If you’ve ever studied U.S. History the chances are you’ve heard the saying, “Remember the Alamo!” To a Texan those three simple words emphasize the strength, bravery, and commitment Texans have to defend their beliefs until the end. But what exactly is the Alamo? The Alamo was the first mission in the San Antonio region of Texas. The Alamo was originally called Mission San Antonio de Valero. Until March of 1836, Texas belonged to Mexico. General Sam Houston did not see San Antonio as an area worth holding because most of the Anglo settlements were in the eastern section of the region. Because of the General Houston sent Jim Bowie to San Antonio with orders to destroy the Alamo and return with the rebels and their weapons. Bowie along with William B. Travis disregarded the general’s orders and took refuge …show more content…
They came from eighteen states and five foreign countries; twenty-six were born in Europe. Their occupations included merchant, surveyor, painter, farmer, shopkeeper, plasterer, glazer, jockey, and teamster. At least six were physicians, and six were lawyers. The average age was twenty-nine… A diverse lot, but not one of them was a professional soldier. To a man, they shared the will to fight and die for what they believed was right. Anderson, also writes how the youngest defender was a boy named William Philip King. King was 15 and from Gonzales. The oldest defender was a 55-year-old man named Robert B. Moore who came to the Alamo by way of the New Orleans Grays volunteer unit. “Remember the Alamo!” became the battle cry of the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. Despite being ten years following the battle of the Alamo, the rally cry still incited deep-seeded emotion for many Texans. The actual number of defenders and Mexican soldiers who participated in the battle of the Alamo varies depending on the source. One thing is for sure though, the defenders of the Alamo were immensely
The Battle of the Alamo is probably the most famous battle to take place in the history of, and in the state of, Texas. The battle has given Texans the will to persevere against tough odds and the courage to endure through seemingly impossible situations for many generations. Many a Texan would draw inspiration during the fights following the defeat at the Alamo. This inspiration eventually led them to victory during the Texas Revolution following the Battle of San Jacinto. Had the Texas military correctly utilized their intelligence and combat assets available to them at the time, they would have been able to properly reinforce the Alamo. This would have allowed Texan leadership to develop an effective strategy to defeat the Mexican army
The Alamo is a 2004 American war film about the Battle of the Alamo amid the Texas Revolution; it is a motion picture that catches the dejection and fear of men sitting tight for two weeks for what they hope to be sure passing, and it some way or another succeeds in taking those popular society brand names like Davy Crockett and James Bowie and giving them human structure. The film was coordinated by Texan John Lee Hancock, delivered by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Mark Johnson, dispersed by Touchstone Pictures, and featuring Dennis Quaid as Sam Houston, Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett, and Jason Patric as James Bowie. The film relates to history, the Alamo looks exact, and, in reality, we find that San Antonio de Béxar was deliberately re-made with small saving of cost. In any case, a feeling of the way the occasions at the Alamo are joined with the national story of slavery, development, and the evacuation of Native American from the eastern United States in the 1830s and 1840s is missing. On the off chance that we incorporate this bigger story, we can maybe figure out the more extensive point of view that at first created enthusiasm for the venture.
Crisp, James E. Sleuthing the Alamo: Davey Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc, 2005.
The men fought very bravely and had some of the best fighters in America at their side, such as Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William B. Travis were all patriots who came together to fight for Texas’s freedom. All of the soldiers who fought for the Alamo were volunteers, all wanting their freedom from the Santa Anna. The Texan soldiers defeated over 700 of the Santa Anna’s soldiers but still lost the battle of the Alamo.
Sam Houston played a monumental role in sparking the Texas revolution. He believed that independence from Mexico was necessary saying that “war inevitable” and “urging volunteers to come to the aid of their Anglo brethren” (p. 60). Also, Houston’s role as commander-in-chief of the army was very important in winning the war for Texas Independence. After the capture of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, many of the soldiers in the Texas Army wanted to execute him on the spot. But because of Sam Houston’s level head, he knew that “his prisoner was the key to removing all Mexicans soldiers from Texas without further bloodshed”, and “Jacinto became his password to Texas heroism forever” (p. 85-87). Furthermore, Houston’s leadership as the president of the Republic of Texas “kept the republic alive until it became a part of his mother country” (p. 198).
The film “The Alamo” revealed the history of Texas and battle of Alamo about Texas revolution, early back in the mid-1830s. The film was released in 2004, which reflected how the Texans fought bravely against Mexicans government to preserve their independence from the Mexico. Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, William Barrel Travis, Davy Crockett, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna were the main characters of the movie. Sam Houston was the governor of the Texas and used to live with Indians. Jim Bowie was the colonel with a huge knife and was opportunities. William B Travis was lieutenant colonel who divorced his wife and Jim used to call him “Buck” in the movie. Davy Crockett was renowned as a bear fighter and sharpshooter. He used to play violin and everybody
The battle at the Alamo is one of the most significant events in the Texas Revolution, as well as in both Mexican and American history. For Mexican President and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, it was a tale of determination and holding to the principles of a strong, central government. For Americans living in Texas, the Alamo was a venture of small scale Revolutionary ideals; a people should be able to democratically express how they feel their homeland to be governed. As we know, both countries experienced the extreme opposites of their desired outcomes, if only initially. The tales of this specific point in time are many, though some certainly contain many varying details from the next. However, most can hardly be proven, as
While the Texas Revolution began as colonists in the Mexican province of Texas rebelled against the Mexican authority for political and economic reasons, many historians believed that there was a racial and cultural factor in the conflict. Historians such as Eugene C. Barker, a prominent history professor and an expert in Texas history, based his argument of a racial war on Sam Houston’s speech to the Texas volunteer army at Refugio. In his book, Sleuthing The Alamo, James Crisp comes to Sam Houston’s defense and disproves Barker’s argument by taking a closer look at the speech and the details associated with it.
In the 1830’s, Texas fought for their independence from Mexico. This sparked the Mexican revolution. There were three main reasons why Texans wanted independence: Mexico outlawed slavery, high taxes, and the Mexicans wanted everyone to join the Catholic Church. One of the major players in Texas was Stephen Austin. He had 300 land grants which he gave to the Texans. After some time, Stephen Austin went all the way to Mexico to present petitions for a greater self-governing government for Texas. Even though Stephen Austin was known as the father of Texas, the President of Mexico harshly denied his request.
The Alamo first saw action when General Cos landed at Copano, and headed to San Antonio to meet up with Colonel Ugartechea. By now war was on everyone’s mind and many events prior to Cos marching toward San Antonio set the playing field for war, but not everyone really was for it,..... at least not yet. Meanwhile, in Gonzales the revolution had started over a cannon that the settlers would not give up. This is also were the phrase “come and take it!” was born. What had happen was Ugartechea sent a lieutenant with some men to unarm a group of colonist who had a cannon at their disposal in Gonzales. What the Mexican’s did not count on was that in the end they would be sent running off to San Antonio after being repulsed by the colonists. Now the colonists formed a small army to March on Cos and his men, which the settlers wanted out of Texas for good. As Lord points out Cos would be ready for the settlers in San Antonio. Lord also points out how the mission in San Antonio got its name, Lord states that the mission once held a colonial company from the Alamo de Parras in Mexico, and that the named carried over and was shortened to just being called the Alamo.
The Battle of San Jacinto was a decisive battle that helped to secure the independence of Texas. The Battle occurred on the 21st of April, 1836 in which the Texan Army led by General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican Army led by General Santa Anna. Despite the Mexican Army having a superior number of troops and equipment, they were not able to defeat the Texan Army, and thus led to the eventual capture of General Santa Anna and the withdraw of Mexican Forces from Texas (Hardin, 1994). The one key element that aided the victory of the Texan Army was the patience and terrain knowledge that General Houston had. What if General Santa Anna had sent a scout element to recon the terrain? What if General Santa Anna
The Battle of the Alamo was a battle between rebellious Texans and the Mexican army. The Alamo was a fortified old mission in the center of the town of San Antonio de Béxar, it was defended by about 189 rebellious Texans, chief among them Lt. Colonel William Travis, famed frontiersman Jim Bowie and former Congressman Davy Crockett. A massive Mexican army led by President/General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna opposed them. After a two-week obstruction, Mexican forces attacked at dawn on March 6 the Alamo was overran in less than two hours (The Alamo, 2016,
Travis drew out his sword and drew a line. For those who wanted to stay and defend the Alamo as strong serving men had to cross the line. All 200 men crossed the line but one. The 200 men that chose to stay at the Alamo was mainly because of the letter that Travis sent out for support and therefore, the soldiers stayed and fought for liberty. A native of France that was a veteran of the Napoleonic wars known as Louis Mosses Rose, the soldier did not see a reason for him to stay and die for something Rose did not believe in. This soldier did not care for the letter that Travis sent out nor the liberty of Texas; however, the letter did impact the soldiers. It motivated the soldiers to fight with passion. The soldiers grew hope and patriotism, regardless that all 200 men were free to leave but yet staid at Travis’s side to fight for liberty.
In January of 1836 about 145 Texans were fortified in the soft walls of the Alamo also known as Cottonwood. Some of the important people here were lieutenant Colonel William Berret Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crocket. Meanwhile Santa Anna drove his troops into Texas in the dead of winter to level the Alamo. They arrived and began their siege on February 23. Fighting Ensued for about 13 days with minimum casualties. But on the 13th day of battle March 6, 1836 Santa Anna ordered a surprise attack from all sides in the dead of night. All defenders of the Alamo died that night.
The siege, fall and ensuing massacre of nearly two hundred Alamo defenders at the hands of Mexican General, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna y Perez de Lebron’s army of over five thousand was a defining moment in both Texan, and American history. For 13 days against insurmountable odds, a small, but very determined Texan garrison force fended off an equally determined Mexican Army ordered to capture it. I’ll discuss the events and political climate leading up to the siege, key historic figures involved on both sides, the siege itself, along with events immediately following the battle. The iconic phrase, “Remember the Alamo!” would later go on to become a rallying cry at the Battle of San Jacinto.