Friday, March 06, 2009

MARCH 6, 1836

"I had rather be in my present situation than to be elected to a seat in congress "
davy crockett, in a letter to his children in tennessee posted from nacodoches in the texas territory on his way to the alamo




On this day in 1836 The Alamo fell after having been under siege for twelve days by 4000 troops of the Mexican Army.
There were by most accounts 186 men defending the Alamo. They knew it was a desperate and hopeless fight and that the Mexican General Santa Anna had promised "No quarter", meaning every last man in the Alamo would be killed. There would be no mercy, and so it was.

The story of the Alamo is known all over the world.
It is the classic tale of men fighting for freedom with no chance of winning it for themselves.
There is not a boy or girl in Texas that does not know that Davy Crockett came from Tennessee with his Tennesseans to join the Texians struggle for independence. Or about Jim Bowie, famous for the knife he carried that took his name, who was found after the battle with 24 dead Mexicans at his side.
Or about Colonel William Travis, commander of the post who responded to Santas Anna's demand for surrender with a single cannon shot.

It is hard to say just how many people who have never been to Texas, that when shown a picture of the Alamo like the one above, would be able to identify it and tell you the same things that I just did.

If you are ever in San Antonio, which happens to be the most beautiful and romantic city in Texas, be sure to go tour the Alamo.

8 comments:

Angela said...

Well. Hmmm. To me this was always a very bloody and strange story. I`m not so heroic, as you can tell. I`m sure I`d have fled.
But I know the Texans think differently about it. Cheers from Angela

bulletholes said...

Yeah, I'd have fled myself I'm afraid. I prefer peace.
But like Faisal says in Lawrence of Arabia cocerning peace...
"First must come the fighting"

dmarks said...

Cool! I just wrote my own Alamo post this morning.

GrizzBabe said...

Hey, I heard on the radio the other day that Phil Collins now has a HUGE interest in the Alamo. In fact, it's all he does now.

laughing said...

The odd thing the first time I went to visit the Alamo, is that is right there in the middle of downtown, next to a mall and a Ripley's Believe it or Not.

You just don't picture that. You think that it's going to be out in the middle of nowhere with dust and such.

There are a few more missions that are not right there in the middle of town, but they still aren't in the middle of nowhere either. Still, they do have a bit of space around them, and they have fig trees.

They're mission figs, see? Funny.

Anonymous said...

So, how do you pronounce Bowie?? I pronounce it bow--ee. My hubbie pronounces it boo-ee. Which one, Mr. Steve?? Munchkin

bulletholes said...

i duid not know Mr. collins had thing for the Alamo...interesting!

Munchkin...I'm sad to inform you that us suthern boys say 'Boo-ee_" with the emphasis in the "boo".

dmarks said...

I accidentally called him David Bowie recently.

Oops. I'm glad there were no Texans near to punish me.