Santa Anna arrives in San Antonio
OK, quick Texas history lesson here….don’t worry, no tests involved.
After the battle of San Antonio ended on December 5, 1835, some enthusiastic Texans thought they had easily whipped Santa Anna’s army and the Texas revolution was won. Many who fought in those early days drifted on back home convinced of victory.
However, those enthusiastic Texians, brave as they were, had it all wrong. The truth is, all the Texans had managed to do was to embarrass the dictator by handily defeating General Cos, who just happened to be Santa Anna’s brother-in-law. Now I don’t know how it is in your family, but if you were to embarrass my family, and I was the local dictator, I would be ticked.
Even though it meant a very harsh winter march from Mexico to San Antonio, by this date of February 23 in 1836, 
Santa Anna had been wearing out horses and men to get to San Antonio to exact his revenge and uphold the family honor against the upstart Texians.
Davy Crockett had already arrived at the Alamo on February 8, but he had only about a dozen men. It was today, February 23, 1836 that Santa Anna and his army first arrived in San Antonio and the 13 day siege of the Alamo has now begun. It was today and on into the evening that Travis was forming the now famous letter in his mind. He posted that letter on February 24, 1836….
Commandancy of the Alamo—
Bejar, Fby. 24th 1836—To the People of Texas &
all Americans in the world—Fellow citizens & 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 & every thing dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch—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. comdtP.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 & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves
—Travis
There have been entire books and many narratives written about the winter march from Mexico to San Antonio culminating with the 13 day siege of the Alamo. It just so happened that year it snowed in Mexico and south Texas had its harshest winter in decades during the march. Many of the Mexican troops were conscripts from the Yucatan and had never endured a winter before that year…ever. Many were without shoes or any cold weather gear and many did not make it to San Antonio. When they got to San Antonio, they faced the most heavily defended fort in Texas with 21 cannons and a generous compliment of Kentucky Long rifles and men who knew how to fire those long rifles with deadly accuracy. The Texans were not defeated, they just could not shoot the soldados fast enough to keep them out of the walls.
And as for that Alamo battle flag….well, historians are not sure it even flew over the Alamo. If it didn’t, one very similar to it probably did. 1824 is NOT the date of the battle, the battle took place in 1836. It has to do with the Mexican Constitution of 1824 which the Texans felt was violated by Santa Anna, thus prompting the revolt. It could have been the beginning of the phrase, “Don’t Mess With Texas!”
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Thanks for the history lesson – Texas has such a rich history. Did not realize it snowed that winter!
David, two years ago (2009) the Three Amigos spent the entire year visiting historical spots in the great State of Texas. And just like what we did when we decieded to find the best place in Texas to eat a CFS, we did our homework on where we were going to visit. Of course the Alamo was on the top of the list. One of the books that we found that described Santa Anna’s march to San Antonio de Bejar ( as you can tell that money that was spent on me to get educated in Rankin Texas was put to good use ) was written by one of his generals. His name was Jose Enrique De La Pena. If you are a student of history and more especially Texas History, this book is a must read. He graphically described the march. He talked about how a lot of the soldiers brought thier wives and kids with them on this march. There was a lot of soldiers who died on the way because of hunger and the cold. I did not realize the opulance of how Santa Anna lived on the trail, especially while his troops were starving and freezing to death, but it was described in this book. Along the way to the Alamo he looted peasants homes and property to feed his soldiers, but they still starved because even the peasants did not have that much to eat. And I will end with the comment, even there is much, much more in the book, General De La Pena was witness to the very last minute of the life of Davy Crockett and his men. I believe his version, by the way.
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