Reviews for 13 Days to Glory: The Siege of the Alamo

The average rating for 13 Days to Glory: The Siege of the Alamo based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-09-08 00:00:00 Ryan Straub In San Antonio Texas on March 6, 1836 after 12 days of continuous bombardment the Mexican Army of some 5000 men finally attacked the abandoned mission refashioned into a military fort known as the Alamo. The 182 defenders of the Alamo were all killed but only after causing the Mexicans to waste 13 days and causing Mexican casualties estimated as high as 10 times the number of defenders. This allowed the Texans time to regroup and organized and ultimately resulted in their victory 6 weeks later at San Jacinto and the formation of the Republic of Texas. As wars of independence go this one was incredibly brief and the final battle at San Jacinto lasted all of 20 minutes with the capture of Santa Anna. In the context of this war the Siege of the Alamo looms large and American History has enhanced its significance well beyond its importance to the struggle for Texas independence. As battles or sieges go the Alamo was a pretty straight forward undertaking with very little military complexity so the story of the Alamo is relatively simple. At 237 pages of text this book offers about as thorough a recitation of the siege as anyone could expect. The author covers the event in a near day by day account and additionally offers some useful and detailed biographical sketches of all the main actors as well as several not so well known participants in this tragedy. It was these biographical sketches that I found the most interesting as it offered insight into this war and the motivations of those involved. The Alamo and indeed the fight for Texas independence can be viewed as an early example of American citizens acting under the aura of Manifest Destiny. As the author details the lives of the Americans involved in this struggle all of them came to Texas in pursuit of cheap land and the chance to accumulate wealth. At the time they entered Texas it was part of Mexico, a foreign country. Nobody asked these Americans to come but nobody stopped them either. Because Texas was over a thousand miles from the Mexican capital in Mexico City it was an area that had been seriously neglected by the Mexican government. This neglect made it relatively easy for Americans to move in and make themselves at home. When Santa Anna abolished the Mexican Constitution of 1824 and established himself as a military dictator this gave the Texans a reason to start a rebellion and fight for the restoration of their rights. The question of who were the Texans, who had the right to rebel, and whose rights were infringed by the actions of Santa Anna seems never to have been asked let alone answered. Of the 182 dead defenders of the Alamo only a handful were Mexican citizens the rest were Americans with no real intention of becoming Mexican but who clearly desired to wrest Texas away from Mexico and make it part of the U.S. While the Alamo was certainly a tragedy and Santa Anna was typical of what one would expect of a military dictator a number of unpleasant questions arise. Depending on how these questions might be answered the heroics of the War of Texas Independence becomes seriously debatable. As might be the case with many, maybe most, wars a lot of people may have died because of the ambitions and greed of the men that the people chose to lead them. The Alamo and the War of Texas Independence may be a good example of the old saying that history is written by the winners. After finishing this rather short book the reader may have to rethink some previously held opinions. A book that gives the reader something to think about. Can you ask more of an author and his book? Enjoy.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-01-11 00:00:00 brad mattix As someone who knows very little Texas history, I found this to be a fast-paced and engaging account of the events at the Alamo. It was written in the 50s, so some of the commentary on slavery and marital dynamics was certainly outdated, but the author clearly has a passion for the history and it comes through. I especially enjoyed the bios of some of the major figures: Crockett, Bowie, Travis, etc.