you can only have one book on the Alamo, this is the one to have, Good book with lots of smaller facts and events that occured at the hallowed place in Texas history, This book is readable and entertaining history,
I wept with emotion when I read the chapter, Sunday, March,: The Last Day,
I appreciate the sections titled, Myths, Mysteries, and Misconceptions at the end of the four sections of the book for the author explained how undocumented information was introduced to the public and repeated until we believe it to be true.
He also explains how some authors devalued these heroes with cynicsm, "In that cynical new age, publishers encouraged controversy, and writers wanted to be published, "
This book contains apage bibliography, An interesting blend between historical nonfiction and conjecture to bring to life the Alamo and its inhabitants, “I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism amp everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatchIf this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible amp die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor amp that of his country Victory or Death.
”
Lt. Col. William Barret Travis, Commander of the Alamo, letter of February,,
“It was but a small affair, ”
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Commander of the Army of Operations besieging the Alamo, commenting on the final battle,
I dont think Im exaggerating when I say that the Alamo has haunted my dreams since I was a child, It probably had something to do with seeing John Wayne as David Crockett getting bloodily lanced to death at the end of the climatic assault in thefilm The Alamo.
I was pretty young to see the Duke getting slaughtered, especially by lance, Or maybe it had something to do with watching Fess Parker again, as Crockett swinging his rifle into eternity as dozens of Mexican soldados assailed him at the climax of Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.
For whatever reason, seeing the Alamo for the first time meant a lot to me, It was in, in the middle of my honeymoonroad trip of American history, My wife and I pulled into San Antonio just at dusk, and headed straight to our hotel,
“There it is!” she shouted, nearly causing me to drive onto the sidewalk,
“I dont want to see it yet!” I shouted back, gripping the wheel,
We parked our car, checked into the hotel, and then headed out, But I wasnt ready to see it yet, I wanted to prepare myself, So we went to the River Walk and sat down at the Republic of Texas Restaurant, which appeared to be the most touristy establishment of a fairly touristy location.
Something you should know about me: When I am a tourist, I embrace it, Immediately, we ordered twoounce margaritas, And I drank one and a half of them,
Alamo prep, August,
Then we went to the Alamo,
It was simultaneously everything Id hoped it would be, and also a colossal disappointment, It is absolutely tiny, making it at once intimate and embraceable, but also a reminder that most of the historical mission has been destroyed, part of it by the victorious Mexican Army, most of it by the unrelenting creep of progress.
The Alamo site is a mass of contradictions, The church, with its famous though not contemporary bellshaped façade, is referred to as a “Shrine”, You cant wear a hat inside, or take pictures, meaning I dont recall any of the random exhibits they had on display, However, despite the veneration required of visitors to the church, you can still buy an overpriced coonskin cap in the massive souvenir shop, or a snow cone from the vendor out front, and its hard to imagine the west wall when it has been taken up by a Ripleys Believe it or Not.
First time at the Alamo, August, Note the margaritaflush, courtesy of the Republic of Texas Restaurant,
The presentstate of the Alamo, run by the Daughters of the Texas Revolution, is covered in the concluding pages of J, R. Edmondsons The Alamo Story: From Early History to Current Conflicts, It is an appropriate conclusion to his thorough look at the Alamos tumultuous existence, demonstrating that the centuriesold struggle for the former Spanish mission encompassed not only its physical being, but also a fight to define its meaning.
The Alamo is a powerful symbol, not of one thing, but many things, depending on who you are, and what you believe,
Edmonson is very upfront about what he believes, and he explains himself in the first couple pages, For him, the Alamo defenders were “heroes” who gave a “magnificent sacrifice” in theirday defense of the beleaguered fortress in, What follows, then, is a labor of love, almost a paean to chivalric notions such as death before dishonor, Yet, Edmondson is also careful about interpreting historical sources, recognizing time and again the fact that many of the Alamo legends lack veracity, The result is a book in conflict with itself, a tugofwar between hero worship and primary documents between what likely happened, and what the author wished happened.
This does not make for a bad read, To the contrary, I found the tension to be interesting, if at times frustrating,
Atpages of text, this is a fairly decentsized chunk of history, Edmondson divides his story into four parts, The first part covers the founding of the Alamo mission by Spain, as well as Mexicos War of Independence, The second part is devoted to Mexicos struggle to form a lasting government with Santa Anna hopping daintily between federalism and centralism, and to keep Texas swarming with Anglo immigrants part of the fold.
