“Myth has so shrouded every aspect of the Alamo story that it becomes hard to separate the factual from the fanciful. Understand and appreciate the myth. Understand and appreciate the historical reality. But, please, graze them in different pastures.”
— Stephen Hardin, ace historian of the Texas Revolution
The Texas History Trust is running a day-by-day account of the 1836 Siege of the Alamo. It’s informal, but the history is on point. The CGI renderings of the mission as it looked in 1836 are really cool.
Here’s Day 1:
I have been keeping company with General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna a fair bit in recent weeks — or, more accurately, with the Texas Rangers who wanted to put his scalp on a pole. The Rangers saw Santa Anna in much the same way Americans saw Osama bin Laden in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks — not only as an enemy, but as THE enemy, and an embodiment of evil. The self-styled Napoleon of the West, who rose and fell from power in Mexico in a bewildering roller coaster political career, earned their enmity with brutal conduct in the Texas Revolution. As the video notes, he hoisted the red flag of no quarter as soon as his troops arrived in San Antonio, and his bugler played El Degüello, which meant “slit throat.”
From Santa Anna’s perspective, the Texans were pirates and rebel traitors, and thus not entitled to consideration as a legitimate fighting force. His troops rubbed out the garrison of the Alamo and committed a massacre of more than 400 Texans at the town Goliad. In 1842, he would order the literal decimation of captured Texans who invaded northern Mexico in the ill-fated Mier Expedition. The Texas Rangers that invaded Mexico in the 1846-48 Mexican-American War had ol’ Santy Anny right at the top of a kill list.
However, despite their own reputation for ruthlessness, the Texas Rangers ultimately refrained from capping Santa Anna at the end of the Mexican War in 1848, though they had the opportunity. That scene is played out in the most recent episode of the Frontier Partisans Podcast — Tales of the Rangers: The Road to Mexico City.
I finally got to visit the Alamo last year, with Rick Schwertfeger and his wife Marcia. The Alamo story — and particularly the life and death of David Crockett — were foundational to my early interest in Frontier Partisans history. It’s good to periodically circle back and revisit the story.
Matthew says
I will be going to San Antonio next week and will definitely see the Alamo. Haven’t been there since I was in Junior High.
JimC says
Nice! Give us a debriefing.
Matthew says
I will.
Quixotic Mainer says
I will check out the online rendering, looks like good
stuff!
Santa Ana would have been good as a Game of Thrones character. Polk probably doubled the length of his war by insidiously reimporting his excellency. The same sort of wishful thinking power swaps that bite us in the global rear these days.
In all my Mexican War reading lately, Polk has fast become my least favorite character.
JimC says
Damn. That’s on the mark. I’ve always thought of the Revolution as “the Mexican Game of Thrones,” but this works. Polk, too — a sickly man with a dark Calvinist streak and little human warmth (yet with a charming wife)… insidious is a great word for him. A presidency of huge consequence and an early death…
I am really enjoying my sojourn in the era. After I get Big Foot Wallace and Robert E. Howard sorted, I’m going to pause on the podcast and write the whole Texas Ranger/Mexican War section of Spirited while I’ve got momentum.
Quixotic Mainer says
Wagh! Looking forward to all of the above projects.
My percussion colt and I have an anticipated battle with some homemade ipsc targets later, I’ll burn some powder for the ranging tradition!
GAH says
Thanks for passing along – the documentary… I found that Hardin’s Texian Iliad was a good read as well as The Blood of Heroes by James Donovan was a balanced account of the Alamo… GAH
John Maddox Roberts says
Concerning el Deguello, in the 1959 film Rio Bravo the bad guy Nathan Burdette has musicians play the Deguello continuously for the guys forted up in the marshall’s office. As composed by Dimitri Tiomkin, it was a great influence on Ennio Morricone’s later music for the Sergio Leone’s westerns. You can easily envision it as the leadup to a climactic spaghetti shootout.
Matthew says
I believe they mentioned it being played at the Alamo.
Leigh Brackett was scriptwriter on Rio Bravo.