Yes and since I started going over Texas History that I had not really considered for the last 48 years, the brutal reality of life back then for the average person- man, woman, child - just trying to survive and have a life to the political and military leaders to the 100s of soldiers/fighters known and unknown on both sides really wipes away any romance that might be accorded.
Someplace online I found the statistics for the generally accepted ethnicity of the Alamo defenders:
13 were native-born Texans, with 11 of these 13 being of Mexican descent. The rest of the Alamo defenders consisted of 41 men born in Europe, 2 Jews, 2 blacks, and the remainder were Americans from states other than Texas. Santa Anna's forces were a conglomeration of former Spanish citizens, Spanish-Mexican mestizos, and indigenous Mexicans.
It has also been a revelation at how often "Americans" married "Mexicans" and consequently had families that were hugely affected.
The heartbreak of loss and loyalty due to that alone during all those years must have been staggering.
Anyway I looked at the ages of some of the better known fighters/leaders at San Jacinto and the Alamo.
Based on the year 1836:
Sam Houston was 43; Santa Anna was 42; Stephen F. Austin was 42; Col. James C. Neill was 46; James Bowie was 40; David Crockett was 50 and William B. Travis was only 25.
Someplace online I found the statistics for the generally accepted ethnicity of the Alamo defenders:
13 were native-born Texans, with 11 of these 13 being of Mexican descent. The rest of the Alamo defenders consisted of 41 men born in Europe, 2 Jews, 2 blacks, and the remainder were Americans from states other than Texas. Santa Anna's forces were a conglomeration of former Spanish citizens, Spanish-Mexican mestizos, and indigenous Mexicans.
It has also been a revelation at how often "Americans" married "Mexicans" and consequently had families that were hugely affected.
The heartbreak of loss and loyalty due to that alone during all those years must have been staggering.
Anyway I looked at the ages of some of the better known fighters/leaders at San Jacinto and the Alamo.
Based on the year 1836:
Sam Houston was 43; Santa Anna was 42; Stephen F. Austin was 42; Col. James C. Neill was 46; James Bowie was 40; David Crockett was 50 and William B. Travis was only 25.