THE ALAMO
Mission San Antonio de Valero
From mission to fortress to historic landmark, the Alamo symbolizes the universal struggle for liberty.
"Remember The Alamo"
It was founded by Franciscan missionaries in 1718 but moved the mission to its present site n 1724. The Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras took possession in 1801. Spanish soldiers were from the town of El Alamo in Coahuila. Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821. Revolution took root of the new-found freedom and it was the beginning of the end for the Alamo.
The Battle:
Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna marched to San Antonio with an army of 4,000 soldiers. Colonel Jim Bowie along with undaunted force of volunteers considered the Alamo the key to Texas independence.
Davy Crockett, the King of the Wild Frontier, was one of the defenders. He was from Tennessee, joined the militia and became a colonel. The legendary frontiersman could shoot the wick of a candle at 300 feet and claimed to have killed 105 bears. He was elected to the US Congress and served from 1826 to 1835. Disapproval of President Andrew Jackson's land and Indian policy cost him a fourth bid and a year later went to Texas. He organized the Tennessee Company of Mounted Volunteers at Nacogdoches. On February 8, he and his men rode into the Alamo Compound, stayed for no other reason than the pursuit of liberty and defend the Alamo.
As Mexican soldiers fired rounds of artillery, Colonel William Barret Travis, Commander of the Alamo, dispatched messengers for help. February 23 marked the beginning of 13-day seige that ended on the funeral pyre of March 6, 1836.
All died except two survivors - Angelina Dickinson, "The Babe of the Alamo," and her mother, Susanna, the 22-year old wife of Almeron Dickinson, a blacksmith who commanded the Alamo's batteries. During the attack of March 6, they took refuge in the Church Sachristy and did not see the battle.
The Alamo Cenotaph located near the north end of the plaza was erected in 1940 to honor the Alamo defenders.
Previous Publication 2005 MSN Groups
Don't Know Much History Web Page
Re-Published 7/31/10 lib's labyrinth blogspot
Updated 5/8/13
General Santa Anna was caught with his pants down and was defeated by Sam Houston in the Battle of San Jacinto. In the Treaty of Guadalupe de Hidalgo, the four states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was acquired by the United States.
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