The Alamo 1836: Santa Anna's Texas Campaign (Campaign, 89).

Osprey Campaign #89

by Stephen L. Hardin

Osprey's examination of the Battle of Alamo (1836), which was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution (1835-1836). On the morning of 6 March 1836 around 1,100 Mexican soldiers under Generalissimo Santa Anna stormed a small mission outside San Antonio, Texas, and slaughtered the garrison of around 200 Texans. It was not a large battle but its significance vastly outweighed its size for the name of the mission was the Alamo. Less than two months later Santa Anna's force was smashed at San Jacinto by a volunteer army whose battle cry was "Remember the Alamo". Stephen L Hardin details the climactic 1836 campaign which won Texas her independence.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, American, American History

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Manolo González · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, Mr. Hardin is already the author of other Texan history books, but this one is, in my point of view, is the perfect summary of the 1836 events. Brief and detailed.

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Osprey campaign books. Hardin's prose is crisp and evocative. His observations are fair and shrewd. He does not repeat mythology, but nor does he downplay the dramatic. The heroism, the blunders, and most of all the horror, are conveyed in a way you rarely see in Osprey books.

[James Crabtree · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a slim volume this book did a very thorough job of looking at the Battle of the Alamo and putting it in context with other events in Texas that were happening at the same time. Santa Anna actually had two columns invading Texas, the one he personally led and a second one advancing along the coast. The dictator of Mexico no doubt needed the time he spent outside the Alamo to collect his army, which suffered from crossing forbidding terrain during the winter, when there would be no provisions available.

Hardin pulls no punches when it comes to the key leaders involved, looking at them as men instead of the ideal we believe in. Certainly there were mistakes made all around: had Santa Anna tried to terrorize the Texas populations by giving no quarter to Fannin or Travis's men, but instead made them into martyrs. The collapse of the Texas government due to personalities made central leadership almost impossible. And finally, in his eagerness to catch Houston's army Santa Ana divided his command and left himself, both commander of the expedition and leader of Mexico, in a vulnerable position. The Battle of San Jacinto resulted in the transfer of huge amounts of territory from Mexico to Texan control, and ultimately to U.S. control.

Well illustrated with photos, original artwork and contemporary illustrations.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a large portion of the book covers the siege of the Alamo, it tends to be a general history of the Texas War of Independence rather than focus on this one battle. Like other books in the Osprey Campaign series, it is a good overview of the war, describing the battles, commanders, and armies but doesn't go into a lot of detail.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

stragegic information and story of the conflict between texas and the mexcian revloultion