| |
| Terry
Jeanson, our man in San Antonio, posted
this timely dispatch earlier today, the 173rd anniversary of the Fall
of the Alamo. While one thing or another has prevented his attendance in years
past; this year the stars were in alignment and he managed to attend the early
morning ceremonies. Often referred to as a reenactment, the event is actually
a somber ceremony, befitting the sacrifice of the defenders. Mr.
Jeanson’s observations in his own words: |
Battle
of the Alamo ReenactedPhotos
& Text by Terry Jeanson, March 7, 2009 |
| In Late
February, 1836, Colonel William B. Travis (at right in white coat) orders all
troops and volunteers that are at San Antonio de Béxar into the Alamo
compound. Many women and children are also brought to the Alamo
for protection. David "Davy" Crockett (right in coonskin cap) leads the men into
the Alamo, carrying the flag of Coahuila & Texas,
a green, white and red tricolor with two yellow stars in the center white stripe. |
| Mexican
troops arrive in San Antonio on February 23, 1836,
led by Generalissimo Antonio López de Santa Anna (right, in feathered hat.) |
| A courier
is sent to the Alamo by Santa Anna, ordering the
men to surrender. Travis replies with a cannon shot. |
| On February
24th, Colonel James Bowie falls ill (most likely from advanced tuberculosis.)
He addresses his men and urges them to follow Travis. He is escorted inside the
Alamo chapel by his sisters-in-law, Gertrudis Navarro
and Juana Alsbury. |
| Travis
writes his
famous letter, addressed to the "people of Texas & all Americans in the world,"
asking for help to defend the Alamo. |
| After
seven days of siege by the Mexican army, Santa Anna sends Travis a letter calling
for three days of truce. It's at this time that Travis informs the Alamo's
non-combatants and volunteers that if they wish to leave, they may do so. |
| On March
1st, thirty-two troops from Gonzales,
led by Lt. George C. Kimbell, receive a warm welcome at the Alamo. |
| Travis
confers with Crockett and tells him that he has no authority over the volunteers
at the Alamo and that they can leave if they wish
to do so. On March 3rd, James B. Bonham delivered a letter to Travis from Major
Robert. M. Williamson that reinforcements were on the way. (Bonham is wrongly
remembered as bringing the news that Colonel Fannin was not coming.) |
| At dawn
on March the 6th, the final assault on the Alamo
begins. |
| The Mexican
troops exploit a weakness along the Alamo's north
wall. |
| Shortly
after the attack on the north wall begins, Colonel Travis is fatally wounded.
|
| The Alamo
defenders engage in bloody hand-to-hand combat as the Mexican troops storm the
compound. |
| By 8:00
AM, the battle is over and all the Alamo defenders have perished. Officially,
the number of dead Alamo defenders totals 189, but the actual total may be well
over 200. About 600 Mexican troops were killed or wounded. |
The Alamo
survivors included several women, children and slaves. Among them were Susannah
W. Dickinson (holding her daughter, Angelina,) widow of Alamo defender Captain
Almaron
Dickinson. Santa Anna sends with Mrs. Dickinson a warning letter to General
Sam Houston that any other "pirates" in Texas will meet the same fate. (The men
in the picture with heads bowed on their rifles represent the dead Alamo defenders.)
The body on the ground is that of Alamo defender Gregorio Esparza, whose wife
and children were inside the chapel and survived the attack. Esparza's brother,
Francisco, was granted permission remove his brother's body so that he may have
a Christian burial. The bodies of the other Alamo
defenders were burned on funeral pyres. |
More
about the Battle of the Alamo
>March
6, 2009
Remember the Alamo - The Ceremony
“At 6:00 AM,
the Texian and Tejano Alamo defenders, represented
by re-enactors dressed in period costumes, entered from the south side of Alamo
Plaza while uniformed representatives of the Mexican Army entered from the north
side of the plaza led by a man dressed as Santa Anna. I believe the actor may
have been an actual descendant.
Thirteen women, representing those who
survived the battle inside the chapel, entered the plaza and lit candles.
Entertainer
Phil Collins, who is quite the Alamo buff, read
the peace prayer of St. Francis of Assisi in English and another man read the
prayer in Spanish. Letters from eyewitness accounts of the battle were also read
aloud.
Both groups of soldiers, the Mexican soldiers first, gathered in
front of the Alamo and fired their flintlock rifles
into the air, the deafening sound causing not a few in the audience to jump backwards.
Later,
wreaths were placed in front of the Alamo by representatives
of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the Sons of the Republic of Texas and
other groups, including descendants of Alamo defenders such as David Crockett,
José Toribio Losoya and Gregorio Esparza. A musician played hymns on the bagpipe
during the ceremony, ending with "Amazing Grace."
