THE ALAMO
I chose to write about the Alamo because I watched this movie when I was younger and wanted to watch it again now that I have a better perspective on the history that took place in the Battle for the Alamo. The movie takes place in San Antonio in early 1836, 6,000 Mexicans marched to The Alamo to fight a group of patriots of 187 strong; they were led by Colonel William B. Travis. During the 10 days of fighting, the Mexicans fought and fired their cannons until they were able to climb over the walls of The Alamo., to defeat the patriots. Among the dead were frontiersmen Davy Crockett and the Bowie brothers. This paper will explain how John Hancock interprets the history of the Alamo, along with the characterization of William B. Travis, Davy Crockett, and Jim Bowie and finally the cinematography of the movie of the story of the Alamo.
Colonel William B. Travis was a main character of the Movie. Travis was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel of the Legion of Cavalry and became the chief recruiting officer for a new regular Texan army. Governor Henry Smith ordered Travis to raise a company of professional soldiers to reinforce the Texans under James C. Neill at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio. On February 3, Travis arrived in San Antonio with eighteen regulars as reinforcements. A compromise was reached between Bowie and Travis for command of the Alamo; with Bowie in command the volunteers and Travis in command of the regulars. When Bowie's health began to fail, it became a moot point and Travis became the official commander of the Alamo men.
On February 24, 1836 Colonel Travis wrote a letter requesting aid to all the people of Texas and all Americans. It was carried to Gonzales by Captain Albert Martin, his letter explained the difficulty him and his men were having defending The Alamo against Santa Anna and his men. At the end of the letter he explains that if they do not receive aid, then they will fight till victory or death. General Houston got the letter and decided to raise an army, but wouldn’t march to the Alamo until he had enough men to take down Santa Anna. While General Houston waited around with his soldiers, Capt. Albert Martin marched with his men of 32 (himself included) from Gonzales and DeWitt’s Colony; his men passed the lines of Santa Anna and entered the walls of The Alamo. These men, chiefly husbands and fathers owning their own homes, voluntarily organized and passed through the lines of an enemy four to six thousand strong, to join 150 of their countrymen and neighbors, in a fortress doomed to destruction.
Davy Crockett, America’s frontier man was another character that had an impact in the Alamo. He arrived at the Alamo with his men to help try and fend of the Mexican army. He convinced Jim Bowie and his men to stay and fight the Mexican army under the control of William B. Travis. Crockett was the middle man between Bowie and Travis due to the fact that Bowie and Travis didn’t get along when Travis arrived. No one knows the exact way Davy Crockett died and historians still disagree if he surrendered or died in battle, either way Crockett was a main character in the Battle of the Alamo.
The day before the war stranded. William B. Travis called everybody to the middle of the courtyard for his speech. He drew a line in the dirt with his sword and said “That if you want to stay and fight me step over the line.” Jim Bowie told the men to carry him over the line. All step over the line, except for one.
Jim Bowie was also yet another main character of the movie. Bowie was the leader of the Alamo until pneumonia put him on bed rest. Once Bowie was unable to lead he gave all authority to Travis. Bowie was originally sent to the Alamo to destroy the mission and take all the firepower with him. Instead Bowie and James Neil decided to stay and fight for Bexar because Bowie believed that if the Mexicans got hold of the frontier, then there would be no stronghold from which to repel Santa Anna from his march to Sabine.
On the night of March 6, 1836, the Mexicans marched toward the Alamo to attack the men inside. Once they reached the Alamo they climbed over the walls of the Alamo, and killed everyone inside. Ever man was killed that day. After the war was over, Santa Anna went to the Alamo and said that he would like to dip his figure into the blood of William B. Travis, David Crockett, and Jim Bowie. Santa Anna burned all the dead so that no one would know how many people were in the Alamo. I believe the cinematography involved in this movie was exceptional, showing the cannon balls firing through the air, while also being able to show shots fired and blood being shown throughout the battle scenes.
After the Alamo, Santa Anna and his army marched to defeat General Houston’s army. Houston’s army was retreating until Houston got word that Santa Anna’s army was less than 2 miles away taking a break. Houston attacked and defeated Santa Anna’s army in eighteen minutes and captured Santa Anna and agreed upon a treaty that signed over all Mexican rights to Texas for Santa Anna’s freedom. The Battle of Alamo was the end to the Mexican rights to Texas and soon after Texas became the 28th state. Watching this movie gave me a better understanding of the Battle of the Alamo, and the treaty that allowed all Mexican rights of Texas signed over to America. Watching a movie is able to show battle scenes and explain and show characters of history better than a textbook can. It can show you how leaders were portrayed in battle and also allow the viewer to better comprehend the history of the event that occurred. Textbooks get old and boring to read about historical events that were important parts in history. They cannot fully grasp the full effect of the importance of the battle and importance of each event that occurred in history.
The Alamo was a great movie and I recommend it to any viewer that would like to learn a piece of history of how we made Texas the 28th state after getting all the Mexican rights signed over to America after Santa Anna and his army were defeated. The Battle of Alamo even though we lost was a turning point for the American soldiers because they wanted to fight and earn revenge for their brothers that were lost at the Alamo trying to defend off the Mexican Army. All patriots died at the Alamo but they died fighting for a cause, a cause to declare independence and created a government that could be legally recognized by all the nations of the world, which is what every besieged man was fighting for in the Alamo.