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Post by alamonorth on Mar 26, 2010 15:54:41 GMT -5
Based on Santa Anna's attack order of March 5,why was only Cos's column given crowbars and axes and did they have a particular objective. If other columns were supposed to seize Alamo entrances, why were they not similarily armed.
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Post by marklemon on Mar 26, 2010 17:58:30 GMT -5
Ken, According to Sanchez-Navarro, Cos' objective area was the northwest salient, or corner, upon which was placed Fortin de Condelle, a two-gun battery believed to have consisted of a long nine pounder, and a six pounder ( although the identity of this last gun may be subject to change in the near future). It was most likely apparent from direct observation by the Mexican officers surveying the compound prior to the assault, that the west wall was the only face of the fort with easily accessible windows and doors. Hence, the crowbars and axes. The low barrack may be an exception, as it had several low windows facing the south, but the objective of the cazadores was the main gate, not necessarily the low barrack. As a result, these implements must not have been deemed helpful in achieving that goal. As a matter of fact, the lack of crowbars, or at least, axes, may be a significant circumstantial factor in confirming that no attack was ever intended, or executed, along the palisade, as they certainly would have been employed against the abatis, if this area was ever intended to be a target. Mark
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Post by alamonorth on Mar 26, 2010 19:49:06 GMT -5
What I find even more enigmatic about the axes and crowbars is how few were distibuted if the west wall, with its several ground level doors and windows, was a targeted area.From my understanding of the assault, Cos was intended to strike the NW corner and not necessarily the west wall. Mark's book shows no doors or gates on the north wall and the closest door on the west wall would probably have been useless anyway, given the gun ramp.This brings me to my totally unsubstantiated pet theory. I think that the attack on March 6 was all about capturing the two northern batteries and the 18 pounder. This would explain the distribution of ladders and the lack of axes and crowbars. The gates or other ingresses were never really prime targets. Lets face it 100 men could probably not capture the south gate through the lunette. Maybe, some of you experts in Napoleonic warfare can tell us whether attacking armies went for the gates or for control of the artillery.
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Post by marklemon on Mar 26, 2010 20:33:55 GMT -5
While it's true that there were no known gates or doors along the north wall, even before it was reinforced by earth and logs (which would have effectively sealed any that may have been there before), there was at least one important west-wall doorway at a point near the northwest corner, as well as a number of sealed up windows facing west. Mexican accounts tell of soldados forcing entry at these points, and crowbars and axes would have been the tools of choice for this type of work. Troops forcing entry at these openings, most of which were a bit south of the northwest corner, would have immediately been in the rear of the NW battery, and then would quickly have had the position effectively surrounded. Capturing it would then become a fait accompli'. The axes and crowbars were, it seems to me, very practically placed where they would do the most good, or bad, according to which side of the wall one was on.
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Post by alamonorth on Mar 26, 2010 20:58:11 GMT -5
Mark, if the west wall was that vulnerable why was it not more of a major target and secondly why the paucity of axes and crowbars.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Mar 26, 2010 22:01:17 GMT -5
Ken, I've always believed that the artillery position in the SW corner was the target of the Morales force. I haven't seen any compelling evidence that they first attacked the palisade, then shifted. Jim
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Post by alamonorth on Mar 26, 2010 22:27:02 GMT -5
I truly abhor getting into theoretical scenarios,but an attack on the west wall did not have to come from the west. Mexicans coming from the south and north, once they got close enough to the walls were in a position to gain entrance. This appears to be what happened to the northern column. If it was planned I am sure they would have been better prepared with the proper tools. Two axes and two crowbars just don't get it done or given the facts maybe it does.
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Post by marklemon on Mar 26, 2010 23:48:04 GMT -5
Mark, if the west wall was that vulnerable why was it not more of a major target and secondly why the paucity of axes and crowbars. Ken, A couple of thins come to mind: 1. I don't think I said that the west wall was "that" vulnerable. I only said that it had a series of sealed openings along its length that corresponded with the old mission-period Indian houses. These houses provided good platforms for riflemen along a significant portion of its length. The height of the houses, and the walls connecting them together, were made, in effect, higher by the slope that ran downhill just outside the wall, which leads me to: 2. The Mexican's could not practically or effectively mount a full-on infantry assault against the west wall due to the precipitous drop-off in terrain going west from the west wall, and falling down to the river. Today, this fall-off is disguised by modern build-up, but you get a pretty good idea of how drastic is was by simply walking down the Paseo Del Alamo to the San Antonio River. This drop-off is less pronounced at the north end of the west wall, which is where Cos obliqued his men around to attack at that point. So I think you can see that the west wall was never really in danger from a head on attack. Rather, it was more effectively assaulted by an oblique maneuver such as Cos conducted.
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Post by alamonorth on Mar 27, 2010 1:06:02 GMT -5
Mark, I totally agree with you.In my comments just previous to your last one, I said that an attack on the west wall did not have to come from the west.I probably should have said that an attack from the west was not feasible. I was just suggesting that Mexicans coming from the north or south could gain access through the west wall ,even though it was defensible as page 43 of your book shows. What perplexes me is why such a shortage of wood smashing tools. Of course in my scenario the west wall ,apart from the 18 pounder, was an afterthought to capturing the north wall bastions.
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Post by marklemon on Mar 27, 2010 11:05:09 GMT -5
Ken, In the absence of specific data, any theory we put forth about something like the number of crowbars or axes supplied to Cos's column will always be just pure speculation. Either the number supplied was seen as sufficient to the purpose, or else some other reason is responsible. For example, many wagons broke down and were abandoned along the way during the Mexican march to San Antonio. Perhaps a wagon filled with tools became mired in the mud and had to be left behind, along with its contents. Pure and utter speculation, of course, but you see my reasoning. There are any number of factors, from the intentional, as well as the accidental, that come into play, and we'll just never know for sure. My personal guess is that the number supplied was seen as sufficient to gain entry to several windows and doors facing west at the north end of the west wall. And there was really nowhere else, excluding the west wall, where such tools would really be necessary to the assaulting columns' purposes.
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Post by stuart on Mar 27, 2010 16:49:39 GMT -5
Interesting discussion, but I think there's probably a simple explanation in there somewhere. While those tools might be seem to be useful for "wood smashing", it may be more specific than that. Firefighters of my acquaintance are prone to referring to axes as a universal key and to my mind the fact that a very limited number of tools was issued to just one of the assaulting columns sggests that it had a very limited objective in mind and that one (just one) of the windows or doors described by Mark (or even that ground level gun embrasure) had been identified as a vulnerable point worth assaulting, as an alternative to escalading the wall
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Post by alamonorth on Apr 12, 2010 14:15:10 GMT -5
Just as a point of interest, Gary Zaboly's painting ' A Moment in Time' shows a Mexican with an ax probably exactly where he should have been.
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Post by garyzaboly on Apr 19, 2010 16:07:45 GMT -5
Just as a point of interest, Gary Zaboly's painting ' A Moment in Time' shows a Mexican with an ax probably exactly where he should have been. Glad you noticed that, North. Sharp eye! In fact Cos' original objective had been the north wall's wooden outerwork. Equipping soldiers with axes to attack such positions was ROTE in the military manuals of the period. The Alamo had a lot of wood covering many parts of its exterior, much more than we have imagined...
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