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 (now San Antonio).
About one hundred Texians had been garrisoned at the mission, and they were supplemented by around one hundred subsequent 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.
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. On the basis of "perhaps" ten sources, William C. Davis posits three separate escapes of Texian combatants from the Alamo, consisting of perhaps 80 men. Phillip Thomas Tucker also sees three discrete Texian escapes, totaling as many as 120 men. Nearly all Texian combatants were killed. Those who fled outside the walls were dispatched by Mexican lancers, who had been positioned for that purpose.
Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked a scramble 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.
Santa Anna's execution of surrendering soldiers during the battle inspired many Texians and Tejanos to join the Texian Army. The Texians defeated the portion of the Mexican Army led by Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836. The capture of Santa Anna ended the war.
Hardin notes that the Texians "could scarcely believe that enemy troops, the majority of whom had never known defeat in Texas, would complacently obey the orders of a captured commander." The cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal to Mexico of the divided forces, led by other Mexican generals, guaranteed the survival of the Republic of Texas.
In Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. The Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased land and the long barracks building (the former convento) in the early part of the 20th century. The Alamo church, which had been purchased by the state in 1883, was designated an official Texas State Shrine. A roofless ruin at the time of the battle, it was intended to have three floors and a large dome framed by two tall bell towers. The gable and the pitched roof it concealed were added by the U.S. Army in 1849.
The Alamo has been the subject of numerous non-fiction works, the first of which were produced in 1843. Most Americans, however, are more familiar with the myths and legends spread by many of the movie and television adaptations, including the 1950s Disney miniseries Davy Crockett and John Wayne's 1960 film The Alamo.
Background
In 1835, following the repeal of the federalist 1824 Constitution of Mexico, Mexico adopted Las Siete Leyes ("The Seven Laws"), a new constitutional framework that replaced the First Mexican Republic with a unitary republic officially named the Mexican Republic (Spanish: República Mexicana).
New policies that entailed restricting or eliminating slavery, limiting immigration from the U.S., and increased enforcement of laws and import tariffs (tariffs had initially been waived for seven years) incited many immigrants to revolt. The border region of Mexican Texas was largely populated by immigrants from the United States, some legal but most illegal. Mexico tried to end Anglo American immigration in 1830, but their number doubled by 1834, from 10,000 to 21,000). Some immigrants had brought large numbers of slaves with them, so that by 1836, there were approximately 5,000 enslaved persons in a total non-native population estimated at 38,470. Campbell, author of the first book-length study of slavery in Texas in 1989, says slavery was minimized within Texas by "many historians, writers, and creators of popular culture" who "preferred to see Texas as essentially western rather than southern." The Handbook of Texas lacked an entry on slavery, and what Campbell calls the "best state history" devoted less than three pages to it. Campbell notes that in the 1850s more than a quarter of free Texas families owned slaves, and the latter constituted 30% of the state's population, percentages comparable to that of Virginia, "the oldest slave state in the Union."
The colonists were accustomed to a federalist government that made special exemptions from Mexican law exclusively for them, and to extensive individual rights, including the right to own slaves. Mexico's shift towards centralism and its interest in enforcing its laws resulted in growing displeasure among the colonists, particularly when the centralized government ended local federal exemptions to the ban on slavery, previously negotiated by Stephen Austin and others. Already suspicious after previous United States attempts to purchase Texas, Mexican authorities blamed much of the Texian unrest on United States immigrants. Most of them had entered illegally and made little effort to adapt to the Mexican culture, and they continued the practice of slavery in violation of Mexico laws.
In October, Texians engaged Mexican troops in the first official battle of the Texas Revolution. Determined to quell the rebellion of immigrants, Santa Anna began assembling a large force, the Army of Operations in Texas, to restore order. Most of his soldiers were less-experienced recruits, many conscripted.
