The award-winning historian provides a provocative new analysis of the Battle of the Alamo—including new information on the fate of Davy Crockett.
Contrary to legend, we now know that the defenders of the Alamo during the Texan Revolution died in a merciless predawn attack by Mexican soldiers. With extensive research into recently discovered Mexican accounts, as well as forensic evidence, historian Phillip Tucker sheds new light on the famous battle, contending that the traditional myth is even more off-base than we thought.
In a startling revelation, Tucker uncovers that the primary fights took place on the plain outside the fort. While a number of the Alamo’s defenders hung on inside, most died while attempting to escape. Capt. Dickinson, with cannon atop the chapel, fired repeatedly into the throng of enemy cavalry until he was finally cut down. The controversy surrounding Davy Crockett still remains, though the recently authenticated diary of the Mexican Col. José Enrique de la Peña offers evidence that he surrendered.
Notoriously, Mexican Pres. Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna burned the bodies of the Texans who had dared stand against him. As this book proves in thorough detail, the funeral pyres were well outside the fort—that is, where the two separate groups of escapees fell on the plain, rather than in the Alamo itself.
Phillip Thomas Tucker, Ph.D. Has authored or edited over 20 books on various aspects of the American experience, especially in the fields of Civil War, Irish, African-American, Revolutionary, and Southern history. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, he has earned three degrees in American history, including a Ph.D. From St. Louis University in 1990. For over two decades, Dr. Tucker served as a military historian for the U.S. Air Force. He currently lives in the vicinity of Washington, DC.
Table of Contents
PREFACE FOREWORD by Antonio Zavaleta, Ph.D. INTRODUCTION: From Fact to Fantasy
1: GOLDEN PRIZES: Land and Slaves 2: NAPOLEONIC INFLUENCES 3: THE ULTIMATE FOLLY: Defense of the Alamo 4: LULL BEFORE THE STORM: Fatal Overconfidence 5: AN INEFFECTIVE SIEGE 6: THE PREDAWN ASSAULT 7: FLIGHT RATHER THAN FIGHT 8: THE ALAMO’S MOST BITTER LEGACIES 9: FLAMES RISING HIGH