San Antone Bound (For non-Texans, that's San Antonio)

Decided I needed to get out of town for a few days, so I'll be heading to San Antonio for the weekend. Took a day of vacation and I'll be heading out tomorrow morning. I could  have flown and been there in about an hour, but I decided to drive it, see the Hill Country. Granted, it will take me about 5 hours to get there, but there's no rush.

San Antonio is full of history, and of course, it's the site of the famous battle for Texas Independence, the Alamo.

Here is a little history:

The war began in October of 1835 with the Battle of Gonzales. Early victories at La Bahia and San Antonio were soon met with crushing defeat a few months later. The war ended with the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836.

On February 23rd, 1836, the Mexican Army arrived at San Antonio, suprising the Texas garrison, who had to scramble for supplies from the nearby villiage. 1,500 Mexican troops encamped at San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to re-take Texas. For the next 12 days the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies, but fewer than 100 reinforcements arrived.

In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repulsing two attacks, Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian soldiers withdrew into interior buildings. Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape.

Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texians dead, while most historians of the Alamo agree that 400–600 Mexicans were killed or wounded.

In 19th-century Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the early part of the 20th century and designated the Alamo chapel as an official Texas State Shrine.

I will still be posting this weekend, between the bar hopping and sightseeing. Stay tuned as I will post pictures of The Alamo and other interesting sites in San Antonio.