I know there are many
that say that the Alamo's location in downtown San
Antonio makes it difficult to visualize how things were during the battle in
1836, but it has never distracted me. It's never been hard for me to connect with
the history that flows from the place, encouraging me to learn
more about it. Every one of my visits to the Alamo
is a special one.“
Copyright
Terry Jeanson
March
10, 2009
Related Stories: The Alamo |
Alamo History | San
Antonio | Texas | Features
| History
Visiting the
Alamo? Book Your Hotel Here & Save: San
Antonio Hotels |
 |
Alamo
History
Articles
by Texas historians and columnists |
The
AlamoThe
Mass Grave of the Alamo Defenders
A Virtually Unknown Feature of the Most
Written-about Event in Texas History Susannah
Dickinson by Linda-Kirkpatrick
"...Susannah picked up Angelina and
followed the officer into the courtyard. It was then that she viewed a site that
history books can never describe. The air was still and there was a deafening
hush all around. The bodies of the brave dead Texans lay stacked in piles, later
to become funeral pyres spreading smoke and history to the sky above..."
The
Women of 1836, Part III, Mary Millsap by Linda-Kirkpatrick
"... Mary
Millsap, wife of Isaac Millsap, Gonzales Ranger. Isaac was the oldest defender
at the Alamo and Mary was now one of the oldest widows. Not only was Mary left
with the burden of seven children to raise but she had been blind for many years..."
Alamo
Backdoor by Mike Cox
Who first noted that the old Spanish mission in San
Antonio had no back door? And what if the Alamo did have a back door, or at least
a secret escape route? On Sept. 15, 1894, the Eagle Pass Guide reprinted a story
from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, “The Alamo’s Secret Passage.”...
Letters
from the Alamo by Murray Montgomery
"...I've also had a desire to
get my information from the original sources - that is, those folks who actually
lived, loved, fought, and died during those turbulent times of early Texas..."
Line
in the Sand by Mike Cox
"By March 5, 1836, Col. William Barrett Travis
had known for several days that his situation inside the old Spanish mission called
the Alamo had become hopeless..."
Did
Davy survive? by Bob Bowman
Did Davy Crockett survive the battle of the
Alamo, only to be sent to Mexico as a prisoner and forced to work in a mine? The
possibility was raised in an edition of Southwestern Historical Quarterly in April
of 1940...
David
Crockett Memorial Building, Crockett, Texas by Sarah Reveley |
New
Alamo Letter
Our Initial Correspondence
from Mr. David London:
"I am sending a copy of a letter
written by William B. Travis at the Alamo that has been in my family for over
160 years... We have never offered it for sale... It had never been published..."
more |
|
ALAMO
LETTER:
From Travis' hand to the State Archives
or Is there a Graphologist
in the house? by John Troesser
The
Spirit of Sacrifice, aka The Alamo Cenotaph by John Troesser
Joe
by MikeCox
The man who witnessed Travis' death at the Alamo
Alamo
Monument by Mike Cox
In 1912, a San Antonio group began raising money
to build a monument to the defenders of the Alamo. But the memorial they wanted
for Alamo Plaza would not be any run of the mill monument. It would be Texas-sized
and then some, an architectural wonder...
Alamo
Hero by W. T. Block Jr.
Isaac Ryan
Killer's
Trail of Thread by W. T. Block
Some Alamo Heroes Fought Twice for Texas
George
C. Kimble and Almaron Dickinson, Heroic hat makers at the Alamo by Murray
Montgomery
Savior
of The Alamo... Remembering Adina De Zava by Murray Montgomery
"If it hadn't been for her efforts, the Alamo might well have been
replaced by a parking lot."
Eyewitness
to the Battle of the Alamo - An Unidentified Mexican Soldier's Personal Account
of the Historic Struggle by Murray Montgomery
Alamo
Letters by Mike Cox
The impassioned letters Col. William B. Travis sent
by courier from the Alamo are dramatic pieces of writing, but they are not the
only surviving words of someone who died in the old Spanish mission on March 6,
1836.
Alamo
Ghosts - Dawn at the Alamo by James L. Choron 4-4-04
An ghost encounter,
and chilling tales of ghostly experiences at the Alamo.
The
Alamo's Red River Connection by Bob Bowman
Alamo
Marksman by Bob Bowman
Juan's
Cabin by Bob Bowman
When Juan Antonio Badillo left East Texas in 1836
and enlisted for six months service with the new Republic of Texas, he left two
legacies. One, he was one of only a handful of Tejanos - Mexicans born in Texas
- who died at the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Two, he left a still-standing log cabin
that could be among East Texas' oldest structures...
Alamo
Cowards by Mike Cox
Alamo
Museum by Sarah Reveley
Alamo
Survivor Enrique Esparza
- Historical Marker. Enrique Esparza is buried in the El Carmen Cemetery in Losoya
February
8, 1836 Cartoon
by Roger T. Moore | |
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