1. The Texian Army There was around 600 men left in the army.
Sam Houston was its leader but little power.
Soldiers Dr. James Grant and Francis Johnston led about 175 men south towards Matamoros on their own to claim land and horses.
Col. James Neill had about 100 men in San Antonio and began fortifying the Alamo.
Col. James Fannin commanded around 300 men at La Bahia or as it would be called Goliad.
The rest were spread about different cities.
There were about 600 men left in the Texian Revolutionary army, but since Sam Houston’s power was limited to only those who had signed up after the Siege of San Antonio, he had very little power. Many of the volunteers who had come from The U.S. were looking for adventure with lots of plunder and action. Sitting around San Antonio was not what they had imagined. Dr. James Grant and Francis Johnston presented an expedition to the Mexican town of Matamoros along the south bank of the Rio Grande near the Gulf of Mexico. The town reportedly was full of supporters of the Constitution of 1824 as well as rich land and lots of horses. This sounded like an adventure worth looking into for many of the volunteers and so close to 200 of them left town a rode south towards the Rio Grande. Colonel James Neil was left in charge of San Antonio when Burleson left to take care of his ailing father back at his farm. Col. Neil would plead with Henry Smith and the General Council for more provisions but would never receive any. James Fannin was sent with about 300 men to La Bahia. The rest of the men were spread out throughout the state.

2. Mexican Army
Santa Anna had taken his brother in law Cos’ defeat in San Antonio personally.
He raised an army of about 6,000 soldiers and marched north in the dead of winter. It was a terrible winter and it snowed in south Texas and northern Mexico. Santa Anna lost hundreds of men to sickness and exposure but managed to arrive in Texas in February of 1836.
While General Cos’s defeat gave the Texians the illusion that the war was over. IT really had just gotten the war started. Santa Anna considered himself the Napoleon of the West and now had to prove that he lived up to that title. While he sent other generals to deal with these outlying rebels in other provinces. The defeat of Cos would mean that he would personally take control of Texas and he was not going to sent a few hundred men but rather a few thousand soldiers would accompany him to Texas to deal with the rebels. Not only would he bring thousands of men, but he would set out immediately. He set out for texas in the dead of winter. A march from Mexico City to San Antonio with 6000 men should have taken 3-4 months, but Santa Anna will make it in 2. It will cost him men and morale, but Santa Anna is now driven by more than simply wanting to control his land, he wants revenge for the embarrassment of his army surrendering.

3. Santa Anna split his army in two
Santa Anna split his army in two. General Urrea was to take south Texas while Santa Anna himself to take San Antonio.
In order to try and move quicker and control more area, Santa Anna divides his army up and sends General Urrea up the coast of Mexico and Texas. This will allow him to eliminate all of the rebels quickly and decisively.

4. San Patrico General Urrea was the first to run into Texas Rebels.
Texians led by James Grant were caught by surprise and easily defeated by Urrea near San Patrico.
Santa Anna gave Urrea orders to take NO prisoners. He ordered his soldiers to put the Texians to “the sword”.
General Urrea is the first to find the Texas Rebels when he comes across James Grant and members of the Matamoros expedition. These men had ridden to Matamoros hoping to find riches that belonged to the Mexican army but had only found horses. They had set out with 200 men but Sam Houston had caught them in Goliad and convinced most of them that the expedition wasn’t worth the time. They were caught by surprise near San Patricio. Only a few men were able to escape. Legend has it that Urrea had sent word to loyalist in San Patricio to light a candle in their window and he would leave their houses alone. Grant a 4 others were working by candlelight in a house and Urrea’s men had assumed they were loyalist. Grant escaped back to Goliad. Urrea reported 25 Texians killed and 45 taken prisoner. Santa Anna gave orders that no prisoners would be spared the sword, so Urrea killed all the prisoners. This is a strategy that Santa Anna incorporated hoping to strike fear in the Texians and convince them to give up the fight for independence. Ultimately, it will inspire others to take up arms and fight for Texas.

