| Alamo, Spanish missions, adobe huts, long barracks, educate Indians
Alamo The Cradle of Texas Liberty
Alamo was originally built in 1718 and named Mission San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo would eventually become the nucleus for San Antonio, Texas, "The cradle of Texas Liberty." The Alamo was the first of five Spanish missions. The Alamo was constructed as a vocational school to educate the Indians in cattle raising, weaving, carpentry and stone masonry. Originally the Alamo encompassed three acres with the protecting stone wall ten to twelve feet high
The Alamo church was not started until 1744 and was not finished until 1757. The two church towers and roof collapsed in 1762 and laid in ruins. In 1805 the Mission was occupied by a presidia company from Alamo de Parras, Coahuila thus the Mission became known solely as the Alamo
On January 19, 1836, Sam Houston ordered the Alamo's guns removed and the walls blown up. Although the order to destroy the Alamo was delivered by Jim Bowie, it was never carried out. The Alamo mission itself was in a state of disrepair with the "low barracks" building on the south side. The west side of the Alamo was a series of adobe huts protected by a stone wall which also ran across the north side. The east side of the Alamo was actually a two story building called the long barracks, convent and hospital
The Alamo church sat in the south east corner facing west. It was only through the military engineer Green Jameson inspirations that the Alamo mission was able to be fortified. The Alamo was considered by most military experts not able to be adequately defended. Military Historians later agreed The Alamo would have taken over one thousand men to adequately defend. The Alamo had very little chance of success
On March 6, 1836 Santa Anna launched his final attack on the Alamo. All of the defenders perished, from William Travis and his Cavalry company, Jim Bowie and his Texan volunteers to Davy Crockett and his Tennessee Mounted Volunteers
The Alamo and its battle had very little significance in halting Santa Anna and the huge Mexican Army physically but the defeat induced emotional rage throughout Texas. Defeat at The Alamo stirred a cry for revenge
Texas independence was finalized at the Battle of San Jacinto with the battle cry being, "Remember the Alamo!"
The Alamo was again occupied by the U.S. Army prior to and during the Civil War. Today, the Alamo exists as a national monument. The Alamo is now totally surrounded by San Antonio, Texas located on Alamo Plaza at East Houston and Alamo Streets |
