Remembering the Battle of the Alamo

“Remember the Alamo” became a conflict outcry successful the Texans’ conflict for independency from Mexico, but the Battle of the Alamo was, successful fact, a tiny engagement, with less than 200 Texans confronting a fewer 1000 Mexican troops. While the communicative of the siege is well-documented, the lead-up to the conflict has mostly been neglected.

The aforesaid vigor that brought Hernán Cortés to the onshore of the Mexica besides took conquistadors further north, claiming Texas and a immense country of what is present the U.S. for Spain. This distant country attracted constricted European migration, and the tiny numbers of settlers were ne'er capable to subdue the Indigenous radical arsenic firmly arsenic Cortés and his fistful of warriors had decimated the Mexica. As precocious arsenic the 1800s, determination were inactive lone astir 3,500 settlers surviving successful the full of Tejas. It didn’t adjacent merit its ain politician but was a neglected bluish conception known arsenic Coahuila y Tejas.

Spanish Texas becomes Mexican

Drawing of the Alamo ngo successful San Antonio arsenic it looked earlier the battle. (Public Domain)

On the surface, small changed aft Mexico gained independency successful 1821, Spanish Texas simply becoming Mexican Texas. However, the portion had been babelike connected Spain for money, priests and manufactured goods, and Mexican independency saw the section system shrink. Smugglers filled the spread for imported goods, and rancheros drove their cattle northbound to the amerciable but much profitable U.S. markets.

To summation the fig of settlers, Mexico encouraged migration from the U.S., and successful January 1821, Moses Austin was granted support to bring the archetypal 1,200 families from Louisiana to Texas. Twenty of the archetypal 23 specified settlements were populated by immigrants from the U.S. These caller communities tended to beryllium self-contained, and radical maintained a adjacent affinity to the U.S. One country of struggle was the keeping of enslaved people, a signifier Mexico had outlawed, but which galore caller colonists felt indispensable to their prosperity. The Mexican government, seeing itself becoming outnumbered successful its ain bluish territory, introduced the Law of April 6, 1830, prohibiting immoderate further migration by U.S. citizens. 

The escalation of tensions

The concern simmered until 1833, erstwhile Antonio López de Santa Anna was elected president of Mexico and abolished the Constitution of 1824. This moved Mexico towards centralism. For Americans surviving successful Texas, it was some a origin of interest and an excuse to commencement dreaming of independence. In 1835, Martín Perfecto de Cos, a antheral related to the Mexican President by marriage, arrived successful Texas with 500 soldiers to enactment up Mexican rule. After respective tiny confrontations, events blew up successful the Texas municipality of Gonzales.

The assemblage had been loaned a tiny cannon for extortion against the Native Americans, and with tensions connected the rise, the Mexican authorities sent a beardown unit — 100 cavalry — to reclaim their artillery piece. The soldiers arrived astatine the Guadalupe River to find a tiny radical of equipped Texans connected the different bank. The men refused to instrumentality the cannon, and arsenic the Mexican service searched for a crossing point, much and much men rode successful to face them. A changeable was fired, and the Mexicans, present outnumbered, retreated without the cannon. Nobody realized it astatine the time, but the Texas Revolution had started.

The Texas Revolution

At this stage, unrest successful Texas was little a governmental question and more a wide rumbling against taxes and cardinal government, but buoyed by their occurrence astatine Gonzales, a mob of Texans marched towards San Antonio de Béxar. The municipality had a colonisation of astir 2,000, mostly Spanish speakers who supported Mexican regularisation but were mostly unpolitical and conscionable wanted to get connected with life. The assemblage centred astir the plaza and cathedral, and conscionable 1 artifact from the center, you would find elemental houses that sat connected the borderline of their ain cultivated fields. In effect to raids by the Native Americans, determination were respective fortified missionary buildings, including the Alamo, which was separated from the main municipality by the San Antonio River.

The Texans, who were described astatine the clip arsenic “a motley clump of ruffians with less guns than men, abbreviated connected pulverization and lead, with nary dense artillery to brag about,” made campy conscionable extracurricular San Antonio. At this stage, the “rebels” lacked immoderate authorities oregon a wide database of demands.  While immoderate talked of independence, others lone wished for a grade of section autonomy. Stephen Austin, a Virginia-born landowner, led a squad to negociate with General Cos.

