Battle Of The Alamo. By Lee Paul. February 2. Alamo, a 1. 3- day moment in history that turned a ruined Spanish mission in the heart of downtown San Antonio, Texas, into a shrine known and revered the world over. But what is it that makes this one battle so different from any other battle fought in the name of freedom? Yes, that’s part of it. Yes, that’s another part. John Wayne's directorial debut The Alamo is set in 1836: Wayne plays Col. Davy Crockett, who, together with Colonels Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) and William Travis. Find showtimes in Ashburn. By Movie Lovers, For Movie Lovers. Dine-in Cinema with the best in movies, beer, food, and events. The advance buzz on 'The Alamo' was negative, and now I know why: This is a good movie. Conventional wisdom in Hollywood is that any movie named 'The Alamo' must be. The Alamo is a 1960 film that tells the legendary true story of a small band of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in hopeless combat against a massive army in order. Find showtimes at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. By Movie Lovers, For Movie Lovers. Dine-in Cinema with the best in movies, beer, food, and events. John Wayne and Richard Widmark star in this historical film spectacular about the attack by Mexican troops on the Alamo. The Alamo family was saddened by the recent passing of one of our longtime volunteers, Charlie Yates. Charlie was a regular at many Alamo events over the years and. Or can it be that the mysteries, myths and legends surrounding it are still tantalizing minds even today? All of these things have made the battle stand apart and have caused it to be so well remembered throughout the nation 1. Yet, as historian Walter Lord said in 1. The first, the Spanish revolt against French occupation of Spain, occurred in 1. Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain, and it took six years for Spanish resistance forces to oust the French emperor and restore Ferdinand VII to the throne. The fires of the Spanish revolt crossed the ocean, and in Mexico Father Miguel Hidalgo rang the bells of his small church in Dolores at midnight on September 1. Synopsis, cast and crew, trivia, production and distribution information, photographs, multimedia, and links.This Mexican revolt against Spanish occupation traveled quickly across Mexico and into the northern frontier of the Mexican territory of Texas. One revolutionary, Captain Jose Menchaca, was captured by Spanish troops, shot and beheaded. His head was then stuck on a pole in front of the Alamo. Instead of setting an example for the other insurgents, however, Menchaca’s execution only added fuel to the revolt. After an 1. 1- year struggle, Mexico gained its freedom in 1. Within that same year, Agustin de Iturbide, a Spanish general turned rebel and a hero of the revolution, became emperor of the new nation. But his regime was too extravagant for some tastes, and in no time a revolt led by General Antonio L. About the only condition to owning land was that all immigrant landowners had to be Catholic, an easy enough problem to overcome for non- Catholics. William Travis, for instance, became Catholic to purchase land, but remained a staunch Methodist until the day he died at the Alamo. Unfortunately, the fledgling Republic of Mexico was born bankrupt and ill- prepared for self- government. In fact, during its first 1. All of them struggled for power, shifting between the liberal- leaning Federalists and the dictatorial Centralists. The first president was a Federalist, General Guadalupe Victoria, a hero of the revolution who had changed his name from Miguel Felix Hernandez to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, for his victory. It was he who established the liberal Constitution of 1. Santa Anna and that would lead to the Battle of the Alamo 1. It was also during this tumultuous struggle for control of Mexico’s presidency that the northern territory of Texas was mostly neglected. When Mexico redefined its territories in 1. Texas was the only separate territory to lose its independence. It was joined to Coahuila and the capital was moved from San Antonio de B. Armed citizens gathered in protest. In September 1. 83. Coahuila. They wrote out their needs and their complaints in The Declaration of Causes. This document was designed to convince the Federalists that the Texans desired only to preserve the 1. Constitution, which guaranteed the rights of everyone living on Mexican soil. But by this time, Santa Anna was in power, having seized control in 1. His answer was to send his crack troops, commanded by his brother- in- law, General Mart. Although the only casualty was one Mexican soldier, Gonzales became enshrined in history as the Lexington of Texas. The Texas Revolution was on. On December 5, 2. Texan volunteers commanded by Ben Milam attacked C. More than 2. 