BATTLE OF ALAMO
Introduction
The battle of Alamo was a thirteen day fight of February 23 to march 6, 1836. This war was between the Mexican army and the Texas rebellious people. This battle was very influential in the Texas revolution. There is believed that there are many myths of what led to the battle but according to most American writers the war was started by the Mexicans (Peña, 2012). The Chicano writers have a different opinion because they believe that the war was started by the Americans. Alamo was in Mexico a mission at the town of San Antonio de Bexar. The battle ended with the Mexican troops defeating the American troops. This brought about a lot of hate on the American side thus more people joined the rebellious group and started another siege known as the battle of San Jacinto which ended with the Americans winning. According to the Chicano scholars the battle of Alamo was a fight for Mexicans to defend their territory. The battle of Alamo was caused by a lot of things in which the Texans were at a disadvantage because they lacked manpower. The Mexican troops were commanded by President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
An overview of all 13 days
On February 23, the people living in San Antonio de Baxer began fleeing the area after they had reports of the arrival of the Mexican troops. William B. Travis who was a cavalry soldier sent an officer at the San Fernando church which is high where they could watch for any signs of the Mexican troops arriving. A few hours later reports arrived that some of the officers had seen Mexican troops coming. This was a sudden surprise for the Texan troops because they had not made full arrangements for this impending war. The Mexican troops were commanded by General Juaquin Ramirez y Sesma. According to history it was reported that the reason for the ambush by the Mexican side was because they had that the Texan people were planning to ambush them. When Sesma saw two Texan solders scouting he believed this to be true thus started the attack. Due to the nature of the surprise attack the Texan soldiers had no food thus went to people’s homes which was abandoned and took the food and other supplies (Hutton, 2012).
There were some few people in Mexico who had anticipated this war such as Alamaron Dickinson, Gertrudis Navarro and James Bowie who took their families and servants out of Bexar to Alamo to keep them safe. This was a different case for some of the people in Bexar who had no idea of what was going to happen. When Travis saw that the Mexican troops were many he sent John Johnson to ask for more help from Colonel James Fannin. Before the end of the day the town was surrounded by about 1500 Mexican troops. The troop raised a red flag signifying no quarter. When the Mexican sounded the parley request the Texan side by orders of Travis fired 18 pounder cannon to the Mexicans. This killed two Mexican soldiers and injured 8 as confirmed by President Santa Anna (Planas, 2013). In return of the cannon that was fired the Mexican side threw four balls which only hit the interior of Alamo and did not cause any deaths or injuries.
Differences between Bowie and Travis were evident because Bowie sent Green B. Jameson to talk to Santa Anna for an honourable surrender. This was because Bowie saw that Travis did not act smartly by ordering the cannon be fired. Travis in return sent Captain Albert Martin on his behalf. The Mexican leader did not meet up with either of them but ended up meeting with José Barters and Juan Almonte. They were told that the terms for surrender should not have any conditions this led both men to come to an agreement that they should fire other cannon to the Mexican solders side. Since Bexar was surrounded it became difficult for anyone to enter or leave the place.
On February 24, this is when the siege is considered to have been fully blown. Santa Anna and his men went for a scouting mission of Alamo. He then presided over the distribution of shoes for his army. He ordered for an artillery battery to be fired in Alamo. It was in this day that Bowie became really sick thus leaving Travis to be the one in full control over the war. Travis wrote a letter which has been considered to be an evidence of sheer patriotism by peoples all over America and Europe (Hutton, 2012). This letter was given to Albert smith who gave took to Gonzalez. That evening the Mexican troops were relentless with their attacks but one of their soldiers was killed by the Texan sharpshooter’s soldiers and another one was killed by Davey Crockett. In the night the Mexican soldiers were able to get more batteries and surrounded Alamo while they serenaded the Texan men to distract them.
On February 25, some of the Mexican troops took cover at the huts in San Antonio. This was assumed to be a ploy to launch assault to the Texan people therefore, some people volunteered to burn down the huts. While they were burning down the houses the Texan solders led by Crockett fired their riffles and Dickinson fired their cannons. This caused the deaths of six Mexican soldiers and wounded four. On that afternoon when the Mexican soldiers entered the East of Alamo Santa Anna fell for a 17 year old girl named Melchero Barrero. He married her even though he already had a wife since she refused to be his mistress. Travis wrote another letter requesting help and he sent Seguin and Antonio Cruz to take the letter (Hutton, 2012). Through the knowledge of Spanish Seguin was never captured. In the dark some more people continued to burn down the huts but could not be able to get them all. The Mexican soldiers were able to come further came nearer where the Texan people were.
On February 26, both the Mexican and the Texan armies were unable to fight because of the cold temperatures due to the ‘Blue Norther’. Some of the Texan armies tried in vain to get more wood because they met the Mexican army. On that evening a Texan was killed when they were burning more huts and engaged with the colonel Juan Bringas. The governor James W. Robinson got Travis messages for help. Colonel James Fannin decided to go and assist the Texan soldiers. While on their journey to Alamo they encountered several problems such as their courier broke down, the cold weather and they did not carry enough food. This caused Fannin to discontinue their journey and was not able to aid Travis. On February 27, a militia group that was recruited by Edward Burleson arrived in Gonzalez to assist the Texan soldiers. The group was made up of 33 people who were carrying a flag signifying the Texan battle. By the end of the day Travis sent request to Gonzalez asking for the help to come quickly.
On February 28, 12 more men were recruited and set out to Cibolo so that they could meet up with fanning. On February 29, Colonel Wharton was planning on crossing the Guadalupe River. The local militia who were in San Felipe was headed by Captain Mosley Baker ordered them to be ready for a match that day. While all this was happening, the Mexican troops were coming closer to Alamo. The first class private Secundino alvarez was killed when he was ordered to come near Alamo so as to see the defences of the Texan army. Along the road of Gonzalez the Jimenez battalion was taking guard while the east side of Alamo was being guarded by the Allende battalion (Planas, 2013).
