The Alamo (1960)

Jay,

I can't tell you how much the Mrs. and I enjoy nostalgia - thanks for sharing that article!

Chester

Hi Jay
Thanks for that its little snippets like that that make it all the more interesting.

Regards

Arthur

great read. thanks for the post.

Source: Wikipedia
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Prelude to battle

After Sam Houston received word that Santa Anna was leading a large force to San Antonio, James Bowie offered to lead volunteers to defend the Alamo from the expected attack. He arrived with 30 men on January 19,[13] where they found a force of 104 men with a few weapons and a few cannons but little supplies and gunpowder.[14] Houston knew that there were not enough men to hold the fort in an attack and had given Bowie orders to remove the artillery and blow up the fortification. Bowie and the Alamo captain, James C. Neill, decided they did not have enough oxen to move the artillery someplace safer, and they did not want to destroy the fortress. On January 26, one of Bowie's men, James Bonham, organized a rally which passed a resolution in favor of holding the Alamo. Bonham signed the resolution first, with Bowie's signature second.[15]
Through Bowie's connections due to his marriage and his fluency in Spanish, the predominantly Mexican population of San Antonio often furnished him with information about the movements of the Mexican army. After learning that Santa Anna had 4,500 troops and was heading for the city.[15] Bowie wrote several letters to the provisional government asking for help in defending the Alamo, especially "men, money, rifles, and cannon powder".[16] In another letter, to Governor Smith, he reiterated his view that "the salvation of Texas depends in great measure on keeping Bexar out of the hands of the enemy. It serves as the frontier picquet guard, and if it were in the possession of Santa Anna, there is no stronghold from which to repel him in his march toward the Sabine."[16] The letter to Smith ended, "Colonel Neill and myself have come to the solemn resolution that we will rather die in these ditches than give it up to the enemy."[16]
On February 3, William Travis arrived with an additional 30 troops, and several days later Davy Crockett appeared with twelve Tennesseans. Neill went on furlough on February 17 to visit his sick family, leaving Travis, a member of the regular army, in command.[16] Bowie was older than Travis with a better reputation and considered himself a colonel, thus outranking Travis, a major.[17][18] He refused to answer to Travis, who called an election for the men to choose their own commander. They chose Bowie, infuriating Travis.[17] Bowie celebrated his appointment by getting very drunk and causing havoc in San Antonio, releasing all prisoners in the local jails and harassing citizens. Travis was disgusted, but two days later the men agreed to a joint command; Bowie would command the volunteers, and Travis would command the regular army and the volunteer cavalry.[17][19]

Alamo defenders

The Alamo


Various people had also assembled to help in the defensive effort, including several unofficial volunteers under the command of Jim Bowie. The youngest, Galba Fuqua, was 16, and one of the oldest, Gordon C. Jennings, was 57.
In the United States, the siege of the Alamo was seen as a battle of American settlers against Mexicans, but many of the Tejanos sided with the rebellion. Many viewed this struggle in similar terms with the American Revolution of 1776. The Tejanos wanted Mexico to have a loose central government which supported states rights as expressed in the 1824 Constitution. One Tejano combatant at the Alamo was Captain (later Colonel) Juan Nepomuceno Seguín, who was sent out as a dispatch rider before the final assault. Other Tejanos include Toribio Losoya and Gregorio Esparza, whose entire family waited out the siege inside the Alamo.
The defenders of the Alamo came from many places besides Texas. William Barret Travis and James Butler Bonham were both from Saluda County, South Carolina, and Travis had spent some time in Alabama. Jim Bowie was born in Kentucky but spent most of his life in Louisiana. From Tennessee came another small group of volunteers led by famous hunter, politician and Indian-fighter David "Davy" Crockett who was accompanied by Micajah Autry, a neighbor and lawyer. The 12-man "Tennessee Mounted Volunteers" arrived at the Alamo on February 8. The previous month David Crockett had resigned from politics having told his peers that "You may go to hell, I will go to Texas."[citation needed]
Another group, the "New Orleans Greys", came from that city to fight as infantry in the revolution. The two companies comprising the Greys had participated in the Siege of Béxar in December. Most of the Greys then left San Antonio de Béxar for an expedition to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, with the promise of taking the war to Mexico, but about two dozen remained at the Alamo.
The question of the Alamo defenders' politics has been controversial. The abrogation of the Constitution of 1824 was a key trigger for the revolt in general, yet many Americans in Texas had strong sympathies for independence or union with the United States. And for many of them, the right to own slaves was a key issue. While the political climate would have been more favorable earlier during 1835 for a reliance on such a Constitution, things changed towards the fall of that year. When the Texians defeated the Mexican garrison at the Alamo in December 1835, their flag did have the word INDEPENDENCE on it. Letters written from the Alamo expressed that "all here are for independence",[citation needed] and the famous letter from Travis referred to their "flag of Independence". Some 25 years after the battle, historian Reuben Potter made the assertion that reinstatement of the Constitution of 1824 was a primary objective, and Potter's comments have also been the source of a myth that the battle flag of the Alamo garrison was some sort of Mexican tricolor with "1824" on it.[citation needed]