5. San Antonio de Bexar
Col. James Neill of the Texian army was in charge of San Antonio and was rebuilding the Alamo into a fort.
He requested some cavalry (soldiers on horses) from the provisional government to patrol the area.
Meanwhile James Bowie was sent by Houston to the Alamo to destroy it and bring its cannon back to Houston. But when he arrived he felt like the mission could be defended.
San Antonio was Bowie’s home and he decided to stay and defend the Alamo.
Col. Neil had worked hard at the Alamo to make it a defensible fort since it was basically destroyed when the Texians chased Cos out of San Antonio. He had done a good job but now he was desperate for supplies and reinforcements. But the provincial government that Texas had set up was without clear leadership and chaos was the result. He had written to the General Council several times and also to Governor Smith and Sam Houston. But Smith and Houston were only allowed to operate with permission from the General Council at this point. So Neil’s requests were basically ignored. Neil’s main concern was cavalry units to help patrol the area and scout the enemy. San Antonio de Bexar was seen as an early warning station for the Texians. They would know in advance when the Mexican army was close enough to present a serious threat. Eventually Henry Smith would send William Barrett Travis and his cavalry unit to assist Neil in San Antonio.
Sam Houston had felt like maintaining the Alamo was a lost cause. He didn’t have the power to give orders yet, but he requested that Gov. Smith would send Bowie to destroy the Alamo and possibly bring the cannons to Goliad or San Felipe. Houston believed that the Texan army needed time to recruit and train more men. Holding on to a broken down mission like the Alamo was not a priority to Houston. He felt the supplies and men could be better used elsewhere. But Bowie had lived in San Antonio. He had a wife and child and had buried them in San Antonioa few years before because of disease. When Bowie arrived in Bexar, he found that Neill had done an admirable job of fixing up the mission and felt like it could be defended.

6. William Barrett Travis was assigned to go to San Antonio
Travis didn’t want to go at first.
He was only able to recruit 30 soldiers and didn’t want to go to the mostly Tejano San Antonio.
He wrote the provisional government “I must beg your excellency will recall the order for me to go on to Bexar in command of so few men.”
William B Travis had not desire to go to San Antonio. Only 30 men had responded to his plea for men to go with him to Bexar. Travis was very concerned about his reputation and he felt like being in Bexar with so few men would result in his reputation being tarnished. He begged with Gov. Smith to not be assigned to Bexar and actually threatened to resign from the army if he was commanded to do so. But Smith realized that Travis was a man of honor and would ultimately follow any orders he was given. So he commanded Travis to go to Bexar and reinforce Col. Neill. Travis would head towards Bexar with little understanding of how his legacy of a Texas hero would be cemented behind the walls of the Alamo.

7. When Travis arrived on Feb 3rd McNeil told him he was to take charge of the Alamo while Neill left to attend to his ill family in Gonzales.
Neill would continue to try and find support and money to send to Bexar but he would not return. He would later join Sam Houston’s army and fight at the Battle of San Jacinto.
Travis and his men arrived on February 3rd at the Alamo. Neil had just received word that his wife had become ill and so he left for Gonzales and put Travis in charge of the army stationed there in San Antonio. Neill expected to return to Bexar within the next few weeks, so he continued to spread word of the needs of money, supplies and men that were apparent at the Alamo. His hard work had won him the respect of the men there at the Alamo, and expecting to return soon he put the only other official army Col. at Bexar in command, William B. Travis.

8. Problems with Command
Bowie commanded his volunteer Militia troops while Travis was in command of the Army “Regulars” (Soldiers who signed a commitment to serve)
Bowie and Travis did not get along.
The many volunteers at the Alamo did not like that Bowie was overlooked as a commander, but the truth of the matter was, Bowie was just a volunteer himself and could leave at any moment, so Travis was the obvious choice to placed in command. The volunteers were accustomed to choosing their own leaders, so they took a vote and chose Bowie as their leader. This meant that Bowie would be in charge of the volunteers, but that Travis was in charge of the regular army as well as the artillery. This put both men in what Travis would describe as an awkward position. To further increase the tension, Bowie and Travis were very different personalities. Travis was a professional in the way he acted. He took orders seriously and followed them particularly. Bowie on the other hand, was just the opposite. He was a loose cannon, with a big wild side. He had grown up fighting and had little education. So he and his men were more free and wild in their behavior. Ultimately, the two men realized that they did not have time to deal with their differences so they came to a compromise and both would play a part in leadership. Travis was to try and run everything he wanted to do past Bowie and Bowie would support his orders to the men. They had heard that Santa Anna was at the Rio Grande with his army and suspected that they had 6-7 weeks to ready the men for battle before the Mexican Army would arrive. They would realize 3 weeks later that their time to prepare had expired.

