We Were There at the Battle of the Alamo

We Were There

by Margaret Cousins, Nick Eggenhofer

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Genres: Historical Fiction, War, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Historical

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a child and feel in love with reading!

[S.G. Dewey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun read. Even in my 20's. Good story and well written.

[Maura Heaphy Dutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that made me a reader. The book that I remember as the one that introduced my 8-year-old self to the peculiar, immersive joy of taking on a different persona, and living for a while in very different circumstances, time and place. Sixty years later, my house is stacked to the rafters with books that, in a very real sense, are the successors of this one book. And I'm writing this review, because I remember, then, thinking long and hard about why I liked it, and how it changed me. And in 60 years, I've never lost the habit of doing that. And I'm buying a copy for my 8-year-old granddaughter, and curiously revisiting a book that has occupied a very important place in my memory .... )

Published in 1958, of course this is dated in just about every way it's possible for a work of children's fiction to be dated, so I would suggest that sharing it with the child in your life should be the opening of a discussion. There are some glaring omissions. (I think I'm correct in saying that the word "slave" is only used once) and linguistic fancy footwork (two slaves whose involuntary presence at the Alamo is well-documented are described as "the body servants of Col. Travis and Jim Bowie." Cute.) The issues are simplified, and nothing is allowed to get in the way of the Heroic reading of events and their causes.

But this is a children's book -- how complicated could, or should, it be?* The basic story, that of a 12-year-old boy who follows his older brother to the Alamo and winds up witnessing the slaughter of his brother and almost 200 men he had gotten to know, admire and become fond of, works very well on a personal, emotionally gut-wrenching level (as 8-year-old me could testify).

It's very well-written, and shows respect for the intelligence of its young readers -- I must have liked that a lot.

I am very fond of a quote from Robert Frost: "... the test of a good poem is not that you have never forgotten it, but you knew at first sight you could never forget it ..." Novels, too: and, yes, I guess I knew.

*My answer: a bit more complicated. Kids are smart: they can handle the truth ...

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the adventures of young William Harkness Campbell aka Billy as he follows his older brother Buck to the Alamo. Warning spoiler alert. Since he is a child, Billy manages to survive the Alamo massacre in which his brother was killed but joins the Texan Army till the Battle of San Jacinto. Along the way, Billy meets many of the heroes of the Texan Revolution including Colonel Davy Crockett, Travis, Col. Bowie, Deaf Smith, Sam Houston, and others. I read many of these We Were There books as a youngster which helped lead to my interest in history. I recommend this books and the others in the series to anyone interested in good historical novels.

[J.L. Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read every single one of these as a child, time and time again; as an adult I have sought them out as treasured mementoes of my childhood. These books, the adventures and places they took me and the history I learned from them; they WERE my childhood!

They can be hard to find, but THANK GOD publishers are beginning to re-publish many editions from the series and believe you me I am buying them in book form AND on my Kindle.

If you have children or nieces and nephews, BY every book in this series and give the gift of adventure, education and appreciation of literature!

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictional account of the Battle of the Alamo as seen through the eyes of 13-year-old William Harkness Campbell. We read the book as part of my son's history class.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favorite books as a kid.