Enrique Esparza And The Battle Of The Alamo

Describes what happened during the siege at the Alamo in 1836, as experienced by young Enrique Esparza and his family, and includes a script and instructions for staging a theatrical performance of this adventure.

In early 1836, trouble broke out in Texas. Texas was part of Mexico, yet many of its settlers wanted to fight for independence. Mexican General Santa Anna and his army came to battle the Texans in San Antonio at the Alamo. Eight-year-old Enrique Esparza witnessed the battle. His father was a soldier with the Texas army. The whole Esparza family had taken shelter at the Alamo, but they knew it might be dangerous. Would they survive? In the back of this book, you’ll find a script and instructions for putting on a reader’s theater performance of this adventure. At our companion website—www.historyspeaksbooks.com—you can download additional copies of the script plus sound effects, background images, and more ideas that will help make your reader’s theater performance a success.

Eyewitness to the Alamo is the actual account of the siege and Battle of the Alamo by those who were present during the attack. This book is the first complete accounting of the Battle of the Alamo by one of our country's foremost authorities on the event.

A collection of all known Tejano accounts of the Battle of the Alamo. As Mexican soldiers fought the mostly Anglo-American colonists and volunteers at the Alamo in 1836, San Antonio’s Tejano population was caught in the crossfire, both literally and symbolically. Though their origins were in Mexico, the Tejanos had put down lasting roots in Texas and did not automatically identify with the Mexican cause. Indeed, as the accounts in this new collection demonstrate, their strongest allegiance was to their fellow San Antonians, with whom they shared a common history and a common plight as war raged in their hometown. Timothy M. Matovina here gathers all known Tejano accounts of the Battle of the Alamo. These accounts consist of first reports of the battle, including Juan N. Seguín’s funeral oration at the interment ceremony of the Alamo defenders, conversations with local Tejanos, unpublished petitions and depositions, and published accounts from newspapers and other sources. This communal response to the legendary battle deepens our understanding of the formation of Mexican American consciousness and identity. “A fascinating and much needed anthology of Tejano accounts of America's most storied battle. . . . There are no books like it in the field, despite considerable publishing on the Alamo and the Texas revolt.” —Paul Hutton, Executive Director, Western History Association “The first full-scale collection offers a rich insight into the formation of Mexican American identity in San Antonio. . . . [The book] speaks eloquently to a general audience trying to gain a more balanced perspective of the storied conflict [at the Alamo].” —Review of Texas Books “Matovina’s message is that historians who concentrate on the question of which side [Tejanos] joined or did not join miss the larger point: for the Tejanos themselves, the choice of sides during the revolt was not the overriding issue of their lives, nor was it the touchstone of their identity. What the Tejano accounts of the Alamo show, Matovina argues, is that the divisions engendered by the revolution failed to destroy what remained “an amazingly cohesive community” in which families, friends, and neighbors split apart by the war reunited in harmony in its aftermath.” —Southwestern Historical Quarterly

First published in 2000, J. R. Edmondson's The Alamo Story: From Early History to Current Conflicts thoroughly examines the famous "Shrine of Texas Liberty" from its origin as a Spanish New World mission to its modern status. It has been lauded as the “best" and "most readable” of all historical accounts devoted to the legendary mission-fortress. The original edition has been celebrated for over twenty years for its comprehensive approach to Alamo scholarship and for presenting the famous battle in the context of both American and Mexican history. This second edition of The Alamo Story includes new information about the battle and those involved, including expanded stories on the roles of minorities and some illustrations by noted artist Mark Lemon. The book also features a new chapter on Benjamin Rush Milam's assault on San Antonio with only three hundred Texians, the battle that set the stage for the siege of the Alamo less than three months later. And there is an extensive epilogue on the present-day conflicts about the physical Alamo compound, as historic preservationists clash with political and popular opinions in San Antonio.

"Remember the Alamo!" is still a rallying cry more than 175 years after the siege in Texas, where a small band of men held off about two thousand soldiers of the Mexican Army for twelve days. The Alamo was a crucial turning point in the Texas Revolution, and led to the creation of the Republic of Texas. With 80 black-and-white illustrations throughout and a sixteen-page black-and-white photo insert, young readers will relive this famous moment in Texas history.

Retelling of a classic story of the siege of the Alamo told from the unique viewpoint of a 12-year old boy.