Siege

Lieutenant Colonel William Travis was able to dispatch riders before the battle and as late as March 3 informing the Texas provisional government of his situation and requesting assistance. However, Sam Houston's Texas Army was not strong enough to fight through the Mexican Army and relieve the post. The provisional Texas government was also in disarray because of in-fighting among its members. Travis also sent several riders, including James Bonham, to Colonel James Fannin for assistance. Fannin, commander of over 450 Texas forces at Goliad 100 miles (160 km) southeast of the Alamo, attempted an unorganized relief march with 320 men and cannon on February 28 to the Alamo, but he aborted the relief column, citing poor transportation. On March 27, Fannin and most of his men were slaughtered by a Mexican force after surrendering.
On March 1 at about 1 a.m., 32 Texians led by Captain George Kimbell and John W. Smith from the town of Gonzales slipped through the Mexican lines and joined the defenders inside the Alamo. They would be the only response to Travis' plea for help. The group became known as the "Immortal 32."[20]

Final assault

"The Fall of the Alamo" by Robert Jenkins Onderdonk depicts Davy Crockett in a charge at the Mexican troops who have breached the walls of the mission.

At the end of 12 days the number of Mexican forces attacking the post was reported as high as 4,000 to 5,000, but only about 1,400 to 1,600 soldiers were used in the investment and the final assault. 6,500 soldiers had originally set out from San Luis Potosí, but illness and desertion had since reduced the force. The siege was calculated and professionally conducted in the Napoleonic style. After a 13-day period in which the defenders were tormented with bands blaring at night (including buglers sounding the no-mercy call El Degüello, which literally translates into "slit throat"), occasional artillery fire, and an ever closing ring of Mexicans cutting off potential escape routes, Santa Anna planned the final assault for March 6. Santa Anna raised a blood red flag which made his message perfectly clear. No quarter would be given for the defenders.
Lieutenant Colonel Travis wrote in his final dispatches: "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 their demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls — I shall never surrender or retreat."[21]
The Mexican army attacked the Alamo in four columns plus a reserve and a pursuit and security force, starting at around 5:00 a.m. The first column of 300 to 400 men led by Martín Perfecto de Cos moved towards the northwest corner of the Alamo. The second was of 380 men commanded by Colonel Francisco Duque. The third column comprised 400 soldiers led by Colonel José María Romero. The fourth comprised 100 cazadores (light infantry) commanded by Colonel Juan Morales. The attacking columns had to cover 200 to 300 yards (180 to 275 m) of open ground before they could reach the Alamo walls. To prevent any attempted escape by the fleeing Texians or reinforcements from coming in, Santa Anna placed 350 cavalry under Brigadier General Ramírez y Sesma to patrol the surrounding countryside.
The Texians initially pushed back one of the attacking columns, although Cos' column was able to breach the Alamo's weak north wall, which was just a plain wooden palisade, fairly quickly where the first defenders fell — among them William Barret Travis, who was allegedly killed by a shot to the head. Meanwhile, the rest of Santa Anna's columns continued the assault while Cos's men flooded into the fortress. The Alamo defenders were spread too thin to adequately defend both the walls and the invading Mexicans. By 8:00 that morning, nearly all of the Alamo defenders had been slain in brutal hand-to-hand combat. Jim Bowie is reported by some survivors to have been bayoneted and shot to death in his cot. The battle, from the initial assault to the capture of the Alamo, lasted only an hour. According to several reports, a group of male survivors were executed after the battle. [22] [23] According to one report Davy Crockett was among them, but the provenance of the document making this claim has been questioned by a number of experts (see below for more details).[23]

