s constant shelling of the fort meant that the Texas force was not getting adequate sleep.

The Mexicans also played loud music to ensure that the fort’s inhabitants were not allowed to dose off at any time during the night. The second day also saw Bowie fall ill to the extent that he could not get out of bed (Huffines, & Zaboly, 1999). Therefore, Trevor was in command where he encouraged the fighters to keep on with the battle, which they had now not gotten into.

On the third day of the siege, the firing from the Mexican side continued. This firing was also accompanied by loud music from the Mexican people. During this day, the Mexicans were able to move 400 soldiers into position to attack the fort. However, their rifles were not a match for the Texans who kept them pinned down for a reasonable time (Bicheno, 2004).

The reason that the Mexicans were pinned down was due to the short-range rifles that only effective for only 70 yards as compared to the Texans rifles that were efficient even over 100 yards (Bicheno, 2004). At the time that the Mexicans were busy dodging the Texan bullets, Travis was busy writing a letter to Sam Houston. Crockett was the officer who was left to command the operation (Bicheno, 2004). The Mexicans retreated after they suffered many casualties.

Bicheno (2004) states that during the night, the weather was very cold, with activities continuing as the Mexicans moved their artillery closer. Some of the Texans deserted and defected to the Mexican side and even informed Santa Anna where they had hidden some rifles.

As the fourth day started, another assault on the fort was beaten back. The men inside the fort were running out of food and water. Moreover, with the dropping temperatures, they had to get out of the fort to look for firewood to keep the fire burning as the temperatures fell significantly low. The men also dug ditches and strengthened their defenses at the fort, thus ensuring that their enemies could not overcome them.

In the fifth day, the battle continued with several encounters between the two sides. During this day, the Mexicans attempted to starve the fort of its water supply. They succeeded in blocking the San Antonio River that was the main source of water in the area (Bicheno, 2004).

The soldiers also attempted to set up guns at the bend of the river. It is reported that David Crockett shot one of the soldiers from 200 yards using his rifle (Thompson, 2005). According to Bicheno (2004), Travis also sent another distress message to try to get help from the other Texans.

On the sixth day of the blockade, the fight was still progressing, and the Texans were spending their bullets sparingly as they were running out of gunpowder. Bicheno (2004) stated that during this day, music could be heard from inside the fort and that David Crockett had challenged a Scottish among the men to play some of the popular music at the time (2004). The action of playing music has been described as an attempt to raise the spirits of the men who were facing fierce gunfire from the Mexicans.

On the seventh day, reinforcements for the fort had not arrived. Santa Anna offered amnesty to anyone who could walk out from the fort and surrender (Thompson, 2005). It is reported that some of the local peasants chose to leave during this day. News spread in the Mexican camp of incoming supplies and reinforcements for the Texans who were trapped inside the fort (Thompson, 2005). A battalion was sent to ensure that the reinforcements did not arrive. The Santa Anna gave direct orders for his officers not to take any prisoners.

On the eighth day, the weather was very bad. This time, there was heavy rain, with a storm blowing over the area. Despite the order to have the reinforcements halted, the day was a good one for the Texans since 32 men from Gonzales Ranging Company managed to sneak into the fort to the delight of the Texans (Thompson, 2005).

The arrival of reinforcements was a motivation for the fighting men. In fact, it represented the only help that they got throughout the siege. The ninth day of the siege was important not only to the Texans in the fort but also for the whole of Texas, with independence being declared. Despite the independence, no help was available to the people who were trapped in the fort, as their pleas for help were being ignored on the basis that they were mere forgeries since the war had ended.

According to Cavendish (2012), on the tenth day of the blockade, Travis wrote another letter to the convention president, with Colorado being the messenger. The instructions were that the group would continue holding out with signals being made through the firing of the big gun at intervals during the day.

The eleventh day of the siege was an important one for both sides of the siege. During this day, the Mexicans started firing from a position that was different from the traditional one. This northern position allowed them to be closer to the Alamo at just over 200 yards (Cavendish, 2012). They were also expecting reinforcements, with their number being expected to increase to over 2000 men during the day.

Despite the evident strength of the Mexicans that was observed on the eleventh day, the president had an argument with some of his generals over the right method to use to attack the fort. He wanted to use the large number of men to attack the fort in an all-out attack while the generals feared that too many men might be lost in the process.

The main reason that was suggested as to why the president wanted an all-out attack of the fort was that he feared that the Texans might surrender and rob him of the victory that he thought was impeding. On the other hand, the generals wanted to wait for the bigger guns and heavy artillery so that they could first overwhelm the fort before advancing inside and minimizing the losses on their side (Thompson, 2005). On the eve of the twelfth day, the Mexicans moved even closer to the fort.

The president drew a battle plan that the Mexicans would use to attack the fort that morning. They had placed their guns at a distance of less than 200 yards where they were set to launch an attack at the old Spanish mission. The officers used the twelfth day to prepare for the battle that raged the decisive day that made the thirteenth day.

The thirteenth day marked the climax of the battle and a preparation for the raid occurred early in the morning. The Mexican soldiers had ensured that they got adequate sleep that night. After midnight, they began moving into positions around the fort and settled in their trenches ready to attack.

According to Thompson (2005), the soldiers attacked at about 5.00 am. Travis is reported to have died in the initial minutes of the fight. On the other hand, Crotchet managed to survive at some point where he and his men were able to repel an attack with some of the Mexican soldiers retreating. As fate would have it, some of the retreating soldiers were caught in the crossfire as the reserve forces attempted to enter the fight on Santa Anna’s orders (Cavendish, 2012).

However, the Mexicans managed to destroy part of the wall in the effort to enter the fort, with the remaining Texans retreating to the church where they continued with their offensive actions (Cavendish, 2012). The resistance only lasted for a short time, with the remaining men being marched out of the church for execution without any mercy. The compound was described as being littered with dead bodies and body parts, with the sight being sad to see.

Conclusion

The fort of Alamo is currently over 200 years old, with a rich history of many decades of war and occupation. Initially starting as a Catholic mission center run by the Spanish natives, the fort later changed ownership after the onset of the Mexican war of independence, with the Spanish and the Mexicans occupying it at different times during the war. The declaration of independence for Mexico saw an influx of American immigrants with the intention of settling there.

However, their intentions were short-lived, as they had to fight for their independence. The fight for Alamo between the Mexicans and the Texans represents the highlight of this war. A thirteen-day siege was decisive in the battle. The siege of Alamo has also generated many myths and folklore. The fort represents a symbol of the fight for freedom that Texas had to undertake.

Reference List

Bicheno, H. (2004). Alamo, Siege of the (1836). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cavendish, B. (2012). What Harvest: Poems on the Siege & Battle of the Alamo. Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 61(2), 1.

Huffines, C., & Zaboly, S. (1999). Blood of noble men the Alamo siege & battle: an illustrated chronology. Austin, TX: Eakin Press.

Myers, M. (1948). The Alamo. New York, NY: E.P. Dutton.

Sullivan, G. (1997). Alamo!. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Thompson, T. (2005). The Alamo. Denton, Tex.: University of North Texas Press.

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