The battle of the Alamo occurred during a period when the Republic of Texas faced a bleak and uncertain future known as the Texas Revolution. American colonists were allowed to settle in Texas at the time under the New Mexican emperor Agustin de Iturbide. On 23, 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna began the 13 day siege of the Alamo. A moment in history that turned a ruined Spanish mission in downtown San Antonio, into a shrine.
There were several events leading up to this ill-famed day in American History. The Alamo, known as the Mission San Antonio de Valero established in the early 18th century along the San Antonio River. In 1800 the Mission was seized by Spanish Soldiers for its military advantages along …show more content…
That same year Mexico received its first emperor Agustin de Iturbide, a Spanish general turned rebel and a hero of the revolution. Emperor de Iturbide’s lifestyle was too extravagant for the citizens of Mexico, and a revolt led by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna overthrew him and established the republic of Mexico. Regrettably, the inexperienced Republic of Mexico was born bankrupt and not prepared to stand on its own. During the first 15 years as an independent country, Mexico struggled as a country. They could not control the animosity and power struggle among the liberal-leaning Federalists and the dictatorial Centralists. Mexico’s first president was the Federalist, General Guadalupe Victoria. President Victoria was a hero of the revolution who decided to change his name from Miguel Felix Hernandez to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, for his victory. He also set the early stages for the battle of the Alamo by establishing the liberal Constitution of 1824, which infuriated General Santa …show more content…
By the middle of February in 1836, tensions had become so high between the Texans and Mexico that two volunteers, George Collinsworth and Benjamin Milam, led a group of individuals to overtake the defense force at The Alamo (Wielder History Network).
In October 1835, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, led a force of 1,200 soldiers into the town of Gonzales and ordered them to turn over cannon loaned to them for defense against Indian attack. When the town members refused and fired the cannon at General Cos and the Texas Revolution had officially begun (Wielder History Network).
On December 5, 200 Texan volunteers commanded by Ben Milam attacked troops in San Antonio de Bexar, which was about 400 yards from the Alamo compound. This attack was an urban type of warfare occurring from house to house unseen by Mexico at the time. On December 9, 1835 after losing over 200 men General Cos surrendered, and signed papers of capitulation, giving the Texans all public property, money, arms and ammunition in San Antonio (Wielder History