Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat-the Alamo had none.
Thomas Jefferson Green
One hundred and eighty-five 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.
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 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.
Thanks for this post, Don. The real history of the Alamo and San Jacinto (as well as the lesser-known massacre of Texan and Texian fighters three weeks later at Goliad) needs to be understood by all Americans. As you probably know, some useless academic tool who got himself made a bigwig in the Texas State Historical Society recently wrote an article in the lamestream media claiming that the Alamo was an insignificant skirmish that has only been celebrated as an expression of “white privilege.” (Never mind that a significant number of the Alamo’s defenders were of Mexican heritage.) Both Hotair and PJ Media have done solid responses to that nonsense:
https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2021/01/18/chief-historian-curious-views-battle-alamo/
https://pjmedia.com/columns/bryan-preston/2021/01/17/the-texas-historical-associations-chief-historian-says-the-alamo-was-an-insignificant-battle-and-represents-whiteness-what-do-texas-history-experts-and-th-n1390383