The Texians defeated the Mexican troops already stationed in Texas. The last group of Mexican soldiers in the region—commanded by Santa Anna's brother-in-law, General Martín Perfecto de Cos—surrendered on December 9 following the siege of Béxar. By this point, the Texian Army was dominated by very recent arrivals to the region, primarily illegal immigrants from the United States.
Gary Brown says the Texian armies that fought at San Antonio and Goliad were dominated by mercenaries. He characterizes the most effective of these militias that were raised outside of Texas: "Santa Anna claimed the New Orleans Greys were mercenaries and pirates, and technically he was correct.... they were military mercenaries, not pioneers or settlers, and they came to Texas for adventure and material gain—not constitutional freedoms."
Many of the Texian settlers who had participated in the revolt returned home, unprepared for a long campaign. Mexico's response to this violation of its sovereign rights was the Tornel Decree, a "no quarter" policy formulated by the Mexican Minister of War. Approved by the Mexican congress and issued on December 30, 1835, it defined irregular invaders as pirates, "being citizens of no nation presently at war with the republic, and fighting under no recognized flag." In this historical period, captured pirates were executed immediately.
Josefina Zoraida Vázquez characterizes the decree "a desperate attempt to maintain control of the territory in the face of the flagrant intervention of foreigners against Mexico's government." Santa Anna reiterated this message in a strongly worded letter to United States President Andrew Jackson. This letter was not widely distributed, making it likely that most of the United States recruits serving in the Texian Army were not aware there would be no prisoners of war.
When Mexican troops departed San Antonio de Béxar (now San Antonio, Texas, USA), Texian soldiers captured the Mexican garrison at the Alamo Mission which was a former Spanish religious outpost which had been converted to a makeshift fort by the recently expelled Mexican Army. Described by Santa Anna as an "irregular fortification hardly worthy of the name", the Alamo had been designed to withstand an assault by Indigenous attackers, not an artillery-equipped army.
The complex was sprawled over 3 acres (1.2 ha), providing almost 1,320 feet (400 m) of perimeter to defend. An interior plaza was bordered on the east by the church and to the south by a one-story building known as the Low Barracks. A wooden palisade stretched between these two buildings. The two-story Long Barracks extended north from the church. At the northern corner of the east wall stood a cattle pen and horse corral. The walls surrounding the complex were at least 2.75 feet (0.84 m) thick and ranged from 9–12 ft (2.7–3.7 m) high.
To compensate for the lack of firing ports, Texian engineer Green B. Jameson constructed catwalks to allow defenders to fire over the walls; this method, however, left the rifleman's upper body exposed. Mexican forces had left behind 19 cannons, which Jameson installed along the walls. A large 18-pounder had arrived in Texas with the New Orleans Greys. Jameson positioned this cannon in the southwest corner of the compound. He boasted to Texian Army commander Sam Houston that the Texians could "whip 10 to 1 with our artillery".
Prelude to battle
The fact remains that the Texian garrison was undermanned and underprovisioned, with fewer than 100 soldiers remaining by January 6, 1836. Colonel James C. Neill, the acting Alamo commander, wrote to the provisional government: "If there has ever been a dollar here I have no knowledge of it". Neill requested additional troops and supplies, stressing that the garrison was likely to be unable to withstand a siege lasting longer than four days. The Texian government at that time was in turmoil and unable to provide much assistance. Four different men claimed to have been given command over the entire army. On January 14, Neill approached one of these men, Sam Houston, for assistance in gathering supplies, clothing, and ammunition.
Houston could not spare the number of men necessary to mount a successful defense. Instead, he sent Colonel James Bowie with 30 men to remove the artillery from the Alamo and destroy the complex. Bowie was unable to transport the artillery since the Alamo garrison lacked the necessary draft animals. Neill soon persuaded Bowie that the location held strategic importance.
