The Battle of the Alamo Chapter 10 Section 1

1
The Battle of the AlamoChapter 10 Section 1
2
The Alamo Defenders

• James Bowie
• Famous frontier knife fighter, gambler, smuggler,
  land speculator

• Arrived at Alamo Jan 19, 1836 with volunteers
• Shared command with Travis
• Became deathly sick Feb 24

3
The Alamo Defenders

• William B Travis
• Outspoken member of the War Party
• Arrived at the Alamo Feb 3, 1836
• Shared command with Bowie until he became ill
• Wrote many important letters from the Alamo
  including the Victory or Death letter

4
The Alamo Defenders

• David Crockett
• Famous frontiersman, storyteller, sharpshooter,
  and US Congressman from Tennessee
• Arrived at the Alamo Feb 8, 1836
• Offered a command but chose to serve as a private

5
The Alamo Defenders

• Totaled 189 men including 9 Tejanos
• 20 cannons
• Plenty of gun powder and supplies

6
The Mexican Army

• Commanded by Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
• 6000 Mexican Soldiers including cavalry and
  artillery
• Army marches several hundred miles, during the
  winter, arriving in San Antonio on Feb 23, 1836

7
The Battle of the Alamo

• Santa Annas army took over San Antonio without
  firing a shot on Feb 23, 1836
• Santa Anna ordered a blood red flag raised (no
  mercy or no prisoners)
• Travis answers with a cannon shot
• Santa Anna begins cannon bombardment of the Alamo

8
The Battle of the Alamo

• Feb 23 Beginning of 13 day siege
• Feb 24 Bowie becomes ill
• Travis writes Victory or Death
  letter asking for help
• Mar 1 32 volunteers arrive from Gonzales
• they will be the only help to come
• to the Alamo
• Mar 5 That evening the cannon bombardment
• stops
• Mar 6 At 530 in the morning the attack began
• El Deguello is played

9
The Final Attack

• Morning of March 6, 1836
• About 1800 Mexican Soldiers attack at four points
• Travis is one of the first defenders killed

• The Mexican soldiers are beaten back by the
  Texans cannon and rifle fire

10
The Final Attack

• The Mexican soldiers regroup and concentrate
  their attack on the North wall
• The Mexican soldiers begin to get the upper hand
• Using ladder's the Mexican soldiers begin to get
  over the walls

11
The Final Attack

• With the Mexican soldiers inside the walls the
  Texans fall back to the long barracks where most
  fight to the death

• By 700 AM the battle was over
• A small group of Texans were captured and
  executed on Santa Annas orders (David Crockett)

12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
The Aftermath

• All 189 defenders were killed
• Santa Anna ordered their bodies to be burned
• Only Gregorio Esparza is buried because his
  brother (a Mexican soldier) received special
  permission from Santa Anna
• About 600 Mexican soldiers were killed

15
The Survivors

• There were women and children who survived the
  Battle of the Alamo
• Suzanna Dickinson (wife of an Alamo defender),
  her child Angelina, and Traviss slave Joe were
  not killed
• They were sent to spread the word that Santa Anna
  is coming to drive the Anglos out of Texas

16
What is so important about the Battle of the
Alamo?

• Texans lost but their bravery inspired others
• Santa Anna lost some of his best soldiers
• Delayed Santa Annas advance across Texas giving
  the Texas government time to declare independence
  and write a constitution
• Allowed Sam Houston time to begin forming an army