9. Santa Anna Arrives
Santa Anna’s initial army of 1,500 soldiers arrived 20 days after Travis on Feb the 23rd.
The Texians were totally surprised and rushed into the Alamo for safety.
After the Mexicans arrived on Feb 23rd, they settled into a siege of the Alamo.
They flew a red flag which meant no quarter. (no mercy, no prisoners)
Santa Anna and his army of 1,500 soldiers arrived just 20 days after Travis with his army. The Texians had expected him to arrive sometime around March 15, so they were not ready for the Mexican army. A restful day in San Antonio quickly turned into chaos as all of the Texian soldiers scrambled to get into the Alamo. Once the Mexican soldiers arrived in San Antonio, they began a siege much like the Texans had a few months earlier. They would not allow supplies to get in or out of the Alamo. Santa Anna had a red flag flown so that everyone in the Alamo could see it. The red flag was a sign that Santa Anna would show no quarter. No quarter meant that there would be no mercy and that no prisoners would be taken. Santa Anna is saying that he will not allow anyone to survive the siege of the Alamo.

10. The Alamo Siege
Bowie tried to parley (a discussion between enemies) for good terms of surrender with the Mexican army. This upset Travis who considered himself in charge.
Travis ordered a cannon to be fired at the Mexicans ending any hope of a peaceful ending…
James Bowie had lived in San Antonio and had many friends in Mexico, some of them in the Mexican army. He had developed good relationships with Mexicans who had been in power in San Antonio over the years. So he decided to try and go out and negotiate for the Texians in the Alamo. When Travis saw Bowie riding out on his horse to meet with a representative of the Mexican army, he felt like Bowie was out of line and doing something without Travis’ permission. Because of their previous conflicts, Travis decided to take command and ordered a cannon to be fired into the Mexican Army. This ends all hopes of a peaceful ending to the standoff. Though many believe there was little that Bowie could have done anyway.

11. Colonel Travis was able to dispatch riders carrying letters to Houston describing of his situation and requesting assistance.
Juan Seguin and Deaf Smith served as letter carriers and slipped past the Mexican lines.
His letter read:
COMMANDANCY OF BEXAR, 3 o'clock p.m.: The enemy in large force are in sight. We want men and provisions. Send them to us. We have 150 men and are determined to defend the Alamo to the last. Give us assistance. William Barrett Travis
Travis immediately sent riders to Houston explaining his situation. Juan Seguin, son of Erasmo Seguin, was chosen to take the letters because he was a Tejano who grew up in San Antonio and would know the best way to get through the Mexican lines surrounding the city. Deaf Smith went with him as well taking letters to other leaders in the state. Travis’ letter read:
COMMANDANCY OF BEXAR, 3 o'clock p.m.: The enemy in large force are in sight. We want men and provisions. Send them to us. We have 150 men and are determined to defend the Alamo to the last. Give us assistance. William Barrett Travis
Travis hoped that Houston would get the information and bring his army to the rescue. Unfortunately, Houston still didn’t have much of an army at this point and it definitely was not ready to go to battle.

12. During the 13 day siege the Mexican army inched closer and closer to the Alamo walls.
They fired cannons at the fort day and night keeping the Texians awake and tearing down the walls of the fort.
They harassed the defenders by having the Mexican Military band play a song titled “El Degüello” which meant “Slit Throat”.
The siege set out to demoralize the Texans inside the Alamo. The Mexican army would fire their cannons at the mission walls day and night. They would do this to accomplish two different things. First they wanted to demolish the walls of the fort in order to make it easier to attack. Once the walls of the fort had been demolished, the Texians would surely surrender being outnumbered more than 10 to 1. Secondly, they wanted to make it difficult for the men inside the mission to keep their sanity. By regularly firing the cannons, they made it difficult for the men inside of the Alamo to relax, eat, sleep or train. Santa Anna also had a military band that would play a song titled “El Deguello” every few hours. The song was well known by most of the men inside the Alamo and meant “Slit Throat”. This was another way that Santa Anna hoped the men inside the Alamo would lose heart and not want to fight.

13. Travis sent his most famous letter on the second day of the siege:
To The People of Texas and All Americans In The World -- February 24, 1836
Fellow citizens & compatriots -- I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna -- I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man -- The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken -- I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls -- I shall never surrender or retreat.
I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & every thing dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch -- The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country --
VICTORY OR DEATH
William Barret Travis Lt. Col. Comdt.
After a full day of dealing with cannon fire and the siege of the Alamo, Travis wrote a famous letter that he hoped would inspire men to come and help him fight. He is writing not simply to Texans, but also to anyone with any interest in Texas. He knew that many people had come to Texas from the U.S. and that they surely had family and friends that might be able to influence others to come and fight for Texas. This is widely considered the most famous document in Texas History. It is regarded as one of the most heroic letters ever written. It was written by a man who faced a most certain death, yet he vows to never retreat or surrender his post, but to rather die like a soldier is supposed to die. Many falsely believe that it is the last letter that Travis sent out but that isn’t true. He sent another letter the next day and then again on March 3. But this is the most compelling letter he sent out and embodies the type of pride and commitment that many Texans feel even today about their state.
(Read the Letter)