00 of his men lay dead, and as many more were wounded. He signed papers of capitulation, giving the Texans all public property, money, arms and ammunition in San Antonio, and by Christmas Day, the Mexican army was back across the Rio Grande. To the Texans, who lost about 2. Ben Milam, the victory seemed cheap and easy. The siege of B. He whipped together a force of 8,0. Europe and America. One of his deadliest snipers was an Illinois man named Johnson! Santa Anna, the self- styled Napoleon of the West, marched at the head of the massive army; he was determined to stamp out all opposition and teach the Texans a lesson. The word went out to his generals: In this war, you understand, there are no prisoners. Although it was midwinter, Santa Anna pushed his army mercilessly toward Texas. The frigid, wind- battered deserts of northern Mexico took their toll. Men and animals died by the hundreds and were left on the trail, and the brigades strung out for uncounted miles. When the big siege guns bogged down in one of the many quagmires, Santa Anna pushed on without them. Nothing would stop him. Meanwhile, after the defeated Mexican force under General C. Neill had assumed command of the Alamo garrison, which consisted of about 8. The rest of the soldiers had returned home to their families and farm chores. In this command were an artillery company under Captain William R. Carey known as the Invincibles, two small infantry companies known as the New Orleans Greys under Captain William Blazeby, and the B. But Bowie and Neill agreed that it would be impossible to remove the 2. And they deemed it foolhardy to abandon that much firepower–by far the most concentrated at any location during the Texas Revolution. Bowie also had a keen eye for logistics, terrain, and avenues of assault. Knowing that General Houston needed time to raise a sizable army to repel Santa Anna, Bowie set about reinforcing the Alamo after Neill was forced to leave because of sickness in his family. Colonel William Travis arrived in San Antonio on February 2 with a small cavalry company, bringing the total number of Alamo defenders to about 1. Although spies told him that Santa Anna had crossed the Rio Grande, Travis did not expect the dictator before early spring. He sent letter after letter, pleading for supplies and more men. He and Bowie also competed for command of the garrison before it was decided that Bowie would command the volunteers and Travis the regular army. On February 9, David Crockett and the 1. Tennessee Mounted Volunteers (only three were actually from Tennessee) rode into San Antonio. Alarmed by the Mexican army on the outskirts of town, Travis vigorously renewed his pleas for help. His February 2. 4 letter, To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World! Travis sent the message out with Captain Albert Martin. The day before, February 2. Santa Anna had reclaimed San Antonio. To the triumphant music of a military band, he took possession of the town, set up headquarters on the main plaza, and began the siege. He had his standard- bearers climb to the top of the bell tower of San Fernando Church and unfurl the scarlet flag of no quarter. Inside the Alamo, Travis and the Texans fired their message to Santa Anna with a blast from their 1. They had their music, too, with Davy Crockett’s fiddle and John Mc. Gregor’s bagpipes. In fact, Davy’s fiddle- playing and outlandish storytelling kept up the spirits of the besieged defenders. Santa Anna ordered his men to pound the fortifications with cannon and rifle fire for 1. His idea was to wear out the defenders inside, giving them no chance for rest or sleep. He reasoned that a weary army would be an easy one to defeat. But the noise worked on his own army, too. Unable to hear clearly through the din, they allowed courier after courier to escape from the Alamo. On March 2, racing through the enemy’s lines, the last group to reinforce the Alamo arrived. These men were the relief force from Gonzales, the only town to answer Travis’ pleas to send help. The total number of Alamo defenders now stood at between 1. At 4 o’clock on the morning of March 6, 1. Santa Anna advanced his men to within 2. Alamo’s walls. Just as dawn was breaking, the Mexican bloodcurdling bugle call of the Deguello echoed the meaning of the scarlet flag above San Fernando: no quarter. It was Captain Juan Seguin’s Tejanos, the native- born Mexicans fighting in the Texan army, who interpreted the chilling music for the other defenders. Santa Anna’s first charge was repulsed, as was the second, by the deadly fire of Travis’ artillery. At the third charge, one Mexican column attacked near a breach in the north wall, another in the area of the chapel, and a third, the Toluca Battalion, commenced to scale the walls. All suffered severely. Out of 8. 00 men in the Toluca Battalion, only 1. Fighting was hand to hand with knives, pistols, clubbed rifles, lances, pikes, knees and fists. The dead lay everywhere. Blood spilled in the convent, the barracks, the entrance to the church, and finally in the rubble- strewn church interior itself. Ninety minutes after it began, it was over. All the Texans died. Santa Anna’s loss was 1,5. More than 5. 