After thirteen days of siege, some 1,800 Mexican troops under General Antonio López de Santa Anna breached the walls of the Alamo before dawn, overwhelming the garrison led by William Travis, James Bowie, and Davy Crockett. The defeat became a rallying cry -- 'Remember the Alamo' -- that fueled Texan independence weeks later at San Jacinto.
The defenders, a ragtag mix of Texan settlers, American volunteers, and a few Tejano fighters, had held out against overwhelming odds, buoyed by the hope that reinforcements from Goliad would arrive. They never came. Santa Anna, determined to make an example of the rebellion, ordered his band to play the deguello, a bugle call signaling no quarter would be given.
The final assault began around 6 a.m. Mexican soldiers scaled the walls under a barrage of cannon and rifle fire, and brutal hand-to-hand fighting followed inside the compound. William Travis died early, reportedly at the north wall; Jim Bowie, bedridden with illness, was killed in his cot; Davy Crockett's death remains disputed, some accounts claiming he fought to the last, others that he was captured and executed.
Santa Anna ordered the bodies burned in a pyre, denying them proper burial -- a decision that only deepened Texan fury. Six weeks later, Sam Houston's army routed Santa Anna's forces at San Jacinto in eighteen minutes, shouting 'Remember the Alamo' as they attacked, securing Texas independence.
Key people: Antonio López de Santa Anna, William Travis, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston