Mod The Sims - Wanderlust

The Death of David Crockett
Our only eyewitness account of Crockett's death is from a Mexican source, the de la Pena diary. The kneejerk reaction of many people learning of it is, that it is not to be trusted because of anti-Texan bias; but having read the diary in translation I can tell you, this is far from the case. De la Pena hated Santa Ana, and the account is 100% creditable to Crockett and excoriates Santa Ana and his cronies mercilessly. I have no doubt whatever of its truth.

That said, I'm writing this story out from memory rather than working from sources, because that's the only way to tell any part of the Story of the Alamo. These are facts that are also Legend and they need that improvisational edge for full impact.

What the Disney version may not have made quite clear to you is, that Crockett was the prototype of the American self-made celebrity. He was a household name. He was also, in 1836, getting a bit long in the tooth (in his 50s IIRC) and had just come off a frustrating and disappointing term in office. When he departed Congress he is reputed to have told that august body: "Y'all can go to hell. I'm going to Texas."

The other important thing that almost everyone forgets these days is that Texas was not the only Mexican province rebelling. When Santa Ana, the self-styled "Napoleon of the West," became President of Mexico, he unilaterally abandoned the Constitution of 1824 and all the laws and rules that went with it, and substituted his own authority for the authority of law. He was able to keep control of Central and Southern Mexico, but all three of the northernmost Mexican provinces - Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Texas - were sufficiently far away from his center of power that they were able to rebel. We call this the Texan Revolution nowadays because Texas was the only province that succeeded in its rebellion.

It is not clear to me how much of the ins-and-outs of Mexican politics Crockett understood. He was in Congress, after all; he might have been completely up on it. Or he might only have paid attention to the published appeals that Texans made to the people and governments of the US, through the newspapers, for assistance in their fight for liberty. Texas was where the freedom-loving action was, so Texas was where he went, along with a dozen or so men known to history as "Kentucky long-rifles," a bit small for a military unit, but game for a fight and accepting Crockett as their military commander. So Crockett and his long-rifles are in the Alamo when Santa Ana comes, and they stick it out till the bitter end. The Mexican troops had already overrun the compound when the company doctor found him and the survivors of his men barricaded in a defensible position, but low on ammunition and conserving their firing.

When Santa Ana ordered the playing of a tune called "De Guello," a war signal meaning that no quarter would be given, no prisoners taken, neither de la Pena nor the doctor nor many of the men were comfortable with it. And the doctor wasn't even a combatant, and he spoke English well, so the soldiers with him didn't hinder him from asking the men behind the barricade to identify themselves. And when Crockett replied, they knew who he was. They'd all read his book and followed his adventures in the international press. The doctor was thrilled; and he immediately realized that Crockett was more valuable alive than dead. Here was somebody highly ransomable and good for publicity. Surely even Santa Ana wouldn't have ordered "no quarter" if he'd known someone so famous was among the defenders! So he took it on himself to talk Crockett into surrendering, giving his word that Crockett's men would be treated well.

Now, there's no reason to think that Crockett knew what the de Guello meant, unless someone told him; and even if they had, he wouldn't know how seriously to take it. And he'd already lost some of the young men who had followed him so eagerly, looking for adventure. He, and he alone, was responsible for the lives of his long-rifles, who were probably looking very young and vulnerable to him by them; and the battle was essentially finished. If they died now, they died to no purpose. So he made terms with the doctor.

When Santa Ana found out he was livid. What part of "no quarter" had the doctor not understood? He went to see his prisoners and shut down all the doctor's arguments, ordering his men to slaughter them.

The Mexican foot soldiers looked at each other, shuffled their feet, and did nothing. Not only was this The Famous Davy Crockett, but the doctor had given his word and they had surrendered in good faith; and Crockett was not looking well at all. The 13-day siege had taken its toll on him, so that de la Pena describes him as "el ancien" - not just old, but ancient. The foot soldiers knew that, de Guello or no de Guello, orders or no orders, killing him was wrong, and now that the heat of battle was over, they did not want to do it. Seeing this reluctance, Santa Ana turned impatiently to his hand-picked yes-men, his European officers, whose loyalty was personal to him and the favors he provided, uncomplicated by ethics or patriotism, and ordered them to do it. Which they did. With their ceremonial swords.

Crockett didn't speak Spanish, unless he picked up a little around the fort; but according to de la Pena he understood the tone and body language of the conversation well enough. No doubt if he could have at that point, he'd have gone down fighting. But the doctor had collected their arms when he gave his word. De la Pena says he never saw men die with more dignity and honor, or be killed with more disgusting barbarity.

People don't like to think that Crockett surrendered. The Blaze of Glory is more satisfactory, and the assumption is that surrender is disgraceful. Certainly Crockett did not live by a set of standards that made surrender a desirable thing. But he was responsible for more than his own life there at the Alamo, and he had seen a lot of death that day, and he recognized a reasonable man when he spoke to the doctor. So he took the steps he could to save his men, and that's braver and more inspiring than all the going-down-fighting he could have done.