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Chapter 2 The siege of the Alamo
Chapter 2. The siege of the Alamo
Victory or Death!- Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis 1836
On February 21st a small group of 5 cavalrymen, acting reconnaissance under orders of Travis, spotted Santa Anna's army 15 miles from San Antonio. Rushing back the group of men warned the Alamo defenders that Santa Anna had near 2000 troops marching towards the Alamo. Quickly, troops were mustered and defensive positions prepared for the possibility of a long siege. All civilians within San Antonio were either given the option to stay in the town, flee east, or take refuge into the Alamo. While most tejanos sought to take their chances with Santa Anna's army the remaining Americans and other Texan settlers sought security within the Alamo. When Santa Anna arrived at San Antonio he made his policy of treating the enemy clear. He ordered his men to hoist a blood red flag atop the tallest building in San Antonio, a sign of no quarter where all of the defenders would be executed rather than taken prisoner. Infuriated by the dictator's actions, Travis ordered a single canon to be shot towards the enemy, a sign of defiance similar to the revolutionaries of Gonzales. Though the James triumvirate wasn't pleased with Travis's response they did acknowledge the prospects of failure if they lost the battle. On the 22nd Colonel Neill accompanied by Captain Albert Martin met with enemy officers under a flag of parley to seek out the Mexicans intentions and the possibility of a honorable surrender. Neill was shocked to learn that only unconditional surrender would be accepted and that were the battle to commence then all Mexican forces would obey the presidente's commands and leave no man alive. When Neill came back to the Alamo he gave Travis permission to fire another shot. The battle would commence.
For the next 10 days from the 23rd the Alamo would be under constant siege from Mexican forces. The first two days would be relatively quiet as Mexican forces set up artillery positions and slowly advanced towards the mission. On the Texans side orders were given from Neill to trade canonfire at one for every ten shots in order to conserve ammunition, for approaching Mexican scouts and soldiers orders were given to only fire if they were within 500 feet of the Alamo. On the 25th Mexican around 250 Mexicans took over abandoned shacks near the San Antonio river in order to have a forward base of operations near the Alamo. The next morning a small Texan force of 50 men under Bowie and Crockett ventured out to burn the huts and drive the Mexicans back over the river. A small skirmish commenced and in the aftermath 11 Mexicans were killed with 16 wounded, only one Texan was injured. For the next hour the Texans would come to burn all the huts before reinforcements arrived then head back to the Alamo. During the siege several couriers were sent out to warn the rest of Texas of their plight and encourage sending reinforcements. The most famous letter of correspondence would be Travis's "To the People of Texas & All Americans in the world", this document detailed the plight of the Alamo and how the brave defenders were ready to make their stand in the name of freedom, Travis noted that he had not lost a single man and that more reinforcements for the Mexicans were likely to arrive soon, his most famous quote from the letter is his line "Victory or Death!" a phrase that showed the commitment of the Texans to their cause. Today the letter is interred within the Texan Archives and is on display at the Texan congressional building in Austin. During the siege a group of reinforcements met in Gonzales in a desire to help out the Alamo. 100 men would set out from the town of Gonzales to reinforce Alamo, increasing the number of Texans to 832. The remaining 300 Texans would remain in Gonzales to skirmish with approaching Mexican forces and wait for word of the outcome of the battle. These men would rendezvous with Houston on the 11th after hearing word of the battle's aftermath, forming the core of Houston's army.
Two authentic pages of Travis's To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World
One main reason that historians contribute to the Texans victory at the Alamo is the incompetency of Santa Anna in command. Despite having two separate armies which he could use to reinforce Bexar, Santa Anna forbid any reinforcements from advancing onto San Antonio. The dictator was convinced that the forces at the Alamo were a distraction from a true threat that lie further east and so had Urrea and Filisola continue on their campaigns. Another strategic blunder was Santa Anna's impatience with the siege. While the Alamo was well manned it did not have enough ammunition or food supplies to continue indefinitely. Indeed most historians agree that had the siege continued til April or May the Alamo would've surrendered under exhaustion. But this type of victory was not what Santa Anna wanted, he wanted a glorious victory that would be remembered for generations in all of the western hemisphere. So against the better judgement of his chief officers, Santa Anna ordered an assault to be prepped for the night of March 5th.
According to eyewitnesses a meeting was called of all of the Alamo's defenders on the evening of the 5th. In it Neill outlined their dire situation and explained that under any moment an attack would come and their was a good possibility that they would not survive. To further stress their situation, Travis drew a line in the ground with his calvary sword and called for all defenders to cross if they were willing to die for the Texan cause, all those who did not were allowed to flee under the cover of night. Unanimously all defenders chose to cross the line. Later that night the battle that would determine the fate of Texas would truly begin.
View attachment 283945
Col. Travis drawing his famous "line in the sand"
A/N: Next update will start to see the timeline diverge immensely once the assault starts.