Casualties

• Mexican: There are wide variations among reports regarding the number of Mexican casualties at the Alamo. However, some historians and military analysts accept those reports which place the number of Mexican casualties at approximately 200 deaths and 400 wounded. (See below "Mexican Casualties")
• Texan: 183 to 250 Texian and Tejano bodies were found at the Alamo after the battle, though Santa Anna's official report back to Mexico City, dictated to his personal secretary Ramón Martínez Caro, stated 600 rebel bodies were found. Historians believe this to be a false claim. All but one of the bodies were burned by the Mexicans; the sole exception being Gregorio Esparza, who was buried rather than burned because his brother Francisco had served as an activo and had fought under General Cos in the Siege of Béxar.[citation needed]

Alamo survivors

• Susanna Dickinson
• Angelina Dickinson
• Joe, the slave of William B. Travis
• Sam the slave of Jim Bowie
• Juana Navarro Alsbury
• Alijo Perez Jr. (he was the last living survivor of the Alamo battle, he died in 1918)
• Gertrudis Navarro
• Ana Esparza
• Enrique Esparza
• Francisco Esparza
• Manuel Esparza
• María de Jesús Castro
• Trinidad Saucedo
• Petra Gonzales
• Brígido Guerrero
• Henry Wornell

Regarding this movie how did Ken Curtis' character die? He lets out a scream but nothing actually seemed to happen to him.

I had assumed that they had either shot or stabbed him.

Watch that scene closely and you'll hear a gunshot that's a little louder than the rest. A second after that happens, Curtis cries out and falls back over the stockade wall.

Quote from WaynamoJim

Watch that scene closely and you'll hear a gunshot that's a little louder than the rest. A second after that happens, Curtis cries out and falls back over the stockade wall.

I just watched the scene again here, and the only gunshot is that from Curtis' own gun.

Because I had read the thread "Deleted Scene,Two Superb Gems."started by Robbie,
I was awakened to the importance of the full version of "The Alamo"which accidentally i bought in 1996 and keeping in the lumber room.
I enjoyed The Alamo full version for the first time in a long time.
and let me report result of measuring the time.
as
Prelude - 3min.05sec.
Title - 2min.10sec.
The first half of the original story-89min.45sec.
Intermission guidance -15sec.
Interlude-3min.40sec.
Blackout-5sec.
The latter half of the original story -99min.20sec.
Exit music-3min.20sec.
and overall time is about 201min.40sec.

Thanks
H.sanada

I think with the passing of Richard Widmark I'll watch JW version of the battle. I own eight different movies of this battle, three are silent films.

Quote from BILL OF PA

I think with the passing of Richard Widmark I'll watch JW version of the battle. I own eight different movies of this battle, three are silent films.

Which in your opinion is the best version and which is the most historically accurate?

I have only ever seen the mutilated version of John Wayne's "Alamo".

Quote from Robbie

Which in your opinion is the best version and which is the most historically accurate?

I have only ever seen the mutilated version of John Wayne's "Alamo".

Well the most entertaing for me is Duke's long version,but by far the most accorate is the last version.I only wish Ron Howard had not pulled out of the project that would have been interesting.

I also have several movie versions,
but for some reason, I think Duke's is the best.
I am also fortunate to have the longer print.

Our Movie Review, of course is here:-

The Alamo

I may be headed to Austin this year sometime for work. How far away is the Alamo from Austin? That's a question to all the Texan's on the board.

Awesome, should still be worth the trip to see a historic site like that. Thanks Jay.

Here's an example of the book. Enjoy!

Mark