The low-point of the Texas Revolution has provided generations of Texans with a rallying cry: "Remember the Alamo!"

Although most Texans today aren't about to put someone to the sword or light off the big cannon against the enemy, this cry has settled into the consciousness of many Texans. The story of this little garrison, one filled with a determined bunch that held off the cruel Santa Anna before being overwhelmed by massive force and given no quarter, fires my modern imagination. The Alamo, one needn't qualify it as the "Battle of the Alamo", is the central star in what I'll call the Texas Mythos, both for the heroism showed by Travis, Bowie, and Crockett against overwhelming odds during the battle and that the Texians payed the ultimate price to help secure independence from Mexico.

Travis's stirring call for help, printed on March 2nd, in the Brazoria Texas Republican:

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 & & everything 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 deter mined 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. comdt

By 5:30am, March 6, 1836, as Travis raced to the top of the gun emplacement, the scaling ladders were being placed against the walls, and the battle erupted. The Mexican soldados had arrived by stealth and caught the weary defenders unawares, many sleeping, in the dark before dawn. Travis was killed almost immediately by gunfire and the battle was complete by dawn.

No one lived to tell of Crockett's fall, though fall he did. It is said that the color was still in the dead Crockett's cheeks as Santa Anna surveyed the aftermath.

The fiery frontiersman, James Bowie, laid low presumedly by typhoid, was killed in his bed by the Mexicans during the fall of the garrison.

The defenders were bludgeoned, shot, and stabbed with the bayonet, no quarter was granted. Travis' cannon shot had ensured that. Their bodies were heaped into great pyres, interleaved with wood and burned.

It took almost a week for the account of the defeat to be told, and as the news spread across the frontier, grief and despair followed.

Peace to your ashes.