1. The Battle of the Alamo Chapter 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 Anna’s 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 5:30 in the morning the attack began
“El Deguello” is played

9. The Final Attack Morning of March 6, 1836
Travis
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
Crockett
Bowie
With the Mexican soldiers inside the walls the Texans fall back to the long barracks where most fight to the death
By 7:00 AM the battle was over
A small group of Texans were captured and executed on Santa Anna’s orders (David Crockett)

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 Travis’s 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 Anna’s advance across Texas giving the Texas government time to declare independence and write a constitution
Allowed Sam Houston time to begin forming an army