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Bad Battle Maneuver..... The Alamo


Widder, SASS #59054

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Actually, I can only comment on the movie but if this particular 'maneuver' is

correct, then I figured it was the wrong one.

 

When the Mexicans breached the walls of the Alamo, they did it with ladders.

When the Texans (and others) shot the Mexican off the ladder, they then pushed the

ladder off the wall.   Bad maneuver.

 

They should have grabbed those ladders and pulled them up away from any future usage

by the Mexicans.   Of course, if they had done that, there probably wouldn't be a movie about

it.....

 

..........Widder

 

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17 minutes ago, Widder, SASS #59054 said:

Actually, I can only comment on the movie but if this particular 'maneuver' is

correct, then I figured it was the wrong one.

 

When the Mexicans breached the walls of the Alamo, they did it with ladders.

When the Texans (and others) shot the Mexican off the ladder, they then pushed the

ladder off the wall.   Bad maneuver.

 

They should have grabbed those ladders and pulled them up away from any future usage

by the Mexicans.   Of course, if they had done that, there probably wouldn't be a movie about

it.....

 

..........Widder

 

 

I would imagine that's made up by the movie writers. 

 

I'm fairly confident Davy and them good ol' Volunteers from Tennessee and Kaintuck were smart enough and battle hardened enough to take the ladders away from the Mexican army.

 

Without reinforcement the outcome was inevitable regardless of the ladders; 5-8000 vs < 250. 

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The time it would have taken to pull those ladders up and away from the mexicans would have been time wasted, as Tyrel said, they were doomed anyway! 5000 to 200?? It was a massacre!

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To pull the ladder up requires the defenders to really expose themselves. Plus you have to get all the attackers off the ladder before you can pull it up.

 

To push it away from the wall only requires a long pole and you don't have to expose yourself to use it. Plus you have the possibility of injuring any attackers that fall off the ladder, get hit by falling comrades, or hit by the ladder its self.

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The actual assault began early in the morning while it was still dark. 

Yes, ladders were used.

When assaulting with ladders, men are assigned to give covering fire to clear the tops of the walls.

Colonel Travis was shot early on in the assault by covering fire.

Grenades are not generally used when assaulting walls due to close proximity of friendly troops (not all grenades make it over the wall).

Hard to pull up a ladder up when someone is on the first rung or just holding the ladder.

 

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2 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

To pull the ladder up requires the defenders to really expose themselves. Plus you have to get all the attackers off the ladder before you can pull it up.

 

To push it away from the wall only requires a long pole and you don't have to expose yourself to use it. Plus you have the possibility of injuring any attackers that fall off the ladder, get hit by falling comrades, or hit by the ladder its self.

Don't forget that the walls lacked crenelations, too.  That increased their exposure as well.

 

In an escalade, there's not just 1 person on a ladder at a time.  The idea of an escalade is to quickly swarm over the walls, so the ladders are going to be packed with men.  Kinda hard to pull a ladder of that length up when there's a bunch of full grown men standing on it.

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Then Alamo compound had 4 foot thick flat-topped adobe walls, so to shoot with any deflection required raising up and leaning out over the walls, exposing the defenders to fire from below. Trying to shoot at anyone climbing a ladder would have meant losing the protection of the wall.
 

Since it had been designed as a mission not a fort, the Alamo also had no bastions to provide enfilading fire to defend the walls against assault. 

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Macht nichts. They might have been able to delay the inevitable by a few minutes. But there was no chance of victory from the beginning. Outnumbered almost 10 to 1. No reinforcements or re supply. It’s amazing they held out as long as they did. Heroic effort.

And everyone should visit the Alamo at least once.
https://www.fwisd.org/cms/lib/TX01918778/Centricity/Domain/1160/Alamo Primary Sources.pdf

 

8B85E11E-69D9-425E-B757-1869EEAA5AD2.jpeg

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Battle of San Jacinto.

As most all Texans know, the Battle of San Jacinto secured Texas Independence from Mexico.

 

True Story:

When living in Alabama, one Sunday in late April, we had a guest preacher dressed in very fine western wear preach a Sunday morning sermon at our church.   The guest preacher claimed to be a Texan and was moving his Western Clothing business from Texas to Alabama.

After the guest preacher's sermon that included references to the Alamo, I went up to him, knowing he would appreciate my question, and I asked, "Did you have a good San Jacinto Day?"

He answered, "I'm not familiar with a San Jacinto Day.  I lived in the southeastern part of Texas."

I replied, "Sir, you are NOT a Texan!!"

 

The guest preacher got very upset with my comment and complained to our pastor.  The guest preacher wanted our pastor to invite him back to preach a one-week Revival.  Our pastor did not extend an invitation.

 

 

 

:rolleyes:

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5 minutes ago, Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 said:

Battle of San Jacinto.

As most all Texans know, the Battle of San Jacinto secured Texas Independence from Mexico.

 

True Story:

When living in Alabama, one Sunday in late April, we had a guest preacher dressed in very fine western wear preach a Sunday morning sermon at our church.   The guest preacher claimed to be a Texan and was moving his Western Clothing business from Texas to Alabama.

After the guest preacher's sermon that included references to the Alamo, I went up to him, knowing he would appreciate my question, and I asked, "Did you have a good San Jacinto Day?"

He answered, "I'm not familiar with a San Jacinto Day.  I lived in the southeastern part of Texas."

I replied, "Sir, you are NOT a Texan!!"

 

The guest preacher got very upset with my comment and complained to our pastor.  The guest preacher wanted our pastor to invite him back to preach a one-week Revival.  Our pastor did not extend an invitation.

 

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

23F8DFC0-4079-4154-B4CE-7B1E0C6ED2ED.jpeg

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