00 Mexicans lay wounded, their groans mingling with the haunting strains of the distant bugle calls. Santa Anna airily dismissed the Alamo conquest as a small affair, but one of his officers commented, Another such victory will ruin us. As many of the Mexican dead as possible were given the rites of the church and buried, but there were so many that there was not sufficient room in the cemetery. Santa Anna ordered all the bodies of the Texans to be contemptuously stacked like cord wood in three heaps, mixed with fuel, wood and dry branches from the neighboring forest, and set on fire–except one. Jose Gregorio Esparza was given a Christian burial because his brother Francisco was a member of General C. The men who died inside the walls of the Alamo had bought with their lives the time needed for General Sam Houston to weld a force that won Texas its independence. The great sacrifice would not be forgotten by history, nor would the Alamo’s many legends and stories, most of which can never be proved or disproved because all the defenders died. Chronology. The Mission Period: 1. The story of the Alamo begins with the establishment of the Mission San Francisco de Solano near the Rio Grande River in 1. After Olivares traveled to Texas with an expedition in 1. San Antonio area and later recommended it to the Spanish viceroy, Marques de Valero, as a site for a mission waypoint on the road to Spanish settlements in East Texas. In 1. 71. 8, after many Indians had left Mission Solano, Olivares moved the mission’s belongings to the new site near present- day San Antonio. He named the new mission in honor of Saint Anthony de Padua and the Spanish viceroy who had approved his plan: San Antonio de Valero. While the mission changed locations several times, the present location was chosen in 1. The foundation of the stone mission church was laid in 1. Until it was secularized nearly 7. San Antonio de Valero was home to Spanish missionaries and their Indian converts. It was the first of five Spanish missions in the San Antonio area. A Spanish mission was much more than a religious institution. Its purpose was to take an indigenous population and convert it not only to Catholicism, but to the Spanish way of life. In establishing the missions in Texas, the Spanish hoped to create a self- sufficient population that would continue to exist and grow as loyal Spanish subjects, thereby staving off any involvement of foreign powers like France. Indian converts were taught farming, raising livestock, blacksmithing, carpentry, stonework, and weaving. Indians and missionaries at San Antonio de Valero also found protection at the mission. Encroachment by warlike Apaches from the west and Comanches from the north meant local Coahuiltecan tribes were under constant threat. Thus, mission life brought protection from other indigenous people as well as shelter and a more stable food supply. It also gave the Coahuiltecans access to two important technological developments of the period: firearms and horses. On June 3. 0, 1. 74. Apache attack on the nearby town of San Fernando was driven off with the aid of 1. Valero. Mission San Antonio de Valero was originally overseen by the Franciscan College of Quer. The void left by the departure of the Jesuits from New Spain was filled by reassigning the missionaries from other orders who remained in the various Spanish colonies. By the late 1. 70. Texas frontier. Indian convert populations had dwindled at most of the Spanish missions, sometimes from increased mortality due to exposure to new diseases carried by the Europeans. The rich mission lands, cultivated over a century, were also coveted by local populations. As a result, by 1. Mission San Antonio de Valero was secularized and control passed to local authorities. Much of the mission lands and goods were distributed amongst the Spanish locals and remaining Indian residents. The other San Antonio missions would meet a similar fate. The former mission, with its convento, adobe houses and an incomplete stone church, would soon play host to the first of many military garrisons. San Antonio Missions: San Antonio Missions Trip Planner presented by National Park Service MORE LESSDecline of Spanish Rule: 1. In response to increased French and American threats from nearby Louisiana, Spain mobilized its military into the Texas frontier after the turn of the century. The mission’s old convento became a barracks for the soldiers. Spanish authorities even established a military hospital on the building’s second story — the first hospital in Texas. Within a short period of time people were calling the old mission the Pueblo de la Compa. Eventually, the compound was just called the Alamo and would be home for the company for 3. La Segunda Compa. Designated a “flying company,” soldiers of the unit were mounted and armed with a lance (lanza), short sword (espada ancha), carbine (escopeta), and pistol (pistola). For protection against arrows, they sometimes wore a padded leather vest (cuera) and carried a thick leather shield (adarga). The company’s original duties included protecting San Antonio and the area around it from Indian raiders as well as escorting travelers, merchants, and officials to places like Monterrey, Monclova, and Saltillo. As the 1. 80. 0s progressed, the soldiers were called on to intercept, capture or turn back encroaching Americans who were increasingly showing interest in Texas. Momentous events, however, tested the loyalty of the Alamo Company. Father Miguel Hidalgo’s 1. Spanish revolt spread across Mexico and extended into Texas. Although they were supposed to battle the rebels, some members of the Alamo Company switched sides and joined forces with the Mexican revolutionaries and American volunteers — or filibusters — who attempted to transform Texas into an independent republic. In August 1. 81. 