4 1 I am a captain in the Texan army and one of the commanders at the Alamo in San Antonio Texas The Alamo was originally a mission built in the early 1700s The missionaries there brought Christianity to the Native Americans Now it serves as a fort for our Texan army in the Texas Revolution Today is March 6 1836 and we have been fighting the Mexicans here at the Alamo for 13 days Peter Evans Texan Commander
5 The Texas Revolution can trace its roots back to 1824 That year the territory of Texas became a Mexican state Most of Texas consisted of American settlers living here on land grants from the Mexican government We were content to live under Mexico’s rules until Antonio López de Santa Anna became Mexico’s president in 1833 He ignored his country’s constitution and made new laws of his own Mexican states were losing their power and we were losing our say in the government This angered us We were also far away from Mexico City where the government was located We decided to rebel by trying to break away from Mexico On October 2 1835 shots were fired between Mexican soldiers and the people of Gonzales Texas This was the start of the Texas Revolution Find a second source that discusses the reasons behind the Texas Revolution Compare the information in that source to what you read here Second source
In late 1835 Santa Anna sent General Martín Perfecto de Cós to stop our rebellion On December 5 Cós’s army clashed with a group of 400 Texans here in San Antonio At that time the Mexican soldiers had control of the Alamo Cós turned the Alamo into a fort by placing 21 cannons at the site The Mexican soldiers fought our army from behind its walls But we won Then we moved into the Alamo We were hoping we could protect San Antonio from within its walls We needed to make sure the Mexicans did not take control of the city It is an important stop on the road that connects eastern and southern Texas After we defeated General Cós we tried to create a stronger defense at the mission Colonel James C Neill was put in charge of the Alamo’s defense We took stock of the area The Alamo was a three-acre complex with a large open square in its center Limestone walls about eight feet tall and four feet thick surrounded the complex On the north and 6
7 west sides small buildings on the inside braced the outer walls A low barracks supported the southern wall On the east side was a two-story structure called the Long Barrack About 50 yards from that building was the chapel and at the back was the horse corral The Alamo served as a mission before it became a Texan army fort
