Editing Alamo Mission (section)

===Military===

In the 19th century, the mission complex became known as "the Alamo". The name may have been derived from a grove of nearby [[Populus sect. Aigeiros|cottonwood]] trees, known in Spanish as ''álamo''. Alternatively, in 1803, the abandoned compound was occupied by the [[Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras]], from Álamo de Parras in [[Coahuila]]. Locals often called them simply the "Alamo Company".<ref name=thompson2002p19/>

During the [[Mexican War of Independence]], parts of the mission frequently served as a political prison.<ref name=mason61>Mason (1974), p. 61.</ref> Between 1806 and 1812 it served as San Antonio's first hospital. Spanish records indicate that some renovations were made for this purpose, but no details were provided.<ref name=schoelwer29/>

The buildings were transferred from Spanish to [[Mexican Texas|Mexican]] control in 1821 after Mexico gained its independence. Soldiers continued to garrison the complex until December 1835, when General [[Martín Perfecto de Cos]] surrendered to Texian forces following a two-month siege of San Antonio de Béxar during the [[Texas Revolution]]. In the few months that Cos supervised the troops garrisoned in San Antonio, he had ordered many improvements to the Alamo.<ref name=todish10>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 10.</ref> Cos's men likely demolished the four stone arches that were to support a future chapel dome. The debris from these was used to build a ramp to the [[apse]] of the chapel building. There, the Mexican soldiers placed three cannon, which could fire over the walls of the roofless building.<ref name=thompson2002p20>Thompson (2002), p. 20.</ref> To close a gap between the church and the barracks (formerly the convent building) and the south wall, the soldiers built a [[palisade]].<ref name=thompson2002p20/> When Cos retreated, he left behind 19&nbsp;cannons,<ref name=hardin111>Hardin (1994), p. 111.</ref> including a 16-pounder.<ref name=todish178>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 178.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/1836/the_battle/the_weapons/cannon.html|title=Alamo Cannon|website=www.tamu.edu}}</ref><ref>Barbara L. Young, "CAYCE, HENRY PETTY," [[Handbook of Texas Online]] [https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcamj], accessed June 24, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.</ref>

====Battle of the Alamo====
{{Main|Battle of the Alamo}}
{{quote box
|width=30%
|quote="You can plainly see that the Alamo never was built by a military people for a fortress."
|source=Letter, dated January 18, 1836, from engineer Green B. Jameson to Sam Houston, commander of the Texian forces.<ref name=lord59>Lord (1961), p. 59.</ref>
}}

With Cos's departure, there was no longer an organized garrison of Mexican troops in Texas,<ref name=barr64>Barr (1990), p. 64.</ref> and many [[Texian]]s believed the war was over.<ref name=hardin91>Hardin (1994), p. 91.</ref> Colonel [[James C. Neill]] assumed command of the 100&nbsp;soldiers who remained. Neill requested that an additional 200&nbsp;men be sent to fortify the Alamo,<ref name=todish29>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 29.</ref> and expressed fear that his garrison could be starved out of the Alamo after a four-day siege.<ref name=todish30>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 30.</ref> However, the [[Consultation (Texas)|Texian government]] was in turmoil and unable to provide much assistance.<ref name=todish31/> Determined to make the best of the situation, Neill and engineer Green B. Jameson began working to fortify the Alamo. Jameson installed the cannons that Cos had left along the walls.<ref name=hardin111/>

Heeding Neill's warnings, General [[Sam Houston]] ordered Colonel [[James Bowie]] to take 35–50 men to Béxar to help Neill move all of the artillery and destroy the fortress.<ref name=todish31>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 31.</ref> There were not enough oxen to move the artillery to a safer place, and most of the men believed the complex was of strategic importance to protecting the settlements to the east. On January 26, the Texian soldiers passed a resolution in favor of holding the Alamo.<ref name=hopewell114>Hopewell (1994), p.&nbsp;114.</ref> On February 11, Neill went on furlough to pursue additional reinforcements and supplies for the garrison. [[William Travis]] and [[James Bowie]] agreed to share command of the Alamo.<ref name=todish32>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 32.</ref><ref name=hardin120>Hardin (1994), p. 120.</ref>
[[File:1854 Alamo.jpg|left|thumb|1854 drawing – The Alamo chapel would have looked something like this in the 1830s]]