3, a Spanish royalist army crushed the filibuster revolt at the Battle of Medina. Many of the rebels, including members of the company, were forced to flee for their lives. With order restored, the company resumed its traditional role of fighting Indians and interdicting interlopers. However, American filibusters would continue to threaten Texas for several more years. In a twist of fate, a young Mexican officer serving in the Spanish army – Lieutenant Antonio L. The future president and dictator of Mexico was even cited for gallantry for his actions at the battle. MORE LESSMexican Texas: 1. When Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1. Alamo remained a military outpost. The new Republic of Mexico inherited the old Spanish problems of holding and governing Texas. The root of the trouble remained the region’s sparse population. A hundred years of Spanish settlement had resulted in only three permanent communities of any size: Nacogdoches, Presidio La Bah. In fact, Texas’ population had actually decreased from 1. Spain. Desperate to turn the situation around, the nation’s leaders turned to immigration from the United States as a way to bolster Texas’ dwindling population. The policy would be called colonization. The Mexican government granted contracts to land agents called empresarios. It would be the responsibility of these men to screen prospective applicants to ensure that only law- abiding men and women were allowed to settle in Texas. One of the first to plan large scale Anglo colonization of Texas was Moses Austin, a Connecticut businessman. In 1. 82. 0, Austin died just as his plans were being approved. Austin, carried on his work and became the first empresario of Texas. Although the system got off to a good start, the sheer number of Americans wanting to move to Texas quickly overwhelmed the Mexican territory. Within a space of only five years, from 1. Problems for both the colonists and the Mexican government lay ahead. In 1. 82. 4, Mexico had adopted a constitution that established a federal style government for the new nation. Mexico City was designated the site of the national capital. The nation itself was divided into 1. Because it lacked sufficient inhabitants to meet the requirements for statehood, Texas was designated the Department of Texas and placed within the state of Coahuila y Tejas. Native- born Texans (Tejanos) felt slighted and quickly began calling for separate statehood for Texas. Many Tejano elites supported colonization because increasing Texas’ population seemed to be the surest path to statehood. The incoming settlers took up the demand for Texas’ statehood within the Mexican Federal Republic. On April 6, 1. 83. Mexican government attempted to stop the flood of immigration by prohibiting the settlement of emigrants from the United States. The result only fueled the flame of revolution in Texas. In 1. 83. 3, a former military governor named Antonio L. The following year, Santa Anna switched his allegiance to the Centralists. Retaining his position as Mexico’s president, a newly assembled Congress of Centralist supporters provided him extralegal powers in order to combat growing Federalist opposition in states like Zacatecas, Yucatan, and Coahuila y Texas. He became absolute ruler of Mexico. In B. Commanded by Francisco Casta. They taunted the soldados with the call to “Come and Take It!” On October 2, 1. Casta. MORE LESSTexas Revolution: 1. San Antonio de B. Not only was it home to a military garrison, it was a crossroads and center of commerce. With the outbreak of revolt in Coahuila y Tejas, San Antonio even resumed its old role as the capital of Texas. San Antonio experienced two sieges and battles during the Texas Revolution. The first, the Siege and Battle of B. When the Texian siege of the town stalled, soldier and empresario Ben Milam rallied a force on December 5 that fought its way into the center of San Antonio. After a bloody five- day, house- to- house fight, the Texians took control of the town and Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos surrendered the town and the public property it held. Thus, the rebels gained control of San Antonio and the Alamo. On February 2. 3, 1. General Antonio L. The Texian rebels withdrew across the San Antonio River into the safety of the old fortified mission known as the Alamo. As Mexican forces surrounded the Alamo, Santa Anna raised the red flag indicating that no quarter would be given to the traitors inside the mission. Alamo commander William Barret Travis began writing desperate pleas for help, including the famous “Victory or Death” letter sent out on February 2. While the Alamo was under siege, the provisional Texas government organized at Washington- on- the- Brazos. On March 2, the convention declared independence and the Republic of Texas was born, at least on paper. The Alamo’s garrison showed its support for independence from Mexico by sending its own delegates to the convention. While they were unaware that Texas had declared independence, the roughly 2. Alamo defenders stayed at their post waiting on help from the settlements. Among them were lawyers, doctors, farmers and a former congressman and famous frontiersman from Tennessee named David Crockett. While the youngest was 1.
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