Part three deals with the Texas Revolution, and introduces key players such as Alamo commander William B, Travis Edmondsons minibio is great, since it relies heavily on Traviss extremely saucy diary entries the poor guy likely died with a venereal disease, Alamo defender David Crockett you might have heard of him, and failed savior James Fannin the unfortunate Fannin, who admitted his own incompetence to anyone whod listen, eventually surrendered his army and was executed, along with most of his troops, on Palm Sunday,.
The final section is the grand finale, the Alamo siege and battle, lasting from Februaryto March, Edmondson has a chapter for each day, letting you know what happened not only at the Alamo, but at other parts of Texas as well.
I found this approach super helpful in keeping events straight, and in showing all the moving pieces in concert,
Probably the coolest thing about The Alamo Story is how Edmondson ends each of his four major sections with a chapter called Myths, Mysteries, and Misconceptions.
In what could pass for an Alamo FAQ, Edmondson discusses the truth behind various legends, as well as answering burning questions, For example, following the chapter on the battle, Edmondson discusses certain hotbutton topics such as Mexican casualties, Crocketts death, and whether or not certain defenders attempted to escape.
While the first three parts of The Alamo Story were helpful, I have found betterwritten accounts elsewhere, T. R. Fehrenbach and Stephen Hardin have tilled this soil, Edmondsons denouement, though, is astounding, His narrative of the final battle, in the dark and cold dawn on March, is among the best Ive read, It is exciting, gripping, and presents an extremely plausible flow of battle,
I do have a bit of hesitation with a full endorsement, First, there are no notes, Any Alamo story worth its salt has to have citations to the primary sources from which the narrative is drawn, This is indispensable, because of the intrusion of so many exaggerations, lies, and wishful thinking into the drama,
I dont know enough about Edmondson to blindly trust him, His backcover bio says simply that he authored a “pageant” that is performed annually at the Alamo, A little websleuthing revealed that he has written a lot of articles for niche publications, that he is a reenactor, and that he looks a bit like Jim Bowie who Edmondson obviously adores, and refers to as “Big Jim” for much of the book.
I also know, based on an inscription, that on February,, my dad purchased a copy of this book from him at the Alamo, which he signed.
I have no good explanation of why this sat unread foryears,
Reading between the lines, and going off the sources that Edmondson cites within the text, he seems to have researched this very deeply.
But Id rather verify than take things on faith, There were many things he mentioned, especially in the battle sequence, that I wanted citations for, Moreover, his Myths, Mysteries, etc, chapters really lose some punch without the source notes to back them up,
My other problem, which I mentioned above, is Edmondsons inability to decide whether he is a BowieBooster or a Serious Historian, In other words, Edmondson has a hard time stripping away myths that he clearly loves, For instance, there is the story of Travis drawing a line in the sand, The only source for this is a dubious account by William Zuber written long after the event, and that came to him as thirdhand hearsay.
Edmondson knows this, and explains it, But then he cant help but insert the scene into his narrative anyway, with the excuse that “it cant be disproved, ” I sort of threw up my hands at this, Whats the point of having Myths, Mysteries, and Misconceptions at the end of each section if you keep choosing the myths
Compare that to
Edmondsons handling of Crocketts execution and the De La Pena “Diary.
” Edmondson believes the “Diary” is a forgery even though he draws from it constantly also, its not a forgery and that it cannot be proved that Crockett was taken prisoner before being killed.
His reasoning is a lack of hard evidence, “The case,” he writes, “simply would not stand up in any court of law, ” Oh, so thats the standard now, When were talking about Traviss mythical line, we should believe it, because it cant be disproved, But when were talking about the death of a Texas hero, the standard of proof is suddenly much higher, Speaking as a lawyer, I can say with some confidence that none of the Alamo story would hold up in court, for myriad reasons.
The reason this bothered me is that Im not interested in things that didn't happen at the Alamo, Similarly, Im not interested in things that probably didn't happen, even though it wouldve been neat if it had, I know I cant disprove Traviss line, in the same way that I cant disprove that aliens took part in the final assault, Thats not the historical standard, When Edmondson gives into this side, the side that wants to believe, it made me doubt the veracity of everything else,
There is much to like here, There is also much to be wary about, Edmondson warns the reader many times about the “modern historian,” that funhating, Crockettdoubting, ivorytower snob who keeps wanting to talk about pesky things like slavery, and who rely on documentary evidence, not hopeful thinking.
I suppose my warning would be about the person who grew up loving the Alamo, and the men who defended it, and who cant see beyond those childhood conceptions.
Of course, this just proves Edmondsons ultimate point, The Battle of the Alamo continues, J. R Edmondson's The Alamo Story: From Early History to Current Conflicts is the millennium's first book to thoroughly examine the famous Shrine of Texas Liberty from its origin as a Spanish New World mission to its modern status.
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