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Email: joy@our-town.com
When Travis unsheathed his sword and
drew a line on the ground, he was asking his men to resign
themselves to die for Texas. They had
already fought fiercely for ten days to keep
those seasoned Mexican soldiers outside the mission walls.
Since February 23, when Col. Travis answered Santa Anna’s surrender
ultimatum with a cannon shot, the 188 defenders of the Alamo had been under continual
bombardment.
Travis held the sword above his head and spoke to his men. “Those prepared to give their lives in
freedom’s cause, come over to me.”
With resolution and conviction, every man but one stepped across that line and
stood beside their commander. Col. James
Bowie lay on his cot, too sick with typhoid fever and
pneumonia, to rise. He lifted his
weaken body on one elbow and spoke to his fellow soldiers in a voice that although weak,
never faltered, “Lift me over, boys.”
William Travis was a lawyer born in South Carolina who joined the Texas revolution
early on and assumed command of the Alamo when Bowie became ill. His letter “To the People of Texas & all
Americans in the world” , dated February 24, 1836
said in part.....”I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under
Santa Anna---I have sustained a continued bombardment & cannoade for 24 hours &
have not lost a man.......I have answered the demand to surrender with a cannon
shot......our flag still waves proudly from the walls.....I shall never surrender or
retreat. I call on you in the name of
Liberty, of Patriotism & everything dear to the American character to come to our
aid........the enemy will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five
days. If this call is neglected, I am
determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never
forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country-----Victory or Death.”
The men who committed themselves to
fight to the death, were from diverse backgrounds and localities. Many were colonists such as the 32 men and boys
who made their way through the Mexican lines in answer to Travis’ call for
reinforcements. Others were volunteers such
as Davy Crockett and his “Tennessee Boys” who
got to Texas in early February. Some
of the Alamo defenders were of Mexican descent who were tired of the injustices of their
government.
James Bowie was born in Tennessee in 1795. He
played many roles in his life, adventurer, Indian fighter and was made famous by the
crafting of his famous Bowie Knife. The loss
of his wife and children in a cholera
epidemic was the beginning of his own bad health, perhaps from neglect. He
had defeated the Mexican cavalry at mission Concepcion the year before and held joint
command with Travis until he became bed-ridden.
James Bonham was a South Carolinian, lawyer, military aide to the Governor, who
practiced law in Alabama until he heard about the fight to liberate Texas. He joined the cause and became a lieutenant. Bonham left the Alamo during the siege in an
attempt to get help. When he could find none, he bravely
broke back through enemy lines to report to Travis,
knowing that he would die with the others in the Alamo.
Seated around the campfires inside those adobe walls, were men whose lives began in
other places but their search for freedom and liberty united them so strongly that they
were prepared to give up their lives for it.
A roll call of those inside the Alamo included
men from such different localities as
Missouri, New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Pennyslvania and Georgia. Other
countries were represented around the campfire including, Denmark, Ireland, England, and
Scotland. If they were waiting to look death
in the eye, that March 5, 1836, they
wouldn’t have long to wait.
Suddenly, in the chilly pre-dawn hours of March 6, Santa Anna ordered his bugles to
sound the dreaded “Deguello” which meant no mercy. The Texans inside awoke, and
were instantly on their feet, guns in hand. Mexicans swarmed the walls on four sides, scambling up the long ladders they had put
together during the night. Twice they were
repulsed by withering cannon fire and musket balls from the defenders. The third time the
attackers concentrated on the north wall and
with overpowering force were able to get into the courtyard.
Travis was killed with a single shot through the head. When he fell across his cannon, the Mexican army poured through the breach and battered down the doors to the long barracks where they killed its defenders with grapeshot or bayonets.
Crockett, running out of ammunition, used his rifle as a club. He died on a mound of enemy corpses that he had
slain. The Texans inside the chapel were next
to die. Bowie was there on his cot, pistols empty. His famous knife was coated in
blood, his body riddled with holes.
Mrs. Dickinson, whose husband fought and died with the rest, their child, Angelina,
and fourteen others who were not soldiers, were spared by the Mexican army.
Santa Anna ordered that the bodies of the Alamo defenders be
burned. As the smoke from those funeral pyres darkened the San Antonio sky, a spark
ignited a flame of freedom in every Texan’s heart.
Three weeks later this flame burst into a
roar heard around the world after Santa Anna ordered the massacre of more than 300
prisoners at Goliad.
On April 21, almost 800 angry Texans followed General Sam Houston to San Jacinto. The battle between Houston’s 800 and the
1,300 led by General Santa Anna lasted less than 15 minutes. Shouting, “Remember the Alamo! Remember
Goliad!” the Texans roared into battle killing 630 while losing 8. Santa Anna was captured in a private’s
uniform, crawling through the grass.
Texas was now free of Mexico. The
Republic of Texas was born.