Jeff Ragan’s Reviews > A Time to Stand: The Epic if the Alamo as a Great National Experience > Status Update

"Maury Maverick, Jr., who has Texas in his blood, was another of those unselfish souls who gave me days of their time. He was bullied into driving me to Goliad, Gonzales and the Rio Grande. But he did have a measure of revenge when, carried away by a passion for realism, he persuaded me to eat some of the bitter mesquite nuts that so often were the staple diet of Santa Anna's troops" (224).

"How many Texans fell in the Alamo? Figures range from 180 to Santa Anna's ludicrous 600. Best estimate seems to be 183...How many Mexican casualties?...Best estimate seems about 600 killed and wounded...A casualty rate of 33 per cent is a stiff price, even if 600 seems a modest figure. No Texan need feel cheated" (209-10).

"So the 'small affair' became also a symbol, inspiring men to great deeds by the example it set of courage, determination and sacrifice. And because the symbol matched the era so beautifully, the defenders of the Alamo enjoyed a happy windfall. Unlike many of history's heroes, they did not have to wait for immortality; they achieved it right away" (174).

"Fifteen incredible minutes. The Mexicans jammed together at the foot of the north wall...the Texans firing down on them from the top. Even the few ladders on hand were now gone, trampled underfoot. Despite their overwhelming numbers, Santa Anna's troops were in serious trouble" (159).

"The lull meant more than tea to Colonel Travis...he suddenly summoned the whole garrison to assemble in the open plaza. The men wearily ambled over, and Mrs. Dickinson hovered in the rear as the Colonel addressed the men. He was brief and to the point. He declared that there was no longer any real hope of help. Their choice was to surrender, to try and escape, or to stay and fight to the end" (146).

"'I will report the result of my mission to Travis or die in the attempt,' Bonham stubbornly answered...& next morning...he crossed the Guadalupe ford & headed off toward the Alamo. It took more than a brave man to make this decision. It called for the chivalry of Scott, the fire of Byron...& a romantic attachment to desperate chances for a noble cause. Qualities of the age, & James Butler Bonham had them all" (134).

"Worn down by six nights of siege...they were bitter and discouraged. Yet they hung on. Partly because, bound together by common peril, none dared to be the first to give in. But another reason lay even deeper. They simply could not shake the conviction that here, above all, was the place to stand. Sooner or later everyone would see it. Meanwhile they must hold out till the rest of Texas woke up" (123).

"Crockett turned on the tested charm that had never failed him yet. His favorite device during these dark days was to stage a musical duel between himself & John McGregor. The Colonel had found an old fiddle somewhere, and he would challenge McGregor to get out his bagpipes to see who could make the most noise...while the men laughed and whooped and forgot for a while the feeling of being alone" (117).

"If Bowie was conciliatory, he still was determined. After ending his note [to Santa Anna] with the salutation 'God and the Mexican Federation,' he suddenly crossed it out and wrote instead, 'God and Texas." On this most basic of issues, Jim Bowie too was committed to independence" (102).

"Out the road they trotted. Now up the slope about a mile and a half from town. At last they were at the top, where they could see down the other side. At first glance, it must have looked like a million Mexicans there in the thickets just over the crest. Sutherland later estimated 1,500; actually there could not have been more than 369. But there were enough. The sentry was right; the enemy had come" (94).