On February 23, 1836, the Mexican Army, under the command of President-General [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]], arrived in San Antonio de Béxar intent on recapturing the city.<ref name=todish40>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 40.</ref> For the next thirteen days, the Mexican Army laid [[Siege of the Alamo|siege to the Alamo]], during which work continued on its interior. After Mexican soldiers tried to block the irrigation ditch leading into the fort, Jameson supervised the digging of a well at the south end of the plaza. Although the men hit the water, they weakened an earth and timber parapet near the barracks, collapsing it and leaving no way to fire safely over that wall.<ref name=nofi102>Nofi (1992), p. 102.</ref>
[[File: Fall-of-the-alamo-gentilz 1844.jpg|right|thumb|The ''Fall of the Alamo'', painted by Theodore Gentilz in 1844, depicts the final assault]]

The siege ended in a fierce battle on March 6. As the Mexican Army overran the walls, most of the Texians fell back to the long barracks (convent) and the chapel. During the siege, Texians had carved holes in many of the walls of these rooms so that they would be able to fire.<ref name=todish53>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 53.</ref> Each room had only one door which led into the courtyard<ref name=edmondson370>Edmondson (2000), p. 370.</ref> and which had been "buttressed by semicircular parapets of dirt secured with cowhides".<ref name=hardin147>Hardin (1994), p. 147.</ref> Some of the rooms even had trenches dug into the floor to provide some cover for the defenders.<ref name=petite114>Petite (1998), p. 114.</ref> Mexican soldiers used the abandoned Texian cannon to blow off the doors of the rooms, allowing Mexican soldiers to enter and defeat the Texians.<ref name=hardin147/>

The last of the Texians to die were the eleven men manning the two {{convert|12|lb|abbr=on}} cannon in the chapel.<ref name=todish54>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 54.</ref><ref name=petite115>Petite (1998), p. 115.</ref> The entrance to the church had been barricaded with sandbags, which the Texians were able to fire over. A shot from the {{convert|18|lb|abbr=on}} cannon destroyed the barricades, and Mexican soldiers entered the building after firing an initial musket volley. With no time to reload, the Texians, including Dickinson, [[Gregorio Esparza]], and Bonham, grabbed rifles and fired before being bayoneted to death.<ref name=edmondson371/> Texian Robert Evans was master of ordnance and had been tasked with keeping the gunpowder from falling into Mexican hands. Wounded, he crawled towards the powder magazine but was killed by a musket ball with his torch only inches from the powder.<ref name=edmondson371>Edmondson (2000), p. 371.</ref> If he had succeeded, the blast would have destroyed the church.<ref name=tinkle216>Tinkle (1985), p. 216.</ref>

Santa Anna ordered that the Texian bodies be stacked and burned.<ref name=edmondson374>Edmondson (2000), p. 374.</ref><ref group=Note>The only exception was the body of Gregorio Esparza, whose brother, Francisco Esparza, served in Santa Anna's army and received permission to give Gregorio a proper burial. Edmondson (2000), p. 374.</ref> All, or almost all, of the [[List of Alamo defenders|Texian defenders]] were killed in the battle, although some historians believe that at least one Texian, Henry Warnell, successfully escaped. Warnell died several months later of wounds incurred either during the final battle or during his escape.<ref name=edmondson407>Edmondson (2000), p. 407.</ref><ref>Groneman (1990), p. 119.</ref> Most Alamo historians agree that 400–600&nbsp;Mexicans were killed or wounded.<ref name=todish55>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 55.</ref><ref name=hardin155>Hardin (1961), p. 155.</ref><ref name=nofi136>Nofi (1992), p. 136.</ref> This would represent about one-third of the Mexican soldiers involved in the final assault, which historian Terry Todish stated was "a tremendous casualty rate by any standards".<ref name=todish55/>

