Not long after Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, hundreds of hardy frontiersmen from the United States settled in Texas after the Mexican government made them an attractive offer. Fertile land and protection by a fair and stable government was promised to anyone willing to establish a homestead in Texas, and soon more than 25,000 colonists from the United States were in Texas, forging a new life alongside their native-born Mexican neighbors. By 1830, however, Pres. Antonio López de Santa Anna had assumed dictatorial power in Mexico. His policies and those of the new "Centralist" government were enacted to terrify the American colonists (Texians) and Mexicans (Tejanos) who were seeking protection of the rights originally promised to them by the Mexican government. What resulted was the Texas Revolution--the bloody battle for the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto--effectively ending Mexican control of the province and giving rise to the Republic of Texas. Unlike many of its predecessors in the study of the Texas Revolution, this detailed and candid history provides a focused study of the lesser-known frontiersmen and their Mexican allies, along with the women and children they protected. Rich in first-person anecdotes recounting the years leading up to the fight for the Alamo, the days spent within its walls, and its aftermath, this well-informed chronicle pays long-due attention to the often-overlooked contributions by Tejanos as well as the thirty-two volunteers from Gonzales who determinedly sought to defend their rights. Enhanced by maps and illustrations devotedly handcrafted into leather by the author, this volume stands out as a unique examination of the joint struggle of the Mexicans and Americans who sought to overthrow Santa Anna's tyranny in the 1830s.

Chapter 1Stage Is Set -- 23 -- Subjugation, Tolerance, or Revolution -- 23 -- Spain Renews Her Claims -- 30 -- Growth and Transition -- 32 -- A Redress of Grievances -- 43 -- Dictator Responds -- 47 -- Chapter 2 Gathering Storm -- 53 -- From Gonzales, Lexington of Texas, to the Alamo -- 53 -- Santa Anna Arrives -- 60 -- Why Texas Was Invaded -- 64 -- Storming of San Antonio de Béxar -- 76 -- Chapter 3 Alamo-Seized and Possessed -- 87 -- To a Few it was Home -- 87 -- Texians React-Retire to the Alamo -- 98 -- Chapter 4 One Day to the Next -- 113 -- To Live, to Survive, to Persevere -- 113 -- A Renewed call for Help -- 116 -- Probe, Attack, and Disengage -- 121 -- Message Received-Loud and Clear -- 123 -- Twenty-fifth, a Pivot for Days to Follow -- 127 -- Chapter 5 Project and Defend -- 132 -- To the Relief of Our Boys -- 141 -- At the Alamo, They Wait -- 155 -- And Still They Come -- 161 -- Chapter 6 Repair to the Field of War -- 167 -- A State Ordained -- 167 -- What Manner of Men -- 168 -- Sustain Yourselves till We Can Help -- 171 -- From Rebellion to Revolution -- 176 -- A Regathering Storm -- 179 -- Two Days till Martyrdom -- 184 -- Chapter 7 Muerte a Los Diablo Tejanos -- 197 -- At Dawn's Early Light -- 210 -- Chapter 8 Fire and Fall Back -- 219 -- Runaway Scrape -- 223 -- Fannin Makes His Move -- 228 -- Houston Resumes His March -- 235 -- A Capitulation Dishonored -- 237 -- Chapter 9 Road to San Jacinto -- 244 -- Respite, Regroup, and Renew -- 250 -- Bee Line for the Bayou -- 253 -- March to Dress Rehearsal -- 258 -- Chapter 10 A Lone Star Is Born -- 267.