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Battle of the Alamo

The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas, United States), killing most of the occupants. Santa Anna's refusal to take prisoners during the battle inspired many Texians and Tejanos to join the Texian Army. Motivated by a desire for revenge, as well as their written desire to preserve a border open to immigration and the importation and practice of slavery, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the conquering of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas by the newly formed Republic of Texas.

"Remember the Alamo" redirects here. For the song, see Remember the Alamo (song).

Several months previously, Texians, some of whom were legal settlers, but primarily illegal immigrants from the United States, had killed or driven out all Mexican troops in Mexican Texas. About one hundred Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas. For the next 10 days, the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies from Texas and from the United States, but the Texians were reinforced by fewer than a hundred men, because the United States had a treaty with Mexico at the time, and supplying troops and weapons would have been an overt act of war against Mexico.


In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian fighters withdrew into interior buildings. Those who were unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape. Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked both a strong rush to join the Texian army and a panic, known as "The Runaway Scrape", in which the Texian army, most settlers, and the government of the new, self-proclaimed but officially unrecognized Republic of Texas fled eastward toward the U.S. ahead of the advancing Mexican Army.


Within Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. In 19th-century Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the early part of the 20th century and designated the Alamo chapel as an official Texas State Shrine. The Alamo has been the subject of numerous non-fiction works beginning in 1843. Most Americans, however, are more familiar with the myths and legends spread by many of the movie and television adaptations,[6] including the 1950s Disney miniseries Davy Crockett and John Wayne's 1960 film The Alamo.

Last stand

List of Alamo defenders

List of last stands

List of Texas Revolution battles

List of Texan survivors of the Battle of the Alamo

(1990). Texans in Revolt: the Battle for San Antonio, 1835. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-77042-3. OCLC 20354408.

Barr, Alwyn

Barr, Alwyn (1996). Black Texans: A history of African Americans in Texas, 1528–1995 (2nd ed.). Norman, OK: . ISBN 978-0-8061-2878-8.

University of Oklahoma Press

Chariton, Wallace O. (1990). Exploring the Alamo Legends. Dallas, TX: Republic of Texas Press.  978-1-55622-255-9.

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Chemerka, William H.; Wiener, Allen J. (2009). Music of the Alamo. Bright Sky Press.  978-1-933979-31-1.

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Cobler, Nicole (March 11, 2015). . San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved March 26, 2018.

"Phil Collins' star rises over the Alamo"

Cox, Mike (March 6, 1998). "Last of the Alamo big books rests with 'A Time to Stand'". The Austin-American Statesman.

Culpepper, Andy (April 8, 2004). . CNN. Retrieved May 22, 2008.

"A different take on 'The Alamo'"

Edmondson, J.R. (2000). The Alamo Story-From History to Current Conflicts. Plano, TX: Republic of Texas Press.  978-1-55622-678-6.

ISBN

Edwards, Leigh H. (2009). . Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35292-7.

Johnny Cash and the paradox of American identity

Groneman, Bill (1990). Alamo Defenders, A Genealogy: The People and Their Words. Austin, TX: Eakin Press.  978-0-89015-757-2.

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Groneman, Bill (1996). Eyewitness to the Alamo. Plano, TX: Republic of Texas Press.  978-1-55622-502-4.

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Groneman, Bill (1998). Battlefields of Texas. Plano, TX: Republic of Texas Press.  978-1-55622-571-0.

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(1994). Texian Iliad. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-73086-1.

Hardin, Stephen L.

(June 9, 2010). "Battle of The Alamo". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved December 11, 2014.

Hardin, Stephen L.

Henson, Margaret Swett (1982). . College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-89096-135-3.

Juan Davis Bradburn: A Reappraisal of the Mexican Commander of Anahuac

Hopewell, Clifford (1994). James Bowie Texas Fighting Man: A Biography. Austin, TX: Eakin Press.  978-0-89015-881-4.

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Lindley, Thomas Ricks (2003). Alamo Traces: New Evidence and New Conclusions. Lanham, MD: Republic of Texas Press.  978-1-55622-983-1.

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(1961). A Time to Stand. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-7902-5.

Lord, Walter

Michels, Patrick (May 11, 2010). . Dallas Observer. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2017.

"Remembering the Alamo with Phil Collins"

Myers, John Myers (1948). . Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-5779-5.

The Alamo

(1992). The Alamo and the Texas War of Independence, September 30, 1835 to April 21, 1836: Heroes, Myths, and History. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Books, Inc. ISBN 978-0-938289-10-4.

Nofi, Albert A.

Petite, Mary Deborah (1999). 1836 Facts about the Alamo and the Texas War for Independence. Mason City, IA: Savas Publishing Company.  978-1-882810-35-2.

ISBN

Schoelwer, Susan Prendergast; Gläser, Tom W. (1985). . Dallas, TX: The DeGlolyer Library and Southern Methodist University Press. ISBN 978-0-87074-213-2.

Alamo Images: Changing Perceptions of a Texas Experience

Scott, Robert (2000). After the Alamo. Plano, TX: Republic of Texas Press.  978-1-55622-691-5.

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(1985) [1958]. 13 Days to Glory: The Siege of the Alamo (Reprint: McGraw-Hill ed.). College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-89096-238-1.

Tinkle, Lon

Thompson, Frank (2001). The Alamo: A Cultural History. Dallas, TX: Taylor Trade.  9781461734352.

ISBN

Todish, Timothy J.; Todish, Terry; Spring, Ted (1998). Alamo Sourcebook, 1836: A Comprehensive Guide to the Battle of the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. Austin, TX: Eakin Press.  978-1-57168-152-2.

ISBN

N/A (July 21, 2014). . The Official Alamo Website. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.

"Phil Collins Press Conference"

Crisp, James E. (2005). . Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195-16349-0.

Sleuthing the Alamo

(1998). Three Roads to the Alamo: The Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-060-17334-0.

Davis, William C.

Dole, Gerard (2011). Texas 1836: Musical Echoes from the Alamo (paperback). Paris: . ISBN 978-2-843-62474-2.

Terre de Brume

Donovan, James (2012). The Blood of Heroes: The 13-Day Struggle for the Alamo – and the Sacrifice That Forged a Nation. . ISBN 978-0-316-05374-7.

Little, Brown and Company

Fehrenbach, T. R. (June 1967). (ed.). "Remember the Alamo!". Analog. ISBN 978-0-586-02256-6. Science fiction story about a time traveller who goes back to the Alamo at the time of the battle – and gets trapped in the past.

Campbell, John W.

(2001). The Alamo 1836: Santa Anna's Texas Campaign. Osprey Campaign Series #89. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-841-76090-2.

Hardin, Stephen L.

Manchaca, Martha (2001). . The Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-75253-5.

Recovering History, Constructing Race: The Indian, Black, and White Roots of Mexican Americans

Green, Michael R. (April 1988). "To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World". . 91 (4): 483–508. JSTOR 30240052.

The Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Winders, Richard Bruce (April 2017). "'This Is a Cruel Truth, But I Cannot Omit It': The Origin and Effect of Mexico's No Quarter Policy in the Texas Revolution". . 120 (4): 412–439. doi:10.1353/swh.2017.0000. ISSN 1558-9560. S2CID 151940992.

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Official website for the Alamo

on YouTube

Documentary excerpt