The Alamo
February 23, 1836.
Lt. Col. William Barret Travis dashed off note to the alcalde at Gonzales and entrusted it to Dr. James Sutherland and John W. Smith for the seventy mile gallop.
The note read:
“The enemy in large force is in sight. We want men and provisions. Send them to us. We have 150 men and are determined to defend the Alamo to the last."
The siege of the Alamo had begun.
Before the sun went down 1500 Mexican troops occupied the town, with thousands more on the way. Mexican cavalry patrolled to the north and east denying escape or reinforcement, and the blood-red flag of “No Quarter” popped in the wind above San Fernando’s bell tower.
By the end of the next day, Mexican artillery surrounded the Alamo compound and the Defenders were in the crosshairs of history.
Fast-forward to 1938
Andrew Jackson Houston, the second son of General Sam and Margaret, was serving as superintendent of the San Jacinto Battleground.
He compiled all available information about the siege of the Alamo to create this map.
Along with the Mexican gun batteries and their lines of fire, it shows the streets and buildings that existed in 1836, as well as those built later.
Col. Houston wanted modern Texans to understand what Travis, Bowie, Crockett, and the rest of the Alamo Defenders were up against during those thirteen days.
It tells a story.
It even shows you where the bodies were burned.
