Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat-the Alamo had none.
Thomas Jefferson Green
One hundred and eighty-four years ago the Alamo fell. The defenders had achieved victory in death, giving thirteen precious days in which Texan independence was declared and Sam Houston appointed by the Texas Constitutional Convention as Commander-in-Chief of the Texan Army, which at that time consisted of a few hundred raw recruits. The Alamo defenders inflicted some 600 killed and wounded on the 1800 man force of Dictator Santa Anna. Word of the Alamo spread throughout Texas, convincing each man that this was a fight to the end, and that the cry “give me liberty or give me death” were what they were facing.
The fallen of the Alamo would never be forgotten, the Texans screaming out the battle cry “Remember the Alamo!”, as they charged and crushed Santa Anna’s army at the battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, achieving the dream of the defenders of the Alamo, an independent Texas.
Commandancy of the The Alamo
Bejar, Feby. 24th. 1836
To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World—
Fellow Citizens & compatriots—
I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna — I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man — The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken — I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls — I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch — The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & 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.
William Barrett Travis.
Lt. Col. comdt.
The whole of Texas is now the Alamo. If those who defend unborn human babies and the traditional American values ever loose this State to the party of death, the entire nation will be lost to these utterly evil people and their agenda of abortion on demand and socialism.
I agree with J. Ronald Parrish. The re-election of Donald Trump is our Alamo. Hopefully, this time we will win with God’s help–lot’s of God’s help and His Blessed Mother, too.
No, the re election of President Trump – with a majority in the House and Senate – would not be our Alamo. It would be our Goliad.
Rather our San Jacinto.
The Alamo to Trump…? Devil’s advocate query; was Mexico wrong to resist an alien incursion bent on stealing its land? Now, the reverse incursion is only to effect a demographic change to achieve what the establishment couldn’t at the ballot box….Sorry, I forgot that views contrary to the detritus we were spoonfed in school aren’t liked here….
The Mexicans invited American settlement into Texas to guard against Comanche raids on sparsely settled Mexican territory in Texas. Most Tejanos, Texas having a Tejano population of 4000, supported the Texan Revolution. Santa Anna had proclaimed himself a dictator and abolished the liberal Constitution of 1824. In 1834 Santa Anna abolished the legislature of Tejas. Tejas was one of several Mexican states that rebelled as a result of Santa Anna’s authoritarian rule. The banner that flew over the Alamo had 1824 on it. In its origins the Texas Revolution was a fight against dictatorship as much as a bid for independence.
The settlers in Texas were invited. They did not violate the immigration laws of Mexico. As lawful Residents of Mexican territory, they rebelled against a brutal dictator after seeking peaceful resolution. Texas was not annexed by the United States. It became a Republic and was later admitted as a State upon the petition of the government of the Republic of Texas. Many of those who fought with Travis, Houston and others were what would be today considered “Mexicans”. To compare these freedom fighters with illegal invaders is insulting and disrespectful, not to mention historically inaccurate.
Mr. McClarey: I apologize for posting a somewhat repetitious post following yours. When I posted yours was not present.
Not at all JR. You recited the history correctly and on this blog that is always appreciated.
Yes, Santa Ana was s dictator, and the initial American settlers were invited. But, successive American settlement was not invited after Mexico changed its immigration laws, and only they know whether their intentions were to be abiding citizens or not. The fight against tyranny quickly became one for independence, so I would say the results could make one infer that the intentions were the latter.
As for disrespect, one nation’s rebels and traitors are another’s freedom fighters.
We all know that Mexicans fought with the rebels against tyranny. But were they all intent on independence? The treatment of native Mexicans afterwards could call that into question.
I’ll stand corrected on the facts causing a resistance which very quickly became a war for independence, and eventual annexation.
The American immigrants were, legally, Mexicans; naturalization was part of the offer to bribe folks to move in. They were just a different racial group.
Right up until dude nuked the Mexican constitution.
My umpteenth great grandmother, of English and German descent, was born in the State of Cahuila, before there was a Republic of Texas. Which, under the rules governing the US census, gives me a perfect legal right to list myself as being of Hispanic descent. (Now, there was a Spanish ancestress, but she was born in Toledo around about 1400 and married an English Lord, so she doesn’t really count according to the census folk.)