Excavations at the Alamo Shrine [page 7]

Subsequent to Mexican Independence in 1821, Mexican troops under Colonel Domingo de Ugarttechea were assigned to San Antonio and occupied the Alamo complex through the 1820s and early 1830s, but little was done to improve facilities (Yoakum, 1855,I:55).

Meanwhile, Texas colonists were beginning to react to Mexican provincial policies backed by military persuasion, and early in 1835 protest became rebellion. One antagonistic event led to another, and when the colonists fired upon Mexican dragoons on the Guadalupe River just south of Gonzales on October 2, 1835, the Texas Revolution had begun (Nevin, 1975:71).

Although the primary concern was the defense of the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had all but dissolved, there was also strong feeling by many colonists toward independence from Mexico. Sam Houston and his followers were in favor of supporting the Constitution, while opposing the dictatorship of Santa Anna, but doing so as loyal Mexican citizens. As can be seen, there was a lot of disagreement among the Texans.

In 1835, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, with two divisions of infantry including about 1400 troops, arrived and took over the Alamo. During his occupation, he had the place repaired and put into fort fashion. This included repairing walls and installing other defenses, such as additional palisades and ditchesi mounting several cannon at positions on the walls; and also building a large platform about 12 feet in height, with an artillery ramp consisting of an earthen incline covered with planks to the top rear of the old church, where he placed an 18-pounder cannon (Fox, Bass, and Hester, 1976:11; Weems, 1971:47).

On December 5, 1835, a ragtag army of some 300 Texans, commanded by Edward Burleson, and divided into two columns, one led by Ben Milam and the other by Francis Johnson, entered San Antonio and began a house-to-house and street-to-street fight with Cos' troops. Milam was killed in the struggle, and Johnson took charge of both columns of Texans who, in spite of heavy artillery fire from the Alamo, advanced through the town. The Texans brought up their own cannon and blasted away at the Alamo walls, doing some damage and shattering the nerves of the defenders, causing 185 Mexican soldiers to desert. After five days of siege, General Cos sent out the white flag and surrendered his remaining 1100 officers and men to Burleson (Nevin, 1975:75). This ended the first battle of the Alamo, and the Texans took charge of the fortified complex.

General Cos and his troops were given leave to return to Mexico on the promise not to return. Although the Texans went wild with celebration at the defeat of the Mexican army, General Sam Houston, Commander-in-Chief of the Texan army, seemed to be the only one to realize that Cos' humillating defeat would soon bring reprisals. They did not have long to wait.

When President-General Santa Anna learned of the defeat of General Cos (his brother-in-law), his response was swift. Virtualy emptying Mexico's national treasury to equip an army to invade Texas, Santa Anna had assembled most of his forces at Saltillo by the end of January 1836. On February 1 an army of nearly 6000 men and 20 cannons were on the move toward Texas. By mid-February they were at Presidio del Rio Grande (Guerrero), where they rested and regrouped. Ironically, they camped just within a musket shot of the site of the old Mission San Francisco Solano, the birthplace of the Alamo to which they were soon to lay siege (Perry, 1975:32; Weddle, 1968:386).

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