14. By the 24th James Bowie had become extremely sick and was bedridden for the rest of the siege.
Another blow for Travis came on March 1st , reinforcements came from Gonzales but it was only 32 men. Known as the “Immortal 32”
He needed much more…
Just a couple of days into the siege, James Bowie became ill and collapsed. Many believe that he had a form of pneumonia or tuberculosis. Bowie would be confined to a bed for the remainder of the siege. Travis thought things would get better. He felt confident that reinforcements were on their way from Goliad, Gonzales and San Felipe. But days went by and no one arrived. On March 1, he had heard that men were coming from Gonzales, but it was a difficult blow to find out there would only be 32 men coming. That would not be nearly enough to withstand the barrage coming from the 1500 Mexican soldados.

15. How many Texian defenders were at the Alamo?
The tradition number of defenders is 189. But some estimates range up to as many as 257.
Almost all were Anglo-Americans who had come to fight for Texas like Davy Crockett.
But it is known that at least 9 Tejanos died with them and maybe more.
Some of the Texian had slaves and some of them may have fought and died with their owners.
So just how many Texian defenders were at the Alamo? There are 189 names of defenders on the official list. This is the number that is most frequently espoused, though research has indicated that there may have been as many as 257. Most of the men were Americans who had come to Texas to help fight Mexico. Davy Crockett and his men had come from Tennessee to fight for Texas independence. Some of the men who were Tejanos, Mexicans who had grown up in Texas, and had brothers or cousins fighting for the Mexican army. A few of the men who died were slaves who decided to fight along side their owners.

16. Legends of the the Alamo
Did Travis draw a “line in the sand?”
One of the biggest legends of the Alamo has Travis draw a “line in the sand” with his sword, and invited all those who were willing to stay (and, presumably, almost certain to die) to cross over the line. The legend says that all but one (A French man) chose to step across the line. He slipped out in the night and got passed the Mexican lines and lived out his days in East Texas. The story itself did not appear until 1873, or 37 years after the battle. The truth of the story will depend on who you talk to about it.

17. He grew increasingly bitter that his fellow Texans seemed deaf to his appeals. In a letter to a friend, Travis revealed his frustration: "If my countrymen do not rally to my relief, I am determined to perish in the defense of this place, and my bones shall reproach my country for her neglect."
As days passed by with no reinforcements in sight and little reprieve from the constant bombardment of Mexican cannon fire, Col. Travis grew more and more frustrated. He was desperate to find some sort of hope for his men to cling to as they were under attack. But even as his frustration with a lack of reinforcement, his resolve to defend the Alamo and fight for the cause of independence never wavered. In a letter he wrote to a friend he said…

18. The Assault on the Alamo

19. On March 5th, Santa Anna decided to finally assault the Alamo.
His generals were surprised.
No Texian reinforcements had shown and the bombardment of the Mexican cannons was crumbling the Alamo walls. Why attack now?
Santa Anna had been in Bexar for 10 days on March 5, He had been bombarding the walls of the Alamo for 9 of those 10 days, slowly making progress towards breaking down the walls and the morale of the Texians. It would probably take a few more days, but he would soon have the walls of the Alamo virtually destroyed leaving the 200 or so Texians fully exposed to an all out attack by close to 3,000 Mexican soldados, 1,000 of which had just reached Bexar on March the 3rd. Even if the walls did not fall, the provisions in the Alamo were already running low. Many Mexican officers believed that they were days away from the Texians surrendering. Because of that, it was a shock to the other generals and officers when Santa Anna announced he wanted to attack. Why would he attack a fort hat was still standing and lose valuable soldados to Texian gunfire when they could easily wait a few more days and have a peaceful surrender. There were rumors that the Texians were hoping to surrender already as Santa Anna supposedly had entered a conversation with one of the relatives of a Tejano inside the Alamo wanting to negotiate a surrender. Santa Anna believed that a bloodless battle was not worth it. Santa Anna hoped to intimidate the rest of Texas and he wanted to send a message that would make them want to quit the rebellion and not fight anymore. So he didn’t want a surrender. He wanted to destroy the morale of all the rebels across the state and the only way to do that was to attack and destroy the defenders of the Alamo.

