Battle of the Alamo - Essay Example

Battle of the Alamo SSG Paula A. Moore Number Introduction There are strong personal reasons that made me choose the Battle of the Alamo as my battle. I had been a resident of Texas for so long, and for this cause, we were referred to as Texicans. Basically, we did not love the leadership of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna because of its oppressive tendencies. Secondly, it was worth noting that because of Santa Anna’s oppressive rule, American immigrants and Texicans eventually found it expedient to unite to fight against Mexican oppression. Santa Ana responded to this development by dispatching his army north to defeat the rebellion. Sooner, Texans found that they did not have the military wherewithal to withstand Santa Anna’s Mexican Army and hid themselves in an old Spanish mission in San Antonio while waiting for more supplies and reinforcements. However, Santa Anna surrounded the Alamo and lay siege around it since 1836 for 12 days. For the 12 days, new defenders would emerge to fight and the Mexicans did not inflict any casualties on the Texans who hid in the Alamo. However, on March 6 1836, six thousand Mexicans made an assault on the Texans from all sides, and thereby killing the Texan defender and 1,600 others. Thus, when the Battle of the Alamo broke out, I could not resist the urge to fight alongside my people since I had been born in Texas; deeply identified with the 1,600 soldiers who died in the Alamo; and detested the oppressive rule in Mexico which I did not want to suffuse into Texas. Actual Events and Facts of the Battle of the Alamo On March 4, Santa Anna proposed an assault on the Alamo, though most of senior officers had proposed that the army waits for 12-pounder that had been scheduled to arrive on March 2. However, when Juan N. Alsbury approached Santa Anna for negotiations over the release of the Alamo defenders, Santa Anna became increasingly impatient. Consequently, Santa Anna made an announcement to his staff to ready itself for assault on March 6. Alongside this action, Santa Anna excused Bexar troops from the front lines, to abate chances of his soldiers engaging their own families. On the other hand, Lt. Colonel William B. Travis sent couriers with pleas to Lieutenant Colonel James Fannin [who was at the time in Goliad, approximately 90 miles away from the Alamo] for help for communities in Texas. Historians such as Dawson (2002) are persuaded that Fannin had decided that the logistics needed to reach the Alamo in time would be untenable. Fannin must have also taken the opinion that sending 300 of his men would not make meaningful difference against Santa Anna’s army which numbered 2,000. On the eighth day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales showed up and thereby bringing the number of Travis’ defenders to about 200. Later on, with the chance for additional support receding, Lt. Col. Travis assembled his men for a meeting and informed them of dire consequences of the war and gave them the chance to stay and die for the cause of the war or to leave the battlefield. This development is confirmed by James Allen Travis’ courier and other men who participated in the battle. Alongside Travis were David Crockett and Jim Bowie. The final assault took place before daybreak of March 6, 1836 as Mexican soldiers came out of the predawn darkness to charge towards the Alamo’s walls. Lt. Col. Travis’ men responded with fire from rifles and canons. The Mexicans on the other hand regrouped, scaled the Alamo’s walls and rushed across the compound. The Mexicans then turned a captured cannon against Long Barrack and blasted open the barricaded doors. The defenders desperately struggled until they were completely overwhelmed. By sunrise, the battle had come to its conclusion and Santa Anna entered the compound to analyze the scene of victory. That the defenders had made a total resolve to pay the price for Texas’ freedom is a matter that is clearly underscored in the developments surrounding the war. This is clearly the case since, during the first days of the battle, Santa Anna did not make any attempt to seal the exits that linked the Alamo and the town. It is therefore obvious that the defenders could have easily slipped away into safety at night, if they wished to. However, the defenders remained, trusting their defenses and skills with the powerful long rifles. It is for this reason that the Battle of the Alamo is taken as a hallmark of sacrifice for freedom. Despite the victory that the Mexicans had, many historians such as De la Teja (1996) contended that Mexicans’ victory was very expensive. Because of the victory, Santa Anna was able to lay claim on the city of San Antonio and put Texans on notice that war with the Mexican army was untenable. Nevertheless, the cost that Mexicans or Santa Anna’s army counted were 600 soldiers, compared to the 200 defenders. Moreover, the brave exploit of the defenders in the Alamo would inspire more rebels to join the cause of the Texan army. There are accounts that state that between five and eight Texans surrendered but Santa Anna was too incensed by the disobedience to his orders to spare them. According to Reynolds (2012), the Mexican soldiers were buried in Campo Santo on the one hand. On the other hand, the bodies of the Texan defenders were stacked together before being incinerated. The only exception at this point was Gregorio Esparza’s body. The ashes of the burnt bodies were left at the point of the cremation until Juan Seguin returned to Bexar to examine the defenders’ remains in February 1837. Seguin had a simple coffin made, inscribed with Bowie, Crockett and Travis’ names and filled with ashes collected from the nearby funeral pyres. Seguin then had the coffin buried under a peach tree grove, in an unidentifiable and unmarked spot. From March to May 1836, the Mexican forces returned to occupy the Alamo. For the Texicans, the battle had become symbolic of their heroic resistance and struggle for independence. On April 21 1836, Sam Houston and 800 Texans fought and prevailed against Santa Anna and his 1,500 men at Houston San Jacinto. This is the victory which sealed the independence of Texas. Santa Anna was taken captive and made an agreement with Houston to bring the war to an end. Consequently, in May 1836, the Mexican troops who were in San Antonio were withdrawn and made to demolish the fortifications they had made in the Alamo as they left. Later on in 1845, the US annexed Texas. Several afterward, the US stored its army supplies and servicemen at the Alamo. In 1883, Texas purchased the Alamo and acquired all the property rights to all the neighboring grounds. Conclusion While it is true that the facts surrounding the siege of Alamo are subject to debate, the symbolic value of the war cannot be mistaken or missed. The Battle of the Alamo is remembered as a heroic struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds. It is in the Battle of the Alamo that people made the ultimate sacrifice for civil liberties and freedom. It is against this backdrop that the Alamo is regarded as hallowed ground, and also as the Shrine of Texas’ Liberty. For this cause, more than 2.6 million people visit the 4.2-acre site and its original structures every year. Americans must therefore appreciate the sacrosanct nature of their freedom and civil liberty, since they were paid for and made a reality by people who had aspiration in their lives but instead paid the ultimate sacrifice for them. References Dawson, G. J. (2002). Battle of the Alamo. The Journal of American History, 89 (3), 1159 - 1160 De la Teja, J. F. (1996). Battle of the Alamo. The Journal of American History, 83 (3), 1116 Reynolds, C. (2012). Revisiting the Battle of the Alamo. Texas Books in Review, 2 (3), 5 Read More