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Post by davidpenrod on Aug 21, 2012 10:47:57 GMT -5
Also, the Battle of Medina was not the largest battle ever fought Texas soil. That honor goes to Palo Alto in May of 1846, a battle fought near present day Brownsville between the U.S. Army, with 2,500 men, and Mexico's Army of Observation, with 3,500 men.
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Post by davidpenrod on Aug 20, 2012 11:09:09 GMT -5
I dont think the question was about the beginning of Texas history but rather the exclusion of the Battle of Medina as somehow racist. I dont think it is, based upon the exclusion of battles fought on "American" soil before the American Revolution. They were not "American" history so much as British history. However, like I wrote, I think the Medina should be included because it tells us something about Santa Anna's approach to the Texas Revolution, i.e., his decision to execute prisoners.
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Post by davidpenrod on Aug 19, 2012 9:06:35 GMT -5
I dont think the Medina's exclusion from Texas history is necessarily racist. The battle was fought as part of the Mexican Revolution and is therefore not considered part of "Texas" history. How many Americans have ever heard of the Battle of the Monongahela in Pennsylvania (in which Braddock, the British commander, was killed and in which a young George Washington served) or the Massacre of Fort William Henry in New York during the French and Indian War? All fought on "American" soil. All forgotten or ignored. They're not quite "American" enough - although that War, and in particular Braddock's conduct, is where Washington learned to lead men in combat. The same thing is true of the Medina. That campaign is where Santa Anna learned to put down insurrections through his mentor Arradondo - who summarily massacred prisoners and ther families. So, if one is to understand Santa Anna's conduct of the Mexican "invasion" of Texas in 1836, one must first study Arradondo's Medina campaign 25 years earlier. That's why it should be studied in Texas schools - not just because it occured on Texas soil.
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Post by davidpenrod on Aug 6, 2012 9:17:28 GMT -5
Mike, dont't throw it away. Its too damned good looking. You can still salvage it from the ravages of paradigmism! Just follow Doctor Dave's cousel: take two oxycodein with aspirin and three shots of your favorite single malt while hopping around on one leg. Dont forget the cigar. Call me in the morning. Your paradigmism should be cured. If not, its off to the asylum for a nice "rest."
In all seriousness, you're model is better looking than Lemon's and includes more realistic detail. I'm jealous of your skill and craftsmanship.
Are you going to add the whole of the Long Barracks to it?
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Post by davidpenrod on Aug 2, 2012 9:48:26 GMT -5
Paul, I looked online at places like Amazon and Netflix and could not find the full length version in DVD - but Amazon has the full length director's cut in VHS. There are actually many different lengths out there:
US: 167 min UK: 203 min (25 fps) (director's cut) (1993 video release) USA: 140 min (1967 re-release) USA: 192 min (roadshow version)
Unfortunately, the UK version, which is the "fulll length" one, cannot be played on US or Canadian DVD players.
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Post by davidpenrod on Aug 1, 2012 12:19:01 GMT -5
I dont see alcohol consumption on the grounds of a church, especially a Catholic church - where it is the center piece of our Mass - as disrespectful. Also, many Catholic churches have bars in their basements, like mine - although the Alamo apparently does not have a basement. So there's no insult or disrespect there. Furthermore, I have a gut feeling that many of the Alamo defenders would not mind that folks are consuming adult beverages at or near the Shrine - given their own predilections. Except for Travis, of course. I imagine that like most modern soldiers, who are embarrassed, even ashamed, to be called heroes, the Alamo defenders would be a little mortified that somebody had raised a "Shrine" in their honor and considered it a sacred place.
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Post by davidpenrod on Jul 8, 2012 17:09:12 GMT -5
I also have a knife like that, but it was manufactured in Pakistan. Got it online for $40.
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Post by davidpenrod on Jun 21, 2012 20:13:37 GMT -5
By the way, was the Arkansas Gazette the first paper to report on the Alamo's fall? Or were there others?
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Post by davidpenrod on Jun 21, 2012 20:11:23 GMT -5
Allen, thanks for saving me the time and Herculean effort of finding Lord's book in my wretched basement. I remember those details now. The two men in Arkansas and Warnell, if they are to be believed, may have participated in the breakout and successfully avoided the Mexican cavalry's lances. Given the darkness, I wonder if any others succeeded but were never heard from. It bogles the mind to think that men who participated in the siege and the final assault somehow escaped the carnage but their eye-witness testimony was never recorded. I wonder how much of the early Alamo myth-making, which started almost immediately after its fall, was based on stories told by such men?
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Post by davidpenrod on Jun 20, 2012 17:13:26 GMT -5
Didnt Walter Lord document at least 3 cases of men who had succeeded in escaping from the Alamo during the final assault? I thought one of them was wounded. I seem to remember that from A Time to Stand's endnotes.
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Post by davidpenrod on Jun 20, 2012 9:27:01 GMT -5
I've just finished Donovan's book and thoroughly enjoyed it. It reads like a narrative or novel but contains citations and references. Donovan didnt use footnotes or place endnote numbers in the text, thereby keeping the story moving along.
My one criticism (and it is a general one that can be applied to all Alamo histories): I wish Donovan had explored the motivations of the main characters. What was it about that era's culture and society and the men it produced that compelled them to willingly sacrifice themselves? So many of them were young with nascent families and had not fully developed their potentials - but they did not hesitate. Donovan's description of Travis' Anahuac adventures are compelling and we see for the first time Travis's uncompromising willingness to die for his beliefs - but this trait appears out of nowhere, it makes a sudden and very dramatic appearance Nothing in the text beforehand prepares you for it. I'd really like to know what drove these men to their deaths. I dont think our modern society can produce such men.
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Post by davidpenrod on May 23, 2012 12:10:52 GMT -5
Thanks, Mike. Holy Mackerel! That's some effort on your part but it has paid off. Exquisite stuff. What will you do with the model once you are done? You've got to display it.
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Post by davidpenrod on May 22, 2012 17:21:14 GMT -5
Mike, thanks. That's good info. I'm going to try it out on a model of the Long Barracks.
Now that I've lulled you into my confidence, can you reveal how you created that beautiful church facade with all that great detail? Did you carve that out of Balsa also?
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Post by davidpenrod on May 21, 2012 13:10:10 GMT -5
There is a chunk of Alamo wall in the exterior of the Tribune Building in Chicago. Its in the exterior of the first floor, set in concrete. There's a plaque that reads only "The Alamo."
I wonder how many old American families have big chunks of sandstone in the attics or basements of their family homes and wonder what the hell it is and why did great-great-great-grandpa ever collect the thing? Or maybe some of them know what it is. Maybe somebody ought to put out an announcement in the big newspapers asking for information relative to Alamo artifacts in their homes.
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Post by davidpenrod on May 21, 2012 10:37:17 GMT -5
Mike, beautiful model, as usual. I like the fact that you have reduced the amount of "dip" in the parapet of the facade. Gary Zaboly on another thread discussed the probability that the deep "dips" weren't there during the siege but were created after San Jacinto when the Mexicans knocked down the perimeter walls and defensible parapets of the Long Barracks and Church. I think they may have also knocked down the second floor of the room next to the granary - the rubble of which fell into the cloister and caused the central area to collapse - as we see in Everett's diagram of 1846.
Did you use Balsa Foam II for your medium. If so, do you know how to paint the stuff and keep the gritty details gritty?
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