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The Alamo

Parliament

By Parliament
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Parliament

Parliament 14282

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I had the chance to tour the Alamo last week, and it really struck me.  A whole buncha men, both Texans and from far away faced certain death defending a fort from Santa Anna.  Sure it was strategically important, but I bet there was a way they coulda left it to Santa Anna in a tactical retreat, and still won the war.  Why didn't they do it?  Because it wasn't his, fuck you, that's why.

Reading the names of the men who defended the Alamo, and I realized just about every one of them has an important place in Texas named after him.  To Texas, the defense of the Alamo was the Guns of Fort Ticonderoga, the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Thermopylae all in one.  It gave Texas the reputation it still has today.

Or am I wrong?

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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22 minutes ago, Parliament said:

I had the chance to tour the Alamo last week, and it really struck me.  A whole buncha men, both Texans and from far away faced certain death defending a fort from Santa Anna.  Sure it was strategically important, but I bet there was a way they coulda left it to Santa Anna in a tactical retreat, and still won the war.  Why didn't they do it?  Because it wasn't his, fuck you, that's why.

Reading the names of the men who defended the Alamo, and I realized just about every one of them has an important place in Texas named after him.  To Texas, the defense of the Alamo was the Guns of Fort Ticonderoga, the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Thermopylae all in one.  It gave Texas the reputation it still has today.

Or am I wrong?

It certainly gave Texas the river walk....

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Michael Knight

Michael Knight 12990

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Posted (edited)
41 minutes ago, Parliament said:

I had the chance to tour the Alamo last week, and it really struck me.  A whole buncha men, both Texans and from far away faced certain death defending a fort from Santa Anna.  Sure it was strategically important, but I bet there was a way they coulda left it to Santa Anna in a tactical retreat, and still won the war.  Why didn't they do it?  Because it wasn't his, fuck you, that's why.

Reading the names of the men who defended the Alamo, and I realized just about every one of them has an important place in Texas named after him.  To Texas, the defense of the Alamo was the Guns of Fort Ticonderoga, the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Thermopylae all in one.  It gave Texas the reputation it still has today.

Or am I wrong?

Not to be a dick but you should probably learn more about history before posting something this basic

 

Here's a start

http://www.amazon.com/Sleuthing-Alamo-Crocketts-Revolution-Narratives/dp/0195163508?tag=splinteramzn-20&ascsubtag=fadca420724c4b94e38659dff8a1d9bb0ef25383

Edited by Michael Knight
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Neonmoon

Neonmoon 38130

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38 minutes ago, Parliament said:

I had the chance to tour the Alamo last week, and it really struck me.  A whole buncha men, both Texans and from far away faced certain death defending a fort from Santa Anna.  Sure it was strategically important, but I bet there was a way they coulda left it to Santa Anna in a tactical retreat, and still won the war.  Why didn't they do it?  Because it wasn't his, fuck you, that's why.

Reading the names of the men who defended the Alamo, and I realized just about every one of them has an important place in Texas named after him.  To Texas, the defense of the Alamo was the Guns of Fort Ticonderoga, the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Thermopylae all in one.  It gave Texas the reputation it still has today.

Or am I wrong?

The Alamo did not define the reputation of Texas, it exemplified it. It was demonstrated before at Gonzales when the Mexican army demanded the Texians hand over the cannon. The response was fuck you, come and take it. Texas is an attitude, a mix of friend and frontier. People came out searching for their own piece of land, and weren’t afraid to fight for it, but had to make friends with the Mexicans and Native Americans to survive. Laid back but at the same time don’t take no shit. It’s a unique combination. 

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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2 hours ago, LongestHorn said:

Most non-Texans believe Texas won the Battle of the Alamo.  And when told the Texans were slaughtered, they all, without fail, ask the same question.

“Then why do you remember it?”

They do ?  Can't say as I've ever met a single person who thought they won @ the Alamo.  I'm sure they exist, but I haven't run across one.

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SuingToGetAMessageBoard?

SuingToGetAMessageBoard? 3861

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I do believe it’s important for the Texas ethos.  I think it’s why the average Texan isn’t as garbage as the average SECer.  We have this mass personality we can look up to and latch onto that has a patina of courage and frontiersmanship and whatnot.  The rest of the confederacy is stuck with the one important thing in their history is when they were a traitor to their nation becaise they loved slavery.  We’ve been able to put the civil war behind us better than them because of it, imo

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Jerry Callo

Jerry Callo 8715

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3 hours ago, Rougarou said:

My son has recently caught Texas History bug so we are going to tour the Alamo for Spring Break. We’ve watched the 1950’s Disney Davey Crockett movie on Disney+ 3x this week.