20. At 5 a.m. 2,000 Mexicans attacked on all 4 sides.
At 4 a.m. on March the 6th the Mexican soldiers lined up outside Alamo.
At 5 a.m. 2,000 Mexicans attacked on all 4 sides.
At around 10 pm on March the 5th the Mexican bombardment of the Alamo stopped. Finally the Texians could relax inside the compound. They were able to sleep for the first time in two weeks and so many quickly fell asleep. The Mexican army set up in the middle of the night on March the 6th a few hundred yards away from the walls of the Alamo. They were able to kill the Texian scouts so that they could not warn the men inside the compound of the approaching battle. At about 5 am somewhere around 2,000 Mexican soldados began their final approach towards the Alamo. At first they were silent but as they got closer to the walls, the nerves of battle took over and some began to yell “Viva la Santa Anna!” and “Viva la Mexico!” This was a key mistake as it woke the Texians at their posts right as the Mexican army was in rifle range. Texians began to fire with deadly aim at the Mexican army as it approached. This was the first combat situation that many of the Mexican soldiers had been a part of so they were nervous and not well prepared for what was about to happen. Because of that, many of them panicked and began to fire blindly. Initially, the Mexican army column formation put them at a disadvantage since it made a rather large and easy target for the Texians to shoot at. It also made it such that only the first row of Mexicans could fire upon the Texians. Some of the less trained recruits in the Mexican army began firing from behind the lines and killing their own men. The first few minutes of the battle were complete chaos for the Mexican army as their sneak attack had been ruined and now they were forced to move on the Alamo and all of its fortifications.

21. The Texians put up a noble fight but stood no chance.
They were out numbered more than 10 to 1
The battle lasted no more than 90 minutes, every Texian defender was killed.
Initially things went well for the Texians. The Mexican army was having trouble scaling the walls and the Texians were easily able to pick them off. The Mexican army retreated after about minutes of fighting with great casualties, but they would come again in just a few moments as the numbers were so large that the men in the back basically forced the men up front to continue to fight. Soon they realized that the north wall was the weakest point as it was mostly made up of fence posts and sticks. Within about 30 minutes the vast majority of the Mexican army was moving in towards the north wall and it was quickly overrun. Once inside, the Mexicans opened the gates and Mexican soldados rushed in to the compound. The Texians were outnumbered by more than 10 to1 and even though they had fought a very valiant fight, they would ultimately be no match for the huge Mexican army. The battle is believed to have last only about 90 minutes. In the end, every Texian defender lay dead on the ground somewhere in the Alamo compound.

22. Travis is one of the first Texans to be killed.
According to his slave Joe (who survived the battle) Travis was shot in the head in the first few minutes on the North Wall.
Bowie, too sick to fight, is killed in his bed.
Movie accounts show him firing pistols at the on coming Mexicans but there is zero evidence to support this
Reports from Mexican officers indicate that William B Travis was one of the first men killed during the attack. He is rumored to have been shot in the head while standing on the north wall. He was shooting a shotgun into a group of Mexican soldiers trying to scale the wall. James Bowie had been in a bed since February 24 and was very weak. There are stories that he went down shooting that have been glamorized in the movies, but the truth of the matter is that he probably had little strength when the Mexicans attacked and probably was killed fairly easily in his bed.

23. How did David Crockett die?
There are many different opinions on this. Some think that he survived the battle along with a few others and was executed afterwards. Others think he died defending the palisade. Still others think that as many as 60 of the defenders including Crockett jumped the walls to escape during the assault and were killed outside the Alamo.
There are so many different eye witness accounts from Mexican soldiers and survivors of the battle like Susanna Dickinson and Travis’ slave Joe that history will never know for certain.

24. Susanna Dickinson claimed to see Crockett’s body surrounded by a pile of dead Mexicans.
While several Mexican soldiers said in later years that Santa Anna had him executed.

25. Aftermath
Not everyone in the Alamo died. About 20 or so non-combatants: women, children, and slaves were spared by Santa Anna including Susanna Dickinson and Travis’ slave Joe.
Santa Anna told them to tell Texas about what had happened and that it would happen to them as well if they did not leave Texas.

26. How many Mexican soldiers were killed in the battle?
For a hundred years and more after the battle Texans claimed that over a 1,000 Mexicans has been killed .
While the Mexicans claimed they lost about 100.
What was the correct number?
The number of Mexicans killed in the siege and the battle is probably between 300 and 600.
Santa Anna did not bring medical supplies with him and because of this men who suffered bad wounds would die instead of being saved by medical treatment.