What Is the Alamo?

By TheAlamoFilm.com

On February 23, 1836, General Antonio López de Santa Anna marched an army through inclement weather, including snowstorms in mountain passes, against the Texas rebellion. The city of San Antonio de Bexar was one of his intermediate objectives; his ultimate objective was to capture the Texas government and restore the rule of the central Mexican government over a rebellious territory, as he had over the State of Zacatecas the previous year.

The Alamo, originally named Mision San Antonio de Valero, served as a home for converted Indians and their Christian missionaries in the late 1700s. Throughout the later years and up to the 1830s, the mission would become a home for various outfits including revolutionaries, rebels, and then eventually Mexican citizens.

In 1835, the Alamo played a critical role in the Texas Revolution as Texian and Tejano (Mexican descendents) volunteers claimed their independence from Mexico by occupying the Alamo and its village (San Antonio de Bexar, today San Antonio). The converted missionary church protected the road further northeast into Texas. Although the Alamo was not designed for military purposes, the Texian militia and regulars fortified the post and mounted 18 cannon, including an 18-pounder. This was the greatest concentration of cannons west of the Mississippi River. The Mexican forces would not be able to bypass the post and use the road without investing and taking the Alamo.

Thus, it was decided by Mexican generals to attack the Alamo garrison in February of 1836. It would be a 13-day long affair that climaxed on March 6 with the capture of the mission and the death of nearly all of the Texian defenders.

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