By: History.com Editors

1836

The Battle of the Alamo comes to an end

History.com Editors

Published: March 14, 2019

Last Updated: February 18, 2025

On March 6, 1836, after 13 days of intermittent fighting, the Battle of the Alamo comes to a gruesome end, capping off a pivotal moment in the Texas Revolution. Mexican forces were victorious in recapturing the fort, and nearly all of the roughly 200 Texan defenders—including frontiersman Davy Crockett—died.

Deconstructing History: The Alamo

It has become the site and symbol of the battle for Texan independence, but there is much more to the story. Find out why Americans will always remember the Alamo.

Thirteen days earlier, on February 23, Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ordered a siege of the Alamo Mission (near present-day San Antonio), which had been occupied by rebel Texas forces since December. An army of over 1,000 Mexican soldiers began descending on the makeshift fort and setting up artillery.

Over the next two weeks, the two armies traded gunfire, but there were few casualties. Despite being clearly outnumbered, Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William Travis insisted on remaining in place. The volunteer soldiers defending the Alamo included doctors and farmers, as well as Tennessee frontiersman and Congressman Davy Crockett, who fought in the Tennessee militia.

The final attack came before dawn on March 6. Mexican troops breached the north wall and flooded into the compound, awakening many of the Texans inside. The fighting lasted 90 minutes, some of it hand-to-hand combat. Bowie and Travis were killed, as was Crockett, although reports differ as to exactly how and when. Several Texans reportedly surrendered, but Santa Anna ordered all prisoners be executed. Only a handful survived, mostly women and children. Historians estimate several hundred Mexicans died.

After the battle, the Mexican army marched east. Meanwhile, Sam Houston, commander of the Texas forces, had been building and developing his army in Harris County. “Remember the Alamo!” became their rallying cry as an urgent reminder to avenge their earlier defeat. On April 21, Texas and Mexico fought again at the Battle of San Jacinto. Texas was victorious this time, and won independence from Mexico, bringing the Texas Revolution to an end.

The defense of the Alamo remains a symbol of resistance and revolution. The battle has been immortalized in several TV series and films, including 1960’s The Alamo, starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on March 6th

1475

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1776

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1820

President Monroe signs the Missouri Compromise

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1857

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1899

Bayer patents aspirin

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Bayer aspirin tablets dissolve in a glass in Bonn, Germany,

1902

Real Madrid founded

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1945

Dutch Resistance ambushes SS officer

Members of the Dutch Resistance who were attempting to hijack a truck in Apeldoorn, Holland, ambush Lt. Gen. Hanns Rauter, an SS officer. During the following week, the German SS executed 263 Dutch in retaliation. The Dutch Resistance was one of the fiercest of all the underground movements in Nazi-occupied Europe. “The Dutch never accepted […]

1951

The espionage trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins

The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins in New York Southern District federal court. Judge Irving R. Kaufman presides over the espionage prosecution of the couple accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians (treason could not be charged because the United States was not at war with the Soviet Union). The Rosenbergs, and […]

1953

Georgy Malenkov succeeds Stalin

Just one day after the death of long-time Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Georgy Malenkov is named premier and first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Malenkov’s tenure was extremely brief, and within a matter of weeks he was pushed aside by Nikita Khrushchev. Malenkov was one of the few old-time Bolsheviks who […]

1974

Helen Thomas named UPI’s White House bureau chief, the first woman to hold that title for a wire agency

Journalist Helen Thomas is named United Press International’s White House Bureau Chief on March 6, 1974. At a press conference that day, President Nixon personally congratulates her on becoming the first woman to serve in the distinguished role. The moment marks the beginning of a boundary-breaking career, in which Thomas becomes a fixture in the […]

1981

Walter Cronkite signs off as anchorman of “CBS Evening News”

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1982

Controversial writer-philosopher Ayn Rand dies

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1983

Helmut Kohl elected West German chancellor

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1986

Georgia O’Keeffe dies

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1987

Ferry sinks in Belgium, 188 people drown

A British ferry leaving Zeebrugge, Belgium, capsizes, drowning 188 people, on March 6, 1987. Shockingly poor safety procedures led directly to this deadly disaster. Lord Justice Barry Sheen, an investigator of the accident, later said of it, from top to bottom, the body corporate was affected with the disease of sloppiness. The Herald of Free […]

2001

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Citation Information

Article title
The Battle of the Alamo comes to an end
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 24, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
February 18, 2025
Original Published Date
March 14, 2019

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