29. The Many Myths of the Alamo
Much of what was long accepted as true about the Alamo is anything but. For starters, there was no need to fight the battle in the first place. The defenders did not try to hold off Santa Anna’s forces in a bid to buy Sam Houston time to raise a Texan army. The Alamo’s commander, Colonel William Travis, ignored numerous warnings that Mexican forces were on the way, and got trapped when they arrived. Nor did the defenders buy Houston time. Santa Anna had expected to take San Antonio on March 2nd, 1836, but instead took it on the 6th. The Alamo cost him all of four days and had no impact on his ultimate defeat six weeks later at the Battle of San Jacinto. So the mission’s defenders died for nothing.
Also untrue is the account of Travis’ line in the sand. Towards the end of the battle, the Mexican commander issued an ultimatum: surrender or be killed. Travis drew a line in the dirt with his sword, and asked the men to choose their fate: surrender, or cross the line and join him in a fight to the death. To a man, they crossed the line. There’s no evidence that ever happened. In reality, the defenders did not fight to the last man. As the battle was lost, about half the Alamo’s defenders tried to flee, only to get run down and killed in the open by Mexican lancers. Nor did Davy Crocket go down fighting, as John Wayne depicted him doing. He surrendered and was subsequently executed.