do YOU remember the alamo?

This last weekend I had three girlfriends come down to San Antonio for a visit. I was super happy to have friends in town, and to be able to show them the place that I now live. We had lots of laughs, talks, and giggles. It made me miss the days when all I had to do was drive for 5 minutes over to their place to visit. Now it requires months of planning and a plane ticket.

Anyway, living in San Antonio, we had to visit the Alamo. While we were there, they asked me..."so what happened at the Alamo?" I tried to give them my best brief history lesson that I knew of the Alamo, but I did not do it justice. So I thought, why not clear the confusion and put in here what really happened.

So, here it is...

The entire Battle of the Alamo lasted 13 days in the year 1836. To help get a visual, here is an image that shows the disputed land. The "green" area is the land that was both claimed by Texas and Mexico. You can see where San Antonio is, how Mexico approached the Texas 'border' through the Alamo in San Antonio.


It all started with the Texas Revolution when a group of volunteers for the "Army of the People" were captured and many of the remaining volunteers left and returned to their families. With that, at the time there were two main roads that led into Texas from the Mexico, where forts were stratigically placed to specifically warn the Texans if the enemy approached. One of these forts was the Alamo. With many of the volunteers now back with the families, a new wave came into Texas from all around the United States. (That is why when you visit the Alamo, you see the "Heroes," and they were from a lot of different states, not just Texas).

At the time, the Alamo was only equipped with 21 pieces of artillery, and the General noticed this. He wrote to his commanding officer, asking permission to flee the Alamo because he knew that unless they were reinforced, it would be an easy defeat for the enemy. He refused time and time again, demanding they stay and defend the Alamo. As this became more known, more and more reinforcements started arriving at the Alamo, as the Texans started seeing it as "the key to Texas." One of the groups that arrived was Davy Crockett and some American volunteers.

When word traveled that the enemy had arrived at the Rio Grande, the colonel's at the Alamo sent word for help. They only had 150 men ready to fight at the Alamo. When few arrived to help the men at the Alamo, Santa Ana (leading the Mexican Army) sent a note to demand surrender. The Alamo replied with a cannon ball, and so the battle began. For 12 days Santa Ana's army had been pounding down the walls of the Alamo, and still, William Barrett Travis (commander at the Alamo) declared "Victory or Death."

On day 12, Santa Ana ordered an attack. Soldiers were confused, as they thought the Texans would simply surrender, but Santa Ana charged forward. The battle only lasted 90 minutes, until all but 7 survivors were slain. Santa Ana ordered their execution as well. (Here, historians suspect that Crockett was among the 7 remaining). There is also an on-going dispute between historians that anywhere form 189 to 257 Texans were slain at the Alamo.

Shannon, Jess, Ann and me at the Alamo.

Hope this clears up some confusion, and as always....

"Remember the Alamo!"