Victory or Death!- Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis 1836
On February 21st a small group of 5 cavalrymen, acting reconnaissance under orders of Travis, spotted Santa Anna's army 15 miles from San Antonio. Rushing back the group of men warned the Alamo defenders that Santa Anna had near 2000 troops marching towards the Alamo. Quickly, troops were mustered and defensive positions prepared for the possibility of a long siege. All civilians within San Antonio were either given the option to stay in the town, flee east, or take refuge into the Alamo. While most tejanos sought to take their chances with Santa Anna's army the remaining Americans and other Texan settlers sought security within the Alamo. When Santa Anna arrived at San Antonio he made his policy of treating the enemy clear. He ordered his men to hoist a blood red flag atop the tallest building in San Antonio, a sign of no quarter where all of the defenders would be executed rather than taken prisoner. Infuriated by the dictator's actions, Travis ordered a single canon to be shot towards the enemy, a sign of defiance similar to the revolutionaries of Gonzales. Though the James triumvirate wasn't pleased with Travis's response they did acknowledge the prospects of failure if they lost the battle. On the 22nd Colonel Neill accompanied by Captain Albert Martin met with enemy officers under a flag of parley to seek out the Mexicans intentions and the possibility of a honorable surrender. Neill was shocked to learn that only unconditional surrender would be accepted and that were the battle to commence then all Mexican forces would obey the presidente's commands and leave no man alive. When Neill came back to the Alamo he gave Travis permission to fire another shot. The battle would commence.
For the next 10 days from the 23rd the Alamo would be under constant siege from Mexican forces. The first two days would be relatively quiet as Mexican forces set up artillery positions and slowly advanced towards the mission. On the Texans side orders were given from Neill to trade canonfire at one for every ten shots in order to conserve ammunition, for approaching Mexican scouts and soldiers orders were given to only fire if they were within 500 feet of the Alamo. On the 25th Mexican around 250 Mexicans took over abandoned shacks near the San Antonio river in order to have a forward base of operations near the Alamo. The next morning a small Texan force of 50 men under Bowie and Crockett ventured out to burn the huts and drive the Mexicans back over the river. A small skirmish commenced and in the aftermath 11 Mexicans were killed with 16 wounded, only one Texan was injured. For the next hour the Texans would come to burn all the huts before reinforcements arrived then head back to the Alamo. During the siege several couriers were sent out to warn the rest of Texas of their plight and encourage sending reinforcements. The most famous letter of correspondence would be Travis's "To the People of Texas & All Americans in the world", this document detailed the plight of the Alamo and how the brave defenders were ready to make their stand in the name of freedom, Travis noted that he had not lost a single man and that more reinforcements for the Mexicans were likely to arrive soon, his most famous quote from the letter is his line "Victory or Death!" a phrase that showed the commitment of the Texans to their cause. Today the letter is interred within the Texan Archives and is on display at the Texan congressional building in Austin. During the siege a group of reinforcements met in Gonzales in a desire to help out the Alamo. 100 men would set out from the town of Gonzales to reinforce Alamo, increasing the number of Texans to 832. The remaining 300 Texans would remain in Gonzales to skirmish with approaching Mexican forces and wait for word of the outcome of the battle. These men would rendezvous with Houston on the 11th after hearing word of the battle's aftermath, forming the core of Houston's army.
Two authentic pages of Travis's To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World
One main reason that historians contribute to the Texans victory at the Alamo is the incompetency of Santa Anna in command. Despite having two separate armies which he could use to reinforce Bexar, Santa Anna forbid any reinforcements from advancing onto San Antonio. The dictator was convinced that the forces at the Alamo were a distraction from a true threat that lie further east and so had Urrea and Filisola continue on their campaigns. Another strategic blunder was Santa Anna's impatience with the siege. While the Alamo was well manned it did not have enough ammunition or food supplies to continue indefinitely. Indeed most historians agree that had the siege continued til April or May the Alamo would've surrendered under exhaustion. But this type of victory was not what Santa Anna wanted, he wanted a glorious victory that would be remembered for generations in all of the western hemisphere. So against the better judgement of his chief officers, Santa Anna ordered an assault to be prepped for the night of March 5th.
According to eyewitnesses a meeting was called of all of the Alamo's defenders on the evening of the 5th. In it Neill outlined their dire situation and explained that under any moment an attack would come and their was a good possibility that they would not survive. To further stress their situation, Travis drew a line in the ground with his calvary sword and called for all defenders to cross if they were willing to die for the Texan cause, all those who did not were allowed to flee under the cover of night. Unanimously all defenders chose to cross the line. Later that night the battle that would determine the fate of Texas would truly begin.
View attachment 283945
Col. Travis drawing his famous "line in the sand"
A/N: Next update will start to see the timeline diverge immensely once the assault starts.
- Kaiser Chris
- Word Count: 1k