Today marks the 177th anniversary of probably the most significant event in Texas History.
On March 6,1836 the Alamo fell, and with it some of the most legendary men to ever live - Davy Crockett and James Bowie being the most recognizable.
The Battle
On February 23, 1836, the arrival of General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army outside San Antonio nearly caught them by surprise. Undaunted, the Texians and Tejanos prepared to defend the Alamo together. The defenders held out for 13 days against Santa Anna's army. William B. Travis, the commander of the Alamo sent forth couriers carrying pleas for help to communities in Texas. On the eighth day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales arrived, bringing the number of defenders to nearly two hundred. Legend holds that with the possibility of additional help fading, Colonel Travis drew a line on the ground and asked any man willing to stay and fight to step over — all except one did. As the defenders saw it, the Alamo was the key to the defense of Texas, and they were ready to give their lives rather than surrender their position to General Santa Anna. Among the Alamo's garrison were Jim Bowie, renowned knife fighter, and David Crockett, famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee.
The final assault came before daybreak on the morning of March 6, 1836, as columns of Mexican soldiers emerged from the predawn darkness and headed for the Alamo's walls....
Read the rest of this amazing story at TheAlamo.org.
In addition to Crockett and Bowie, there were roughly 185 more defenders of the Alamo, and while not nearly as well-known, are no less heroes than their more famous compatriots. These men, including a Black Freedman, came form all over the world to settle in Texas and were among the first to take up arms against a brutal dictator, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, in the name of Texas Independence. The list of Alamo defenders includes the names of men from England, Ireland, Denmark, Germany and other states and territories of the United States.
It is the Battle of the Alamo that, in my mind and in the minds of tens of millions of my fellow Texans, binds us together as a unique and proud people. One hundred seventy-seven years later we honor and revere the men who, even, or maybe especially, in defeat, left future Texans a legacy of bravery, courage, honor and duty that serves as a constant reminder that Freedom isn't free. The cost of Liberty demands of a free society vigilance and, at times, the Ultimate Sacrifice.
Remember the Alamo and God bless Texas!
Today is Texas Independence Day.
I am a Texan. As such, I hold this day in a reverence superseded by only the Holiest Days of my Catholic Faith. You see, being a Texan is not so far removed from being of person of Faith. Being a Texan is not just a birthright, it's a spiritual thing, a state of mind. For non-Texans, the best way I can equivocate this is to compare it to being an American, with a little extra pride and a touch of bluster thrown in for good measure.
Former Houston Oilers coach and legendary Texan Bum Phillips' Grandpa perhaps said it best when he told a young Bum that "Texans are forged of a hotter fire".
Following, you will read of men, Texans, forged of a hotter fire. Men, who against great odds gave us Texas. Men whose courage and bravery were exceeded only by the Natural yearning for Freedom and self-determination embedded in each human's soul. Men over matched by superior firepower willing to give their lives for what God had bestowed upon them - inalienable rights that guide the destiny of free men. Men on a mission for a cause greater than temselves. Heroes. Texans.
Texas Independence Day
In the early 19th century, the initials "GTT" sometimes were found carved in haste on the doors of homes abandoned by folks fleeing unpaid debts and other life problems. The three letters were shorthand for "Gone to Texas," the frontier sanctuary of choice for folks in these kinds of unfixable fixes. The three letters have found a place in our state's lore and legend. (Houston Chronicle)
On March 2,1836
"Texas became a republic. On March 1 delegates from the seventeen Mexican municipalities of Texas and the settlement of Pecan Point met at Washington-on-the-Brazos to consider independence from Mexico. George C. Childress presented a resolution calling for independence, and the chairman of the convention appointed Childress to head a committee of five to draft a declaration of independence. In the early morning hours of March 2, the convention voted unanimously to accept the resolution. After fifty-eight members signed the document, Texas became the Republic of Texas. The change remained to be demonstrated to Mexico."
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| Sam Houston |
The Battle of the Alamo would soon come. Her defenders including Davy Crockett and James Bowie, would fall at the hands of the Mexican Army lead by General Santa Ana. A few weeks later came a battle that would change Texas, and perhaps the World, forever - San Jacinto.
Thus was born the Republic of Texas.
May the Spirit of Texas live forever in the hearts of men.
God bless "The damnedest lady you ever saw" (John Wayne)
God bless Texas and Texans - a land and a people forged of a hotter fire.
