The year was 1836 and all eyes were upon the State of Texas!
“The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion; otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat”-- Lieutenant Colonel Comdt. of the Alamo William Barret Travis.
Let’s remember and teach our young people about those pivotal days of glory and honor one hundred seventy-seven years ago, when The Battle of the Alamo was fought between (February 23, 1836 - March 6, 1836).
The cry “Remember the Alamo” was echoed when the Alamo Mission fell after 13 days of bloody siege by Mexican troops led by President-General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
It is estimated that 400 to 600 Mexicans were killed but eye witness accounts reported between 182 and 257 brave Texicans lost their lives including those who attempted to surrender. Santa Anna’s perceived cruelty inspired many to join the Texas army of Gen. Sam Houston.
On the morning of March 6, 1836, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. Two attacks were repulsed by the Alamo defenders but they were unable to fend off the third.
The Alamo Mission that was called San Antonio de Bexar and located near San Antonio looks so small, today, but….
There was nothing small about those who took a heroic and noble stand for the freedom of Texas and helped buy time for General Sam Houston who would defeat the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836.
From February 23 to March 6, 1836, a small band of brave men at the Alamo stood between Santa Anna’s 5,000-man army and the unprepared small army of Sam Houston. In that lonely monastery were Davy Crocket, Jim Bowie and less than two hundred men from all over our young American nation. Just three days before Santa Anna’s final assault, these men came into the Alamo, knowing full well they might die.
Of those who defended the Alamo were from many backgrounds, including: 13 native-born Texicans, 11 of those being of Mexican descent, and the remaining men were European, Jewish, Black and from the Northern and Southern regions of the United States.
On their last night on earth the men of the Alamo prayed that their battle would, somehow, lead to victory even though they would die. Their prayer was answered. Just weeks later at San Jacinto, Houston defeated Santa Anna with the battle cry of, “Remember the Alamo!” From that battle was born the Republic of Texas.
In the 1900s the Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings around the Alamo Chapel as an official Texas Shrine.
See the 1960 movie “The Alamo” starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett, Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie, Lawrence Harvey as Colonel William Travis and Richard Boone as General Sam Houston.
Let’s not forget the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21st and “Remember the Alamo!”
