Did You Know? ~ Little Known Facts About the Alamo

Author Janelle Mowery’s book Always Remembered is set during the turbulent time before the battle of the Alamo.

When I read the book, I could tell Janelle had put in a lot of time researching. I asked her for some little known facts about the Alamo to share with our readers.

1. There were many Tejanos (Texans of Hispanic descent. Texas was not part of the United States at the time of the Alamo battle) in the Alamo who fought against Santa Anna and his men. Some of the Alamo defenders fought against their brothers. The Tejanos were independent frontier people and wanted to be locally ruled instead of by the dictatorship of Santa Anna.

2. Most of the men who fought and died at the Alamo hadn't been in Texas very long. Several came from all over the world, as far away as Europe, Scotland, and Germany. Many defenders came to fight because of the promise of receiving free land as an incentive to volunteer.

3. The actual number of men who died defending the Alamo is unknown because it's unknown how many were there when Santa Anna began the siege. The estimate is anywhere between 200-250.

4. It is believed that everyone inside the Alamo died, but this is incorrect. All the defenders died, but some of the men had brought their families inside the Alamo before the siege. The women and children of those defenders, along with slaves and Tejano civilians, were protected during the battle and then interviewed and released by Santa Anna after the battle. Each of the women were given $2 and a blanket at the time of their release.

5. The Alamo was first built in 1718 as a mission in an attempt to convert local Indians to Christianity but was abandoned after about 70 years. In the early 1800's, Spanish military troops took over the mission, at which time they called it the Alamo because of a nearby grove of cottonwood trees. Alamo means cottonwood in Spanish.

6. In December of 1835, a group of Texans fighting for independence overwhelmed the Mexican garrison stationed at the Alamo and sent them back to Mexico. After that battle, Sam Houston wanted the Alamo destroyed and the defenders to retreat, but James Neill and Jim Bowie decided it was a good place to make a stand against Santa Anna. They began to fortify the fort and wait for reinforcements. But the only reinforcements to arrive were 32 men from Gonzalez.

Please visit Janelle at her website to learn more about her and her books.