Remember the Alamo
By Dennis Kelly
March 6, 2024
[This is a republication of the article below from last year this time with a few minor changes. I’ve also added the following caveat: After some investigation I found that, as always there are revisionist authors out there who would try and change our nation’s history with inaccurate assumptions and speculation about the Alamo’s last stand. They smear those brave men as cowards and not surprisingly, just a bunch of morally depraved slave owners. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The story below is, as accurate an account that can be found and verified by the 15 survivors made up of a few Mexicans who were in the fortress, a slave who was spared, along with Susanna Dickinson (and her young daughter), the widow of Captain Dickson who was killed during the final battle.
It seems fitting today that this story should be recounted and remembered, especially with the invasion currently taking place at the Texas border.]
Do kids have heroes today? If so, are they real people or are they animated fictitious action figures of some sort? Who were your heroes growing up? As a youngster growing up in the late fifties and early sixties in Detroit I vividly remember cowboy singer Marty Robbins singing “Ballad of the Alamo” in 1960.
The song tells the story of the 185 Texans and Tennessee Volunteers who in late February 1836 held out against all odds for 13 days to defend Fort Alamo against several thousand Mexican soldiers led by General Santa Anna, but on the morning of March 6 Mexican forces finally breached the outer wall and overpowered the small force of brave defenders killing all.
During the final battle the Mexicans suffered heavy casualties losing 600 – 1600 men. The fighting was so intense in the end that reloading was not possible by the defenders and it came down to swinging muskets and knives. Such a thing is hard to imagine in this day and age.
March 6th 2024 marks the 188th anniversary of the Siege of the Alamo. These courageous men who died that day were my childhood heroes. They were told by Santa Anna he would give no quarter, meaning no prisoners taken. Knowing this, every man there was given an opportunity to leave. Not a single man took that option. They absolutely knew violent death was a certainty. They literally went down swinging.
True to his word General Santa Anna killed all of the maimed and wounded where they fell. He did not allow any of the bodies of the defenders to be buried but stacked them up and burned them.
Today these brave men are forgotten. Men like James Bowie, the inventor of the legendary knife and Colonel William Travis, (who we named my son Travis after). Davey Crockett also died at the Alamo, along with 60 of his Tennessee Volunteers. And what did they give their lives for you might ask. They were defending the territory of Texas for independence from Mexico.
A few weeks after that battle Santa Anna was attacked and defeated by 800 Texans led by Sam Houston, their rally cry was, REMEMBER THE ALAMO! Santa Anna who was taken prisoner came to terms with Houston ending the war and Texas won its independence.
Sorry for the brief (and incomplete) history lesson but I doubt you will find this piece of our history in any school curriculum today unless perhaps it’s to point out the imperial nature of America, stealing land from our Spanish speaking neighbors to the south.
So on March 6th remember that there was a time not too long ago, when truly brave men walked this land. They sought independence, liberty and justice. And yes, they carried guns.
Remember the Alamo!
© 2024 Dennis Kelly – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Dennis Kelly: denniskelly@charter.net