You really want to do something that seems really cool, book a night or two at the Quarters of the Presidio La Bahia in Goliad.  

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ShaggyBevo RIP

ShaggyBevo RIP 3868

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11 hours ago, Parliament said:

Or am I wrong?

Maybe so.  The story from historian H.W. Brands' book Lone Star Nation is General Houston ordered them not to take the Alamo as it had no military significance and was too far from the colonies to be supported but the Tennessee Orangemen volunteers, with their minds set on wartime plunder, did it anyway and got cutoff by Santa Anna's troops and massacred.

Now you know why the University of Tennessee's color is orange and named the Volunteers.

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RollLeft

RollLeft 5045

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3 hours ago, Rougarou said:

My son has recently caught Texas History bug so we are going to tour the Alamo for Spring Break. We’ve watched the 1950’s Disney Davey Crockett movie on Disney+ 3x this week.

Don't forget the missions down the road.

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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25 minutes ago, RollLeft said:

Don't forget the missions down the road.

We did the Alamo. It definitely suffers being in the downtown setting like that. Cool but not that historically cool when it's sitting next to modern multi story buildings. The missions are cool as shit. I frankly enjoyed those more than the Alamo.

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Bateshorn

Bateshorn 9928

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1 hour ago, RollLeft said:

Don't forget the missions down the road.

As an actual tourist undertaking, the other missions are 1000x better.  
 

As my mom says: the Alamo may have been important, but the best part of visiting is getting a drink at the Menger after. 

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High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 11050

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14 hours ago, Parliament said:

I had the chance to tour the Alamo last week, and it really struck me.  A whole buncha men, both Texans and from far away faced certain death defending a fort from Santa Anna.  Sure it was strategically important, but I bet there was a way they coulda left it to Santa Anna in a tactical retreat, and still won the war.  Why didn't they do it?  Because it wasn't his, fuck you, that's why.

Reading the names of the men who defended the Alamo, and I realized just about every one of them has an important place in Texas named after him.  To Texas, the defense of the Alamo was the Guns of Fort Ticonderoga, the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Thermopylae all in one.  It gave Texas the reputation it still has today.

Or am I wrong?

 

What did you think of the basement?

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F250

F250 28809

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14 hours ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

The Ripley's across the street offered better tactical advantages, imo.

Some might believe that. I used to work downtown and often would eat lunch in front of the Alamo. The theories I would overhear from tourists would sometimes include the road barriers around Alamo Plaza. One time, I heard some guy explain to his wife the stone barriers on the street were likely used by the Alamo defenders to fight off the Mexicans who had to cross the river (river walk).

 

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BabaYaga

BabaYaga 15304

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17 hours ago, Parliament said:

I had the chance to tour the Alamo last week, and it really struck me.  A whole buncha men, both Texans and from far away faced certain death defending a fort from Santa Anna.  Sure it was strategically important, but I bet there was a way they coulda left it to Santa Anna in a tactical retreat, and still won the war.  Why didn't they do it?  Because it wasn't his, fuck you, that's why.

Reading the names of the men who defended the Alamo, and I realized just about every one of them has an important place in Texas named after him.  To Texas, the defense of the Alamo was the Guns of Fort Ticonderoga, the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Thermopylae all in one.  It gave Texas the reputation it still has today.

Or am I wrong?

Prety sure Armybrat was there, you can always ask him

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Macanudo

Macanudo 13005

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4 hours ago, Bateshorn said:

As an actual tourist undertaking, the other missions are 1000x better.  
 

As my mom says: the Alamo may have been important, but the best part of visiting is getting a drink at the Menger after. 

And you get to have a drink where Teddy Roosevelt recruited Roughriders.

There's a great book about American myths and legends that I read years ago that has a chapter on the Alamo.  The author brings up the point about most Americans not knowing that we lost at the Alamo.

And his ending comment is sublime... 

"The point about the Alamo is that if you're going to lose, lose this way."

