Alamo, the (ăl`əmō') [Span.,=cottonwood], building in San Antonio, Tex., "the cradle of Texas liberty." Built as a chapel after 1744, it is all that remains of the mission of San Antonio de Valero, which was founded in 1718 by Franciscans and later converted into a fortress. In the Texas Revolution, San Antonio was taken by Texas revolutionaries in Dec., 1835, and was lightly garrisoned. When Mexican General Santa Anna Santa Anna, Antonio López de (äntō`nyō lō`pās dā sän`tä ä`nä)
..... Click the link for more information. approached with an army of several thousand in Feb., 1836, only some 150 men held the Alamo, and confusion, indifference, and bickering among insurgents throughout Texas prevented help from joining them, except for 32 volunteers from Gonzales who slipped through the Mexican siege lines. Defying surrender demands, the Texans in the fort determined to fight. The siege, which began Feb. 24, ended with hand-to-hand fighting within the walls on Mar. 6. William B. Travis Travis, William Barrett (trăv`ĭs), 1809–36, hero of the Texas Revolution, b. Edgefield co., S.C. He moved to Claiborne, Ala.
..... Click the link for more information. , James Bowie Bowie, James (b
`ē, bō`ē), c.
..... Click the link for more information. , Davy Crockett Crockett, Davy (David Crockett) (krŏk`ĭt), 1786–1836, American frontiersman, b. Limestone, near Greeneville, Tenn.
..... Click the link for more information. , and some 180 other defenders died, but the heroic resistance roused fighting anger among Texans, who six weeks later defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto San Jacinto, river, c.130 mi (210 km) long, rising in SE Texas as the West Fork and flowing S to Galveston Bay. Its chief tributary is Buffalo Bayou, and both the bayou and the lower river are used for the Houston ship channel.
..... Click the link for more information. , crying, "Remember the Alamo!" The chapel-fort became a state preserve in 1883. Its surroundings were added in 1905, and the complex, restored in 1936–39, is now a major tourist attraction.
..... Click the link for more information. approached with an army of several thousand in Feb., 1836, only some 150 men held the Alamo, and confusion, indifference, and bickering among insurgents throughout Texas prevented help from joining them, except for 32 volunteers from Gonzales who slipped through the Mexican siege lines. Defying surrender demands, the Texans in the fort determined to fight. The siege, which began Feb. 24, ended with hand-to-hand fighting within the walls on Mar. 6. William B. Travis Travis, William Barrett (trăv`ĭs), 1809–36, hero of the Texas Revolution, b. Edgefield co., S.C. He moved to Claiborne, Ala.
..... Click the link for more information. , James Bowie Bowie, James (b
`ē, bō`ē), c...... Click the link for more information. , Davy Crockett Crockett, Davy (David Crockett) (krŏk`ĭt), 1786–1836, American frontiersman, b. Limestone, near Greeneville, Tenn.
..... Click the link for more information. , and some 180 other defenders died, but the heroic resistance roused fighting anger among Texans, who six weeks later defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto San Jacinto, river, c.130 mi (210 km) long, rising in SE Texas as the West Fork and flowing S to Galveston Bay. Its chief tributary is Buffalo Bayou, and both the bayou and the lower river are used for the Houston ship channel.
..... Click the link for more information. , crying, "Remember the Alamo!" The chapel-fort became a state preserve in 1883. Its surroundings were added in 1905, and the complex, restored in 1936–39, is now a major tourist attraction.
Bibliography
See A. G. Adair and M. H. Crockett, ed., Heroes of the Alamo (2d ed. 1957); Lon Tinkle, 13 Days to Glory (1958); W. Lord, A Time to Stand (1961); W. C. Davis, Three Roads to the Alamo (1998); R. Roberts and J. S. Olson, A Line in the Sand (2000).
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