If he had, the Alamo would have been reduced to a pile of smoking rubble and the famous battle would have never happened. Downtown San Antonio of today would be very different, with no Alamo Plaza, no Alamo Chapel, and no cenotaph to center downtown and bring in the tourists. Perhaps only a small plaque would have been erected to note that once there existed the old Spanish mission of San Antonio de Valero, the northernmost of a chain of five such missions scattered down the meandering San Antonio River. And the Valero convenience store chain would probably still be called Diamond Shamrock.
The old mission had been used as an improvised fortress for quite some time by both Mexican and Texan forces. Houston wanted a more mobile force that would allow him to choose his battles, and as mentioned, wanted to destroy the old mission so that Mexican forces could no longer use it as a base. Bowie, later joined by William Travis, decided to hold their "post of honor," sit and wait desperately for help, and were slaughtered.
Modern-day politically correct historical revisionists are busy destroying all that is admirable and honorable regarding the battle of the Alamo, as they are busy destroying all that is admirable and honorable about any number of other things. They are unable to fathom the concept that some things might actually be worth fighting and dying for, preferring to believe instead that anyone who claims conviction to the noble cause of "Victory or Death," or "Liberty or Death," must in fact have a much more sinister ulterior motive. The blackness in their own souls prevents them from seeing anything that is good within other people and within other causes.
For example, the famous "line in the sand" is now considered "apocryphal" and probably not factual, except that Susanna Dickinson claimed to have witnessed it. But what is a contemporary eye-witness account against modern PC sensibilities? Dickinson also claimed to have seen David Crockett and a handful of others still alive after the battle. This is good enough for me, and the point is moot anyway, because anyone who wasn't killed in combat was executed almost immediately. But the revisionists like to pick and choose their factoids, claiming one source as gospel for one thing and apocryphal for another.
It was said that the Alamo flag was a Mexican flag with the eagle and snake replaced by the numbers "1824." This was to remind Santa Anna of the constitution he rescinded when he assumed dictatorial control. By modern accounts, this flag was mythical. Travis purchased a flag for $5 on his way to the Alamo, but no description of it was given. The only flag to survive the battle was the flag of the New Orleans Grays. Since no "1824" flag survived, apparently, it never existed. There was a flag there, of some kind. Travis in his famous letter said, "our flag still waves bravely from the wall." Unless the revisionists know better, of course, seeing as how they weren't actually there.
But Santa Anna went so far as to burn the bodies of all the defenders on one huge pyre, assuring that no corpses could be identified and no undamaged bodies or even intact skeletons could ever be recovered. Would he not also have burned any documents, flags, or other articles such as the "1824" flag, which were sure to infuriate him? I admit this is only a supposition on my part, but still a valid possibility. The flag of the Alamo could have even been the flag of the United States. Whatever flag did wave bravely from the wall, it didn't survive the battle. The Grays flag was found inside one of the barracks.
As for the New Orleans Grays, the historical revisionists claim this as evidence of collusion between the Texans and the United States. The Grays were, in fact, a group of volunteer citizen militia who banded together for the sole purpose of joining the fight in Texas. They had no organization or support from the United States government. The only difference is that they originated in a state neighboring Texas, rather than from Mexico or Texas itself. This claim of some kind of conspiratorial relationship between the U.S. and Texas was perhaps begun by Santa Anna himself, as he sent the flag back to Mexico City to be displayed as "proof" of such an association.
Perhaps the most egregious claim by the PC revisionists is that this was a fight between pro-slavery Texans and anti-slavery Santa Anna. The Texans had emigrated there because of the promise of cheap land. Although I use the modern term "Texans," there were actually two different groups who made up what I simply call "Texans." There were the Texicans or Texians, white settlers mostly from the United States (some from Europe); and there were Tejanos, or emigrants who had left Mexico to try and find a better life in Texas. I may go so far as to say that some modern-day revisionists and "reconquistas" dishonor their own ancestors, who fought and died in this war against an oppressive dictator. Santa Anna was an "ardent abolitionist," some say. He was a dictator, I say. To a dictator, everyone is a slave. To be a dictator against slavery does not make him an abolitionist, it only makes him a crass elitist. I would also remind the modern PC crowd that Texas was only one of several Mexican states to attempt secession. It just happened that Texas was the only state to succeed in establishing its independence.