I finally read "Three Roads to the Alamo" about Bowie, Crockett and Travis last month.  Honestly, I think the decision to stay only worked out because Santa Ana took his eyes off the prize (crush the rebellion) and took the bait to sit in San Antonio.  Based on the outcome, he should have been able to overwhelm the defenders 7-10 days earlier.  Or leave Cos there to bottle up the defenders and take off after the leaders in San Felipe and other areas.  The one thing I have always wondered was what would have happened if Fannin had gotten off his as and moved his men to Bexar in February.  With 400+ men at the Alamo, the outcome might have still ended in a loss but the Mexican casualties would have been much greater. 

And De La Pena can kiss my ass.  Davy died swinging his Brown Bess above his head like a club fighting to the death.

 

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F250

F250 28809

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7 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Fspacer.png

Just outside the door to the left is Poblanos which is oddly located in the left side of San Fernando Cathedral. Anyways, they make a kick ass tortilla soup. Pretty much all of their food is great and pretty inexpensive for Downtown. Only issue is eating lunch when a hearse pulls up for funerals, that feels weird.

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LongestHorn

LongestHorn 759

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13 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

They do ?  Can't say as I've ever met a single person who thought they won @ the Alamo.  I'm sure they exist, but I haven't run across one.

Perhaps you’re not exposed to as many young Californians and Yankees, but I live in Austin. 

They didn’t take Texas History in their 7th grade.  

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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9 minutes ago, LongestHorn said:

Perhaps you’re not exposed to as many young Californians and Yankees, but I live in Austin. 

They didn’t take Texas History in their 7th grade.  

No I'm not thank god. We get our fair share of Yankees, but how do you not know that little nugget of American history ?

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F250

F250 28809

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18 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

The Alamo did not define the reputation of Texas, it exemplified it. It was demonstrated before at Gonzales when the Mexican army demanded the Texians hand over the cannon. The response was fuck you, come and take it. Texas is an attitude, a mix of friend and frontier. People came out searching for their own piece of land, and weren’t afraid to fight for it, but had to make friends with the Mexicans and Native Americans to survive. Laid back but at the same time don’t take no shit. It’s a unique combination. 

I agree with this take and to add on to the frontier influence. The Texas-Indian wars also shaped Texas culture. The Kiowas and in particular the Comanches were fierce enemies. Most of those six flags that flew over Texas promised assistance to aid in the war against the Comanche but never did. In the end, it was Texas itself that waged a long war against the Comanche. The balls it took for settlers to setup shop in and around the Comancheria was insane, titanium balls.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31519

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2 hours ago, F250 said:

I agree with this take and to add on to the frontier influence. The Texas-Indian wars also shaped Texas culture. The Kiowas and in particular the Comanches were fierce enemies. Most of those six flags that flew over Texas promised assistance to aid in the war against the Comanche but never did. In the end, it was Texas itself that waged a long war against the Comanche. The balls it took for settlers to setup shop in and around the Comancheria was insane, titanium balls.

It's kind of wild how Anglo/Native American interfaces were either a genocide or a very near thing (ie a genocide going the other way).

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dcar00

dcar00 14323

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14 hours ago, Rougarou said:

My son has recently caught Texas History bug so we are going to tour the Alamo for Spring Break. We’ve watched the 1950’s Disney Davey Crockett movie on Disney+ 3x this week.

the chapter on the Alamo in my 7th grade class was 3 days of watching John Wayne play Davy Crockett.  awesome having football coaches for history teachers.

at one point, you can see one of the mexican soldiers taking a piss in the background.  rewound that about 5 times.

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The Ace of Aces

The Ace of Aces 5193

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I live in Pennsylvania now. Every damn week it seems I have some jackass ask me why Texans are so narcissistic toward their home state. 

It’s always a quick answer: there is nothing more important or better than the state of Texas, there’s nothing narcissistic about us.

Someone go outside and kiss some red clay soil for me, stat.

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Kennythetiger

Kennythetiger 9423

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15 hours ago, F250 said:

I agree with this take and to add on to the frontier influence. The Texas-Indian wars also shaped Texas culture. The Kiowas and in particular the Comanches were fierce enemies. Most of those six flags that flew over Texas promised assistance to aid in the war against the Comanche but never did. In the end, it was Texas itself that waged a long war against the Comanche. The balls it took for settlers to setup shop in and around the Comancheria was insane, titanium balls.

Takes a pretty mean hombre to run off the Apache. 

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