As we remember the Battle of the Alamo, commander of the volunteer army would settle only for ‘victory or death’
ONE of the most famous war cries in American military history was inspired by the small band of Texans, occupying the Alamo, who were defeated by a large Mexican force on March 6, 1836.
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“REMEMBER the Alamo!” is one of the most famous war cries in American military history. It was first used by General Sam Houston as he led his troops to victory against the Mexican army in April 1836, effectively winning Texas independence from Mexico.
But the inspiration for the cry came nearly two months earlier, on March 6 (180 years ago tomorrow), when a large Mexican force defeated a small band of Texans, mostly volunteers, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Travis, occupying the Catholic mission turned fort, known as the Alamo.
The legend of the Battle of the Alamo was even recently invoked by Republican hopeful Ted Cruz before the Super Tuesday primaries this week. Cruz quoted the words of Travis from a letter he sent during the siege of the Alamo: “Victory or death.” Cruz won in Texas but things did not end so well for Travis.
However, Travis’s death and those of his compatriots, would inspire other Texans to victory weeks after his own death at the Alamo.
Originally called the mission of San Antonio de Valero, founded by Franciscans in 1718, the building became known as the Alamo, a word for the cottonwood trees growing there. It was an early Spanish foothold in what became the Mexican state of Tejas. The military also came to protect the monks and settlers, establishing the garrison town San Antonio de Bexar. By the end of the 18th century the Alamo was abandoned by the monks and was used as a fort.
After 1800, many US citizens migrated to Tejas. When the Mexicans gained independence from Spain in 1821, Stephen Austin, son of Moses Austin, one of the first wave of English-speaking American settlers in Tejas (which they called Texas), secured permission from the Mexican government to establish colonies on the Brazos and Colorado rivers in Texas.
When a coup brought General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna to power as president of Mexico in 1833, he attempted to tighten government control over Texas, rescinding some rights enjoyed by colonists, sowing seeds of rebellion.
In January 1834, Austin met Santa Anna to argue for a separate state of Texas, but Austin was imprisoned for inciting revolution. By the time he was released, in August 1835, tensions between Texan settlers (or Texians as they were then known) and Mexican troops had turned into rebellion.
Holding a “consultation” (they avoided calling it a convention) in August 1835, Texans began creating a constitution for a provisional government. Austin helped form an “Army of the People”, a volunteer militia, and the troops besieged the Mexican garrison at San Antonio de Bexar. In early December the volunteers drove the Mexicans out and a small group of volunteers, under a small contingent of the newly formed regular army, commanded by Colonel James Clinton Neill, occupied the Alamo and began turning it into a proper fortification.
Sam Houston, commander of the regular army, warned that he lacked troops to further reinforce the Alamo and advised abandoning and demolishing the fort. Through January and February 1836 more volunteers answered the call, including famous frontiersman and one-time congressman Davy Crockett and land speculator, frontier fighter and inventor of the Bowie knife Jim Bowie. On February 3, the 23-year-old Lt Colonel William Travis arrived with 30 recently recruited regular army cavalry.
On February 14, Neill went on Furlough leaving Travis in charge, passing over the higher ranking Bowie, who was not regular army. This caused tensions between Travis and Bowie that was resolved by an agreement to share the command — Bowie looking after the militia and Travis the regular army.
On February 23 Santa Anna arrived with his troops to besiege the Alamo, catching the Texans by surprise. Bowie was struck down by illness on February 24, leaving Travis in charge when Santa Anna, against advice from his officers, decided to launch an attack on the fort on March 6, 1836.
The rebels numbered only about 200 against about 1800 Mexican army regulars. Travis was one of the first to fall, Bowie was most likely killed in his sick bed and Davy Crockett either died fighting or, according to some sources, was captured and executed.
While most of the defenders of the Alamo perished, the siege had crucially slowed the Mexican advance, allowing the formation of a provisional government and the declaration of independence on March 2.
The sacrifice of the defenders inspired Houston’s troops to victory against the Spanish in April.
Texas gained its independence and, for several years, was a country unto itself until becoming part of the United States in 1845.
Originally published as As we remember the Battle of the Alamo, commander of the volunteer army would settle only for ‘victory or death’
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