Sacrificed at the Alamo: Tragedy and Triumph in the Texas Revolution.Sacrificed at the Alamo Alamo Eighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. : Tragedy and Triumph in the Texas Revolution. By Richard Bruce Winders. Military History of Texas. (Abilene, Tex.: State House Press, McMurry University McMurry University, founded in 1923, is a private co-educational university in Abilene, Texas. It is a liberal arts school offering forty-one majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, education, business, and religion, and nine pre-professional , c. 2004. Pp. 167. Paper, $16.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 1-880510-81-2; cloth, $24.95, ISBN 1-880510-80-4.) Do we need another book about the Alamo? At first I was prepared to say no, but reading Sacrificed at the Alamo: Tragedy and Triumph in the Texas Revolution has changed my mind. Richard Bruce Winders, who is curator of the Alamo, has written an excellent introduction to the Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo was a 19th-century battle between the Republic of Mexico and the rebel Texian forces, including both Anglos (ethnic Europeans) and Tejanos (ethnic Mexicans in Texas), during the Texians' fight for independence — the Texas Revolution. and its part in the Texas Revolution and placed it in a world context. Winders avoids the usual controversies surrounding the battle, such as who was in the Alamo and how they died. He thinks "that it is more important in the long run to know the reason Crockett died rather than the exact manner of his death," and that is the purpose of this book (p. 12). Each chapter begins with a vignette of the situation at the Alamo as the siege developed and then moves on to connect the battle to larger developments. Chapter 1, "Background of the Revolution," surveys the rise of republicanism, Mexican independence, and the beginnings of Anglo settlement in Texas. Succeeding chapters cover military thought in the nineteenth century, the beginnings of Texan resistance, the difficulties of uniting Texans, the capture of San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. , and, finally, the climactic battle at the Alamo and its aftermath, including the Battle of San Jacinto For other battles of the same name, see . The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. . Winders makes no great claim for the significance of the Alamo. In a brief conclusion he notes that Sam Houston did not really take hold as commander of the Texas army until a week after the battle, so he gained no advantage by the delay to Santa Anna caused by Texans at the Alamo. He also suggests that the men at the Alamo fought believing that help was on the way, so there is an unspoken hint that they might have fled had they known the truth. Winders does not attempt an assessment of the significance of the Alamo in Texan mythology. The book provides useful maps. However, the purpose of the appendixes is unclear, and they have the appearance of padding. General readers seeking a concise view of the Alamo and its role in the Texas Revolution will find this a good place to start. Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a public, coeducational, state university located in Stephenville, Texas. It is the largest non-land-grant university primarily devoted to agriculture in the United States. MICHAEL D. PIERCE |
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