Alamo thread reprise

[Birdwatcher]

Anyhoo... on to the Alamo....

I've just got done reading the excellent "Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution" (2005).

In it the author James E. Crisp presents convincing arguments in defense of the authenticity of the De La Pena diaries, not the least of which is that some correspondence everyone agrees came from De La Pena himself in that period were written in another hand, right down to the signature. This answering the immediate causes for skepticism on the part of many.

Crisp also offers a well-reasoned argument, based only in part on De La Pena's account, also supported by others, that five or six Alamo defenders, including Davy Crockett, had at the very end of the fighting fallen back to the inner recesses of the Alamo church, prepared to sell their lives dearly.

Cornered there, they were prevailed upon to give themselves up on the word of a Mexican officer who ordered his men not to kill them and who swore they would be treated honorably.

As he would do two weeks later with respect to the 400 Texian prisoners held at Goliad, Santa Anna responded indignantly when the prisoners were brought before him, ordering them executed at once.

At this point De La Pena has it that Santa Anna's inner circle, who had done none of the fighting, fell upon the bound prisoners with swords and bayonets. De La Pena does take pains to point out that the men died well and courageously, despite the ignobility of their execution.

A fine read, and a must for any Alamo scholar.


JMHO,
Birdwatcher

 

[tenngun]

Since the alamo thread vered off to slavery,twbs,and even some insults I will post with you. I think when ever we study history we have to remeber that how the people of that time and place thought can not be judged by standards those people did not shared with us.I cant condem the japanesse for pearl harbor because it made good sense to them. Indians smashing baby heads on trees was somthing they had done since the dawn time. After fighting the moors for the best part of a thousand year the conversion by sword of the people of new spain is understandable.
War is hell, and land belongs to those strong enough to hold it. American culture was stonger then Santa Annas, and american trasnsplants toke texas.
Before my ancestors came the iroquios killed lots of other indians.
My own ancestors were run out of scotland by the english.
The commanche drove the tejas south,the tejas drove the caddo eastthe spanish laid claim to texas the mexicans drove the spanish out.
Such is the way the worlds been.
no society in the world condemed slavery,befor a few christians did so...and they spent centuries trying to convince other chistians...and condeming it today we still haven't covinced muslims.or the chinese.
Its very easy to find somthing in the past to make you angry,but hat oly gets in the way of learning.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Will this thread remain on topic?

 

[musher_vic]

Hey Tenngun, thanks for the insight. Satx sorry about your mom. I will keep her in my prayers. Sorry for diappearing but I am indeed a musher and had to tend to my dogs. I did find some material on the topic. Thanks again.