====Further military use====

Following the battle of the Alamo, one thousand Mexican soldiers, under General Juan Andrade, remained at the mission. For the next two months, they repaired and fortified the complex, however, no records remain of what improvements they made to the structure.<ref name=thompson2002p102>Thompson (2002), p. 102.</ref> After the Mexican army's defeat at the [[Battle of San Jacinto]] and the capture of Santa Anna, the Mexican army agreed to leave Texas, effectively ending the Texas Revolution. As Andrade and his garrison joined the retreat on May 24, they [[Touch hole#Spiking the guns|spiked the cannons]], tore down many of the Alamo walls, and set fires throughout the complex.<ref name=roberts200>Roberts and Olson (2001), p. 200.</ref> Only a few buildings survived their efforts; the chapel was left in ruins, most of the Long Barracks was still standing, and the building that had contained the south wall gate and several rooms were mostly intact.<ref name=thompson2002p20 />

The Texians briefly used the Alamo as a fortress in December 1836 and again in January 1839. The Mexican army regained control in March 1841 and [[Battle of Salado Creek (1842)|September 1842]] as they briefly took San Antonio de Bexar. According to historians Roberts and Olson, "both groups carved names in the Alamo's walls, dug musket rounds out of the holds, and knocked off stone carvings".<ref name=roberts200 /> Pieces of the debris were sold to tourists, and in 1840 the San Antonio town council passed a resolution allowing local citizens to take stone from the Alamo at a cost of $5 per wagonload.<ref name=roberts200 /> By the late 1840s, even the four statues located on the front wall of the chapel had been removed.<ref name=thompson2002p103>Thompson (2002), p. 103.</ref>
[[File:Alamo1846.jpg|right|thumb|Drawing of the Alamo mission, published 1846]][[File: Alamo Plaza 1860s.JPG|right|thumb|Alamo Plaza in the 1860s]]
On January 13, 1841, the [[Republic of Texas]] legislature passed an act returning the sanctuary of the Alamo to the Roman Catholic Church.<ref name=schoelwer32>Schoelwer (1985), p. 32.</ref> By 1845, when Texas was annexed to the United States, a colony of bats occupied the abandoned complex and weeds and grass covered many of the walls.<ref name=roberts201 />

As the [[Mexican–American War]] loomed in 1846, 2000 [[United States Army]] soldiers were sent to San Antonio under Brigadier General [[John Wool]]. By the end of the year, they had appropriated part of the Alamo complex for the Quartermaster's Department. Within eighteen months, the convent building had been restored to serve as offices and storerooms. The chapel remained vacant, however, as the army, the Roman Catholic Church, and the city of San Antonio bickered over its ownership. An 1855 decision by the [[Texas Supreme Court]] reaffirmed that the Catholic Church was the rightful owner of the chapel.<ref name=schoelwer32 /> While litigation was ongoing, the army rented the chapel from the Catholic Church for $150 per month.<ref name=roberts201 />

Under the army's oversight, the Alamo was greatly repaired. Soldiers cleared the grounds and rebuilt the old convent and the mission walls, primarily from the original stone which was strewn along the ground. During the renovations, a new wooden roof was added to the chapel and the campanulate, or bell-shaped facade, was added to the front wall of the chapel. At the time, reports suggested that the soldiers found several skeletons while clearing the rubble from the chapel floor. The new chapel roof was destroyed in a fire in 1861.<ref name=roberts201>Roberts and Olson (2001), p. 201.</ref> The army also cut additional windows into the chapel, adding two on the upper level of the facade as well as additional windows on the other three sides of the building.<ref name=thompson2002p103 /> The complex eventually contained a supply depot, offices, storage facilities, a blacksmith shop, and stables.<ref name=thompson2002p104>Thompson (2002), p. 104.</ref>

During the [[American Civil War]], Texas joined the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]], and the Alamo complex was taken over by the [[Confederate Army]].<ref name=schoelwer38 /> In February 1861, the Texan Militia, under direction from the Texas Secession Convention and led by Ben McCullough and Sam Maverick, confronted General Twiggs, commander of all US Forces in Texas and headquartered at the Alamo. Twiggs elected to surrender and all supplies were turned over to the Texans.<ref>March 23, 1861 issue, Harpers Weekly</ref> Following the Confederacy's defeat, the United States Army again maintained control over the Alamo.<ref name=thompson2002p104 /> Shortly after the war ended, however, the Catholic Church requested that the army vacate the premises so that the Alamo could become a place of worship for local German Catholics. The army refused, and the church made no further attempts at retaking the complex.<ref name=schoelwer38>Schoelwer (1985), p. 38.</ref>