Remember The Alamo!
The cannonballs ripped through the rock wall, sending bits of rock into Lieutenant-Colonel William Travis’ legs. He fell over against the cannons as the rock tore into him. It felt as though he had been stuck with hot needles, burning him as they pierced the flesh.
“Fire,” he yelled, stammering to his feet.
The cannonballs rocketed into the seemingly endless number of Mexican soldiers charging the Alamo. They were surrounded, and Colonel Travis didn’t know how much longer they would last. Could this be the end of the Republic of Texas? He wasn’t sure, and all that was left was Sam Houston and his army.
The Mexicans began to charge, climbing the Alamo walls. It was more than they would withstand. He would have to fight hand to hand.
“Fire,” he ordered. The cannon blasted away again. More Mexicans penetrated the Alamo walls. They were coming. Colonel Travis unsheathed his sword. “For Texas, and for America,” he yelled.
He turned, and was shot through the head. He staggered, turned and fell on the hot cannons, dead.
The siege at the Alamo lasted approximately fourteen days, of which only thirty-two men arrived in support of the already weary one hundred fifty-four men. During those fourteen days, the mission held under Mexican bombardment, until the morning of March 6, 1836 when Santa Anna charged with 1,800 Mexican soldiers. In the end, 600 Mexicans and 187 Americans lay dead in the mission at the Alamo.
This was a Texas Revolution, not unlike the American Revolution that had taken place merely sixty years earlier. Both Mexicans and Americans had settled in Texas. It all changed with the rise of President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who abolished the 1824 Mexican Constitution—a constitution that gave Mexico a Republican form of government.
Hostilities towards the Mexican government increased during Santa Anna’s reign of power. This culminated in the first ever military conflict for Texas independence at the Alamo. Santa Anna left Mexico December 10, 1835, marching for San Antonio de Bexar.
Bombardments began on February 23, 1836. Santa Anna asked for an immediate surrender without conditions, on which a single cannon shot was fired in response.
On the second say of bombardment, February 24, 1836, Lieutenant-Colonel Travis wrote a letter addressed to the people of Texas and all Americans in the world. It read:
Fellow citizens & compatriots –
I am beseiged, 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, & every thing 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 determined 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.
P.S. The Lord is on our side — When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn — We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves —
Travis
The words of Colonel William Travis ring true to this day. For it was not just a Texas cause but an American cause. Many Americans, looking to settle on their own lands, flocked to Texas for a new life. In fact, the army at the Alamo was largely made up of farmers and settlers to San Antonio de Bexar.
Though Texas settlers, the Texan Army was as American as any army. The men that sacrificed their lives so nobly came from all across the fruited planes. Some of the states included Virginia, Vermont, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Alabama, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Rhode Island, Mississippi, and Maryland.
These men felt a call to liberty, an effort given for the sake of a better future. They did not call on their government to aid them in the quest for nirvana. Instead, they took up arms to free themselves from tyranny’s grasp—just as some fledgling colonists did sixty years earlier.
Now, we stand at the crossroads in America’s history again. We must take a look at the election for Congress, and ask whether Americans intend on government to solving their problems, or would they rather depend on themselves for a better life.
President Barack Obama, a Marxist, would rather government solve all of America’s problems. He operates from the old tried and true methods of socialism, and he intends to spread wealth to grow government and control Americans’ lives.
Now it is our time to take up arms, time to arm ourselves with a ballot, time to say no to socialism. It is time to propagate liberty in America once again. When everything around you seems to be lost, you must never surrender. When you are tired and weary of the fight, you must never surrender, and when it seems as though no one is coming to your aide, you must never surrender.
So, in the words of Lieutenant-Colonel William B. Travis, “I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & every thing dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch.”
I challenge you to never retreat or surrender while watching the nightly news. Hold liberty precious while saying no to Barack Obama and socialism.
For the people of Texas and all Americans, remember the 187 men that stood and perished on those rock walls for liberty.
When talking to your fellow citizens, when striving to succeed in this recession, and when voting tomorrow in New York, New Jersey and Virginia, I challenge you to “Remember the Alamo!”
