185 defenders held a crumbling mission against 2,000 Mexican soldiers for 13 days. Every last one died — and their defeat became the battle cry that won Texas its independence.
From February 23 to March 6, 1836, roughly 185–260 Texian defenders held the Alamo Mission against Santa Anna's army of approximately 2,000 soldiers — a 13-day siege that ended with the near-total annihilation of the garrison.
Command fell to the unlikely pair of William B. Travis, a 26-year-old lawyer-turned-soldier, and James Bowie, the legendary knife fighter — who became so ill during the siege he reportedly commanded from his sickbed. Frontier icon Davy Crockett arrived with a small band of volunteers from Tennessee.
On the night of March 5, Santa Anna ordered a pre-dawn assault from all four sides simultaneously. Mexican troops breached the north wall first, and the battle collapsed into brutal hand-to-hand fighting through the mission's rooms and courtyard.
By 6:30 a.m. on March 6, the battle was over. Mexican casualties ranged from 400 to 600 killed and wounded — staggering losses for a victory. Whether Davy Crockett died fighting or was captured and executed remains one of history's most debated questions.
Santa Anna executed all surviving combatants, but spared a handful of non-combatants including Susanna Dickinson and her infant daughter, deliberately sending them east to spread panic through Texian settlements — triggering the Runaway Scrape.
The defeat galvanized Texas. 'Remember the Alamo!' became the battle cry at San Jacinto just six weeks later, where Sam Houston's army destroyed Santa Anna's force in 18 minutes and secured Texas independence. The Alamo is now Texas's most visited historic site.