On March 2, Bonham crossed the Guadalupe River ignoring the warnings given to him about how the Mexican troops had surrounded Alamo and there was no way anyone could enter or leave the area. At this time Texas was declared republic therefore, the convention thought that since Faninn had taken troops this war would be controlled. This therefore, made them not take any other action against the matter. Santa Anna himself went scouting where he was able to find a road near Alamo thus made Jimenez battalion to take guard.
On March 3, Bonham came to the realization that Fannin was not going to come this demoralized the army. By this time only one Texan soldier had been killed and very few injured were reported. Around 50 of the fanning men joined the other men to assist Travis. The number of the Mexican soldiers increased to almost 2,400. As the day went by the Mexican army fired battery to the walls of Alamo thus weakening it and it began to fall (Planas, 2013). Jameson tried his level best to patch the wall using lumber with help from other people. Travis sent men such as Davey Crockett to check whether Fanning had arrived to assist them and found other Texan militia groups at Cibolo creek. The Mexican soldiers also received more man power such as Aldama and Toluca.
On March 4, there are some Texan army who are able to enter Alamo after being able to break through the Mexican army that surrounded Alamo. The other groups were not that successful in entering Alamo. Santa Anna wanted the army to start attacking the fort fiercely. His men were not in support of this because they wanted more artillery. According to the reports that has been published by many historians they believe someone from the Bexar had given Santa Anna information of the impending surrender of Travis or the escape that could take place. This is what caused Santa Anna to have more confidence that he will win this battle because he knew the Texan people did not have enough manpower and the soldiers were exhausted. On March 5, Santa Anna issued orders that it will be final battle therefore, they should prepare for a fierce battle (Planas, 2013). Though it was cold the soldiers were told not to wear any blankets or overcoats because it will weigh them down. The soldiers were divided into four columns in which it was commanded by colonel Juan Morales was heading towards the chapel, colonel Francisco Duque was in the north wall, Cos was in the northwest corner and Colonel José Maria Romero was in the east wall.
The attack was during midnight on March 6, in which some of the Texan watchers who had fallen asleep were killed. This made it easy for the Mexican troops to head further undetected. The buglers made noises which woke the Texans and Travis took charge of the situation. While in the fight colonel Duque suffered an injury and fell from his horse prompting General Manuel Castillo to take charge of that column. The Mexican soldiers who were at the front were killed by the untrained Texan militias. Though they were being killed the soldiers pushed on thus Travis is killed in the process. The Mexican soldiers were climbing the walls in large numbers therefore, making it hard for the Texan to fight them (Peña, 2012). The columns changed their route and all went to the north. The Texan men also changed their route and started fighting in the north forgetting the south wing where the Mexican soldiers were able to climb the walls and killed all the soldiers. This marked that the Mexican army was superior in this war thus they won.
Aftermath
It is believed that there are some Texans who surrendered to the Mexican army but were executed. There is a myth that among those who surrendered was Crockett but others say that he died fighting and his body was next to fifteen Mexican men. This could be true or not no-one will ever know. According to the reports given by Santa Anna only 70 Mexican soldiers were killed while 300 were wounded and that the Texan people killed were 600. According to many historians Santa Anna boasted to Captain Fernando Urizza that the war was just but a small affair. The fallen Mexican soldiers were buried by their families while the Texan soldiers were burnt. It is believed that only one Texan was able to escape and his name was Henry Warnel (Hutton, 2012). Gregory Esparza was the only Texan who was buried by his brother. Juan Seguin was the one who returned to check the remains in Bexar and he found only names of Bowie, Crockett and Travis inscribed in one single coffin. Seguin buried the coffin in unmarked place. Dickinson was released so as to tell the story of how Santa Anna was unbeatable.
The battle of San Jacinto
Since Texas was declared a republic Sam Houston was appointed as the commander of the troops in Texas. He headed to Gonzalez where he was informed by Dickinson that Alamo had fallen. Upon hearing this he feared that the Mexicans would try to control the whole of Texas thus told people to evacuate the area. This evacuation was later called the runaway scrape. Santa Anna thought that since he had defeated Alamo he was not going to get retaliation since his troops outnumbered that of Texas. Houston was able to get man power because people were annoyed by what happened in Alamo. When Santa Anna heard of the increment of number of soldiers for Houston he decided to act faster therefore, gathered his men to the north while others went to south. The army was defeated by Houston’s men when he surprisingly ambushed the Mexican army in Lynchburg ferry. This is how the battle of San Jacinto ended in only 18 minutes. The Texan men were screaming remember Alamo when they fought. Santa Anna was shamefully captured and ordered to let his men leave Texas (Planas, 2013).
In conclusion, according to Chicano scholars the battle of Alamo was ignited by the Texan people and not the Mexicans. This is because long before the siege started the Texan people started to try and control San Jacinto which is in Mexico. The Alamo siege was also a one sided story according to history where the Mexican point of view was never talked about by the media. They believe that in that time the only illegal immigrants were the white settlers in their lands (Acuña, n.d). According to Chicano scholars in the war there were innocent Tejanos or Mexicans who were killed by Santa Anna’s men as well as black people.
Reference
Acuña, R. F. (n.d.). Arizona the Alamo revisited in Tucson. Institute for Democracy and Education .
Hutton, P. A. (2012). The Alamo, Well Remembered. Wild West magazine .
Peña, D. G. (2012). Acuña on Foundational Myths and Educational Freedom. mexmigration .
Planas, R. (2013). Texas Ethnic Studies Bill Protested By Latino Activists. The Huffington Post .