The number of the forces involved is also in dispute. It is generally agreed that there were less than 200 combatants inside the Alamo. The number of Mexican troops have been claimed to be anywhere from 1,400 to 5,000. However, even the most conservative modern politically correct estimates say that of the 1,400 Mexican troops, around 200 were killed and another several hundred wounded, bringing the total casualty rate to between 40% and 50%. Such losses would have been catastrophic by any of today's standards. The most liberal of estimates have it that of 5,000 troops, there were 2,000 either killed or wouned. This is still a casualty rate of 40%. In any case, one of Santa Anna's sub-commanders did state, "Another such 'victory' and we are ruined."
A few weeks after the Alamo battle, Fannin attempted to escape from Goliad to elude the superior Mexican forces coming his way. They were caught and attempted to fight, but surrendered because they were hopelessly outnumbered. Santa Anna sent orders to execute them all. They were shot at close range, then clubbed and bayonted. A few were wounded but were lucky enough to escape death. They were later rescued from the field by a Mexican woman named named Francita Alavez (there is some disagreement as to the spelling of her name) who came to be known as "The Angel of Goliad."
On April 21, Sam Houston finally chose his battle and took Santa Anna and his forces by surprise at San Jacinto. Although still greatly outnumbered, their surprise turned the battle in their favor and Santa Anna was eventually caught, trying to escape by wearing civilian clothes. On May 14, he signed the Treaty of Velasco, agreeing to withdraw his troops from Texas. He was not allowed to leave himself, however, and was eventually taken to Washington D.C. Mexico did not officially recognize Texas independence until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, three years after Texas had been admitted to the United States.
In 1846, when the United States declared war on Mexico, Santa Anna offered his military skills to the government of Mexico, promising that he no longer held aspirations for the presidency. However, being always the opportunist, he had secretly been dealing with representatives of the United States, pledging that if he were allowed back in Mexico through the US naval blockades, he would work to sell all contested territory to the United States at a reasonable price. Once back in Mexico at the head of an army, Santa Anna reneged on both of these agreements. Santa Anna declared himself president again and unsuccessfully tried to fight off the United States invasion.
Mexico had had its fill of Santa Anna, and in 1851 he was exiled to Cuba. In 1853 he was allowed back, and with his cohorts once again took over the government. He used government funds for his own purposes, sold more land to the U.S., and declared himself dictator for life. In 1855 he was overthrown and once more fled to Cuba. In 1874 a general amnesty was issued, and he returned to Mexico City. He died there, obscure and in poverty in 1876.
Sam Houston went on to serve two terms as President of the Republic of Texas, from 1836 to 1838 and from 1841 to 1844. After Texas became part of the United States, he served as senator from 1846 to 1859.
Houston was, unlike many of the Texans who had fought for independence, a wealthy slave owner, but he was also vehemently opposed to secession. In 1860, he predicted: "Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives you may win Southern independence, but I doubt it. The North is determined to preserve this Union."
He was serving as governor of Texas in 1861 when Texas seceded from the Union, joining the Confederacy ironically on March 2, 1861. He was evicted from office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy. He wrote: "Fellow-Citizens, in the name of your rights and liberties, which I believe have been trampled upon, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of the nationality of Texas, which has been betrayed by the Convention, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of the Constitution of Texas, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of my own conscience and manhood, which this Convention would degrade by dragging me before it, to pander to the malice of my enemies....I refuse to take this oath." He died from pneumonia at his home in Huntsville, Texas in 1863.
In spite of all the controversies (and occasional outright revisions), the cry of "Remember the Alamo" continues to ring down through the ages, a symbol of desperate opposition against tyranny and oppression.
