The Greatest Battles In History: The Battle of the Alamo

*Discusses the history of the Alamo and the buildup to the battle.

*Discusses the myths and controversies surrounding the battle, including how Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie died.

*Explains the aftermath of the battle and its legacy.

*Includes pictures of important people, places, and events.

*Includes a Table of Contents


“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. – William B. Travis


The names of history’s most famous battles still ring in our ears today, their influence immediately understood by all. Marathon lent its name to the world’s most famous race, but it also preserved Western civilization during the First Persian War. Saratoga, won by one of the colonists’ most renowned war heroes before he became his nation’s most vile traitor. Hastings ensured the Normans’ success in England and changed the course of British history. Waterloo, which marked the reshaping of the European continent and Napoleon’s doom, has now become part of the English lexicon. In Charles River Editors’ Greatest Battles in History series, readers can get caught up to speed on history’s greatest battles in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. 


For the United States, the Battle of the Alamo is in many ways its version of the Greeks’ Thermopylae. In February 1836, a few hundred defenders of a small fort that once served as a mission found themselves besieged by several thousand Mexican soldiers under Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Rather than withdraw, the defenders requested reinforcements and instead made a determined stand at the Alamo, eventually falling nearly down to the last man on March 6, 1836. 


Like Thermoyplae, much of the narrative regarding the Battle of the Alamo is comprised of myths and legends that have been embraced, supported, and protected, turning the most famous defenders into American legends. Accounts are also wildly contradictory. The famous frontier hero Davy Crockett, who has been portrayed by none other than John Wayne, may have been among the last to die or may have been captured and executed shortly after the battle. William Barret Travis, who had abandoned his wife, son, and unborn daughter and departed for Texas, did not draw the fabled “line in the sand” with his sword and ask those who wished to stay with him in the Alamo to cross it. The number of defenders was almost certainly not the 189 long held sacred by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. 


However, much the same way accounts of Thermopylae are hard to confirm, to a large extent the actual results of the Battle of the Alamo don’t matter as much as what the Alamo has come to symbolize. The defeat at the Alamo did not have a decisive impact on Texas’ War for Independence, but it became a poignant rallying cry in the immediate aftermath of the battle, and to this day Americans associate it with patriotism, bravery and determination. “Remember the Alamo” is still a widely used part of the English lexicon today, and the Alamo is a cherished piece of Americana. 


The Greatest Battles in History: The Battle of the Alamo comprehensively covers the lead up to the battle and what is known and unknown about the siege and battle itself. Along the way, it looks at some of the most controversial and unknown aspects of the battle, as well as the aftermath and legacy of the battle. You will learn about the Battle of the Alamo like you never have before, in no time at all.