The Battle of the Alamo progressive a 12-day siege by the Mexican army. (Gobierno de Mexico)

When nary statement could beryllium reached, the general, nether unit from the Mexican government, and with the larger force, felt compelled to act. On an aboriginal greeting successful October, helium led a unit of astir 270 men towards the Mexican camp. A tiny unit of Texans took up a beardown presumption connected the banks of the San Antonio River and successful conscionable 30 minutes fought disconnected 3 Mexican assaults, forcing the bigger service backmost into the town.

‘Who volition spell with aged Ben Milan into San Antonio?’

Nothing had truly changed. Cos and his service were inactive besieged, and the Texans were inactive excessively tiny successful numbers to motorboat an battle connected the town. In the Texan camp, boredom was present the top danger; men who were volunteers simply slipping distant and going backmost to their farms. This was a signifier that could beryllium expected to worsen arsenic supplies dwindled and wintertime approached. The Texans were considering decamping and seeking wintertime billets erstwhile a Mexican deserter brought quality of the concern successful the town. The troop’s morale was low, helium reported, and they were moving abbreviated of some nutrient and water. Colonel Ben Milan offered to pb an onslaught and, having been fixed support to bash so, called for volunteers. “Who volition spell with aged Ben Milam into San Antonio?” was his celebrated cry.

After six weeks of siege and 5 days of house-to-house fighting, General Cos retreated from the town, crossed the span implicit the San Antonio River, and took structure successful the Alamo. When helium attempted to motorboat a counterattack, his cavalry deserted, and Cos sued for peace. The surrender presumption were generous, the Mexicans adjacent being allowed to support their muskets for extortion arsenic they marched away.

The Mexican service successful Texas had been neutralized, and galore Texans present rode home, men specified arsenic young Creed Taylor, who arrived astatine his mother’s log compartment with a caller horse, pistols, swords and silk sashes that had erstwhile decorated a Mexican officer’s uniform. However, backmost successful Mexico, President Santa Anna had nary volition of letting the Texans secede. Transferring his statesmanlike duties to Miguel Barragán, helium gathered an service successful San Luis Potosí and started the march northwards.

Mexican service connected the march

It was a bitterly acold winter, the service lacked supplies, and galore of the recruits, who had nary subject training, had to beryllium fixed basal instructions connected however to usage a musket arsenic they marched. There was nary wealth to wage the civilians who worked the proviso wagons, truthful galore deserted. The determination to instrumentality the inland road, alternatively than enactment their mode up the coast, meant the service was heading straight towards San Antonio, and arsenic they marched, they met up with Cos and his retreating soldiers, who turned astir and joined the column.

By now, Sam Houston was emerging arsenic the person of the Texan rebels, and alert that a Mexican service was gathering, helium sent James Bowie to the Alamo with instructions to region the artillery and stroke up the fortification. Bowie discussed the contented with the Alamo commander, James C. Neill, and connected Jan. 26, announced they would enactment and support the fort. There was, astatine this stage, nary certainty that the Mexican service would adjacent scope Texas, and the fort remained undermanned, under-provisioned and mostly unprepared. Feb. 21st brought quality that Santa Anna and the vanguard of his service had reached the banks of the Medina River, and with the Mexicans conscionable a fewer days’ march away, San Antonio abruptly became a country of hectic activity. While galore civilians fled the town, the warring men gathered supplies and herded their cattle into the Alamo. 

Battle of the Alamo

The Alamo successful 2009, astir fractional a period aft it was named a U.S. National Historical Landmark. (Daniel Schwen/Wikimedia Commons)

The nonstop fig of men successful the ngo is uncertain, but it was little than 200, portion the Mexicans had astir 2,000 troops, with much apt to get successful the coming days. At 10 p.m. connected March 5th, the 12th time of the siege, the Mexican artillery ceased their bombardment, and the exhausted Texans fell into their cots. They were unaware that Mexican soldiers were edging up to the walls to hole a large assault. The onslaught came astatine 5 the pursuing morning. Musket and firearm occurrence from the walls, and cannons loaded with a jumble of scrap metal, took a toll connected the attackers, but a operation of numbers and bravery brought the Mexican infantry into the compound. By 6:30 a.m., the conflict was over, and the defenders of the Alamo laic dead. 

Mexico and Texas were present committed to warfare and a fewer weeks later, the Battle of San Jacinto would extremity successful Texas independence.

Bob Pateman is a Mexico-based historian, librarian and a life-term hasher. He is exertion of On On Magazine, the planetary past mag of hashing.