March 6, 1836

[pulque]

Commandancy of the Alamo
Bexar, Feby. 24th, 1836

To the People of Texas & all Americans in the World--
Fellow Citizens and 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. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all despatch--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.

P.S. The Lord is on our side--When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn--We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels, and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beefes--

Travis

 

[Hornius Emeritus]

One of the things that many people don't know is that, nearly a year later, Juan Seguin brought his company of cavalry to San Antonio and examined what survived of the piles of charred remains from the three pyres of burned Texian bodies that Santa Anna had set alight right after the battle.
He gave orders that the bells in San Fernando should start to peal, and keep ringing throughout the day, then engaged a Bexar carpenter to build a coffin. They covered the interior with black cloth, then placed the ashes, small bits of bone etc... from the two smaller piles in the box. Though the contents reflected parts of many different men, Sequin caused to be inscribed on the inside of the lid just three names: Bowie, Crockett and Travis. Laying a Texian rifle and sword atop the casket, his men carried it to San Fernando, and there it remained as a procession gathered in the street outside, the bells ringing all the while.

At 4:00 p.m. Seguin led the mourners back through the main street of town, across the San Antonio river, and back toward the Alamo and the remaining pile of ashes. Seguin gave a speech (in Spanish), volleys of rifle shots were fired etc... Then the box was buried. But the spot went unmarked. They did not think to mark it. Who could forget the final resting place of the immortal Alamo garrison? And yet, within a generation, it was lost.

Today, the coffin is probably covered over by a highway or a shopping mall.


So now, if you didn't know it before, you know the rest of the story. And I feel kind of like Paul Harvey.

 

[Texanne]

I <3

 

[accuratehorn]

Reading that letter in the Alamo always brought tears to my eyes. Now they moved the plaque with the words of the letter outside, where a bunch of noisy tourists are waiting in line, traffic buzzing around, street vendors calling...the meaning of the words just doesn't sink in out there-they should move the plaque back inside.

 

[LHB_SOB]

We live in cynical times. But there was period when men did not.

 

[726]

I like this one: The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texas Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican forces in a fight that lasted just eighteen minutes. Hundreds of Mexican soldiers were killed or captured, while only nine Texans died.

 

[kbrown]

Perhaps Phil Collins will make it his calling to find the unmarked grave!

 

[hookem2003]

God bless the Great State!

 

[ferrariparty]