The Battle of the Alamo fell after a 13-day siege
On this day · 6 March 1836
Before dawn on March 6, 1836, Mexican columns stormed a crumbling Texas mission and turned a defeat into a rallying cry.
For nearly two weeks, roughly 200 Texian defenders held the old Alamo mission near San Antonio de Béxar against the far larger army of General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The siege began on February 23, 1836, and the defenders’ pleas for reinforcements went largely unanswered.
Before dawn on March 6, 1836, four columns of Mexican infantry assaulted the walls from different directions. The fighting was brief and brutal, lasting roughly 90 minutes, and by daybreak nearly every defender lay dead, among them the frontiersman Davy Crockett and co-commanders James Bowie and William Travis.
Defeat at the Alamo gave the revolution its slogan: “Remember the Alamo.”
The loss enraged and energized the Texian cause. Six weeks later, at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, Sam Houston’s forces routed Santa Anna and effectively won Texas its independence.
Sources & references
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