In a letter to Governor Henry Smith, Bowie argued that "the salvation of Texas depends in great measure on keeping Béxar out of the hands of the enemy. It serves as the frontier picquet guard, and if it were in the possession of Santa Anna, there is no stronghold from which to repel him in his march towards the Sabine." The letter to Smith ended, "Colonel Neill and myself have come to the solemn resolution that we will rather die in these ditches than give it up to the enemy."
Bowie also wrote to the provisional government, asking for "men, money, rifles, and cannon powder". Unfortunately, few reinforcements were authorized. Cavalry officer William B. Travis arrived in Béxar with 30 men on February 3. Five days later, a small group of volunteers arrived, including the famous frontiersman and former U.S. Congressman David Crockett of Tennessee. Although local Tejanos were not very supportive of the Texian's resistance, it is believed that 20 dissidents who sought greater localization of institutions of power joined the volunteer force.
On February 11, Neill left the Alamo, determined to recruit additional reinforcements and gather supplies. He transferred command to Travis, the highest-ranking regular army officer in the garrison. Volunteers comprised much of the garrison, and they were unwilling to accept Travis as their leader. The men instead elected Bowie, who had a reputation as a fierce fighter, as their commander. Bowie celebrated by getting very intoxicated and creating havoc in Béxar. To mitigate the resulting ill feelings, Bowie agreed to share command with Travis.
As the Texians struggled to find men and supplies, Santa Anna continued to gather men at San Luis Potosí; by the end of 1835, his army numbered 6,019 soldiers. Rather than advance along the coast, where supplies and reinforcements could be easily delivered by sea, Santa Anna ordered his army inland to Béxar, the political center of Texas and the site of Cos's defeat. The army began its march north in late December. Officers used the long journey to train the men. Many of the new recruits did not know how to aim their muskets, and many refused to fire from the shoulder because of the strong recoil.
Progress was slow. There were not enough mules to transport all of the supplies, and many of the teamsters and civilians, quit when their pay was delayed. To make things worse, many soldaderas – women and children who followed the army – consumed much of their already scarce supplies. The soldiers were soon reduced to partial rations. On February 12, they crossed the Rio Grande. Temperatures in Texas reached record lows, and by February 13, an estimated 15–16 inches (38–41 cm) of snow had fallen. Hypothermia, dysentery, and Comanche raiding parties took a heavy toll on the Mexican soldiers.
On February 21, Santa Anna and his Avant-garde reached the banks of the Medina River, 25 miles (40 km) from Béxar. Unaware of the Mexican Army's proximity, the majority of the Alamo garrison joined the other Béxar residents at a fiesta. After learning of the planned celebration, Santa Anna ordered General Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma to immediately seize the unprotected Alamo; nonetheless sudden rains halted that raid.
Siege
Investment
In the early hours of February 23, residents began fleeing Béxar, fearing the Mexican army's imminent arrival. Although unconvinced by recent reports, Travis stationed a soldier in the San Fernando church bell tower, the highest location in town, to watch for signs of an approaching force. Several hours later, Texian scouts reported seeing Mexican troops 1.5 miles (2.4 km) outside the town.
Few arrangements had been made for a potential siege. One group of Texians scrambled to herd cattle into the Alamo, while others scrounged for food in the recently abandoned houses. Several members of the garrison who had been living in town brought their families with them when they reported to the Alamo. Among these were Almaron Dickinson, who brought his wife Susanna and their infant daughter Angelina; Bowie, who was accompanied by his deceased wife's cousins, Gertrudis Navarro and Juana Navarro Alsbury, and her young son; along with Gregorio Esparza, whose family climbed through the window of the Alamo church after the Mexican army arrived. Other members of the garrison failed to report for duty and most of the men working outside Béxar did not try to sneak past Mexican lines.
I reply to you, according to the order of His Excellency, that the Mexican army cannot come to terms under any conditions with rebellious foreigners to whom there is no recourse left, if they wish to save their lives, than to place themselves immediately at the disposal of the Supreme Government from whom alone they may expect clemency after some considerations.