UKReb
Command Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2007
- Messages
- 2,436
I have been working on this project-on & off- for quite a few months. I personally have been fascinated with this part of Texas/US history since I was a kid and have been very impressed at the few outstanding Alamo dios that members have posted here on the forum. But rather than try to imitate their excellent work I thought I'd have a go at telling the story of that final assault and the annihilation of the Texan defenders.
The following are just a few experimental set-up shots of the progress so far before I include the figures and a bit of an intro in what I'm attempting to depict. This part of the dio is almost complete although I am still working on the plaza and long barracks area.
The Alamo and Gettysburg have to be the two most well known battles fought on American soil. But unlike Gettysburg which had thousands of Confederate and Union survivors-The Alamo had none who actually witnessed the final assault except the Mexican. Susanna Dickinson left the sanctuary of the chapel only after the battle had ended with all the defenders dead and her post testimony kept changing depending on who she was talking to, likewise the slaves of Bowie and Travis also survived and may have witnessed certain parts of the final assault but all we have is Travis's man "Joe" recording Travis's death after that he hid until the guns fell silent.
Subsequently, and exactly the same as The Little Big Horn (gotta be the third most famous battle on American soil) which only had in the most part unreliable Indian accounts, we are left with the Mexican written version. There is indeed a plethora of books and films on the subject but amongst the text they inevitably contradict each other on that final desperate fight.
So how does one try to dispel the myth that Hollywood in particular has weaned us all on? Simply by going back to the original sources which in the main are of Mexican origin.
I have read dozens of Alamo books and like most of you seen all the movie versions at least a dozen times. However, three Mexican accounts I have found indispensable as comparators with other authors are:
Colonel Juan Almonte's Private Journal
Captain Jose Sanchez Navarro's La Guerra de Tejos
Jose Enrique de la Pena-La Rebelion de Texas-this was originally published in 1836 but repressed by the authorities-when re-published in 1955 it caused a furore especially amongst Texans, because it was the first account of Crockett surrendering and trying to talk himself out of being executed.
The 180 or so men who manned these ramparts were a pretty disparate bunch. Some were illiterate frontiersmen others educated professionals, physicians, lawyers and even a Baptist preacher. They were as young as sixteen and as old as 59 years, they came from 18 states with three brothers from Tennessee, 28 came from England, Scotland and Ireland. Most were unknowns, part of the faceless crowd that passes unheralded through history but I'll try and bring some of them to life through this hobby of ours.
The figures I'll be using will be in the main well known to most of you-although there are a few conversions and specially commissioned pieces. The main chapel structure is from K&C with a new paint finish, I had intended to construct the main walls from foam. However, my pathetic attempts were an abject failure, just didn't pass the final inspection test- I raise my kepi to the skill of the likes of Alex and Tim who continue to turn out excellent foam structures- it's definitely not in my bag of capabilities and as Dirty Harry said
"A man has to know his own limitations".
Consequently, for the main walls I reverted to Barszo's adobe range. The South Pallisade is John Jenkins the ramparts/chapel lookout/thatched building/small walls/long barrack rooms/ladders etc are all scratch built. The original plan was to construct walls from the gun lunette at the main gate up to the north wall but what you see now and the plaza is approaching 20 square feet and I've run out of space
The characters depicted in the story and their back-grounds will be as accurate as I have been able to research. However, the words they will utter are mine with the exception of a few statements that were recorded. Where I have been unable to confirm events I will revert to the myth we all know for which I make no apology. A couple of examples that come to mind:- no one witnessed and recorded Bowie's death so was he delirious with fever unable to move or did he take out a half dozen Mexican Soldados with pistols and knife before dying himself?
Where did Crockett die? We have de la Pena's account of the execution but was it Crockett? Susanna Dickinson also stated she saw his body amongst a pile of dead Mexicans as she left the chapel-but the shock of losing her husband and her fear for the safety of her daughter would she have noticed Crocketts prone figure amongst the rest of the dead?
Truth is no one who knew him saw him fall and lived to tell of it and if you have read any number of Alamo tomes-Crockett died everywhere!
All we do know is he did perish and I suppose if you think about it his end fitted the life of a legend-for as they say- When no one see's a legend die, the legend lives on!
So if the creek don't rise and breaks the levee the next chapter might well be;
"The Battle Begins"
The following are just a few experimental set-up shots of the progress so far before I include the figures and a bit of an intro in what I'm attempting to depict. This part of the dio is almost complete although I am still working on the plaza and long barracks area.
The Alamo and Gettysburg have to be the two most well known battles fought on American soil. But unlike Gettysburg which had thousands of Confederate and Union survivors-The Alamo had none who actually witnessed the final assault except the Mexican. Susanna Dickinson left the sanctuary of the chapel only after the battle had ended with all the defenders dead and her post testimony kept changing depending on who she was talking to, likewise the slaves of Bowie and Travis also survived and may have witnessed certain parts of the final assault but all we have is Travis's man "Joe" recording Travis's death after that he hid until the guns fell silent.
Subsequently, and exactly the same as The Little Big Horn (gotta be the third most famous battle on American soil) which only had in the most part unreliable Indian accounts, we are left with the Mexican written version. There is indeed a plethora of books and films on the subject but amongst the text they inevitably contradict each other on that final desperate fight.
So how does one try to dispel the myth that Hollywood in particular has weaned us all on? Simply by going back to the original sources which in the main are of Mexican origin.
I have read dozens of Alamo books and like most of you seen all the movie versions at least a dozen times. However, three Mexican accounts I have found indispensable as comparators with other authors are:
Colonel Juan Almonte's Private Journal
Captain Jose Sanchez Navarro's La Guerra de Tejos
Jose Enrique de la Pena-La Rebelion de Texas-this was originally published in 1836 but repressed by the authorities-when re-published in 1955 it caused a furore especially amongst Texans, because it was the first account of Crockett surrendering and trying to talk himself out of being executed.
The 180 or so men who manned these ramparts were a pretty disparate bunch. Some were illiterate frontiersmen others educated professionals, physicians, lawyers and even a Baptist preacher. They were as young as sixteen and as old as 59 years, they came from 18 states with three brothers from Tennessee, 28 came from England, Scotland and Ireland. Most were unknowns, part of the faceless crowd that passes unheralded through history but I'll try and bring some of them to life through this hobby of ours.
The figures I'll be using will be in the main well known to most of you-although there are a few conversions and specially commissioned pieces. The main chapel structure is from K&C with a new paint finish, I had intended to construct the main walls from foam. However, my pathetic attempts were an abject failure, just didn't pass the final inspection test- I raise my kepi to the skill of the likes of Alex and Tim who continue to turn out excellent foam structures- it's definitely not in my bag of capabilities and as Dirty Harry said
"A man has to know his own limitations".
Consequently, for the main walls I reverted to Barszo's adobe range. The South Pallisade is John Jenkins the ramparts/chapel lookout/thatched building/small walls/long barrack rooms/ladders etc are all scratch built. The original plan was to construct walls from the gun lunette at the main gate up to the north wall but what you see now and the plaza is approaching 20 square feet and I've run out of space
The characters depicted in the story and their back-grounds will be as accurate as I have been able to research. However, the words they will utter are mine with the exception of a few statements that were recorded. Where I have been unable to confirm events I will revert to the myth we all know for which I make no apology. A couple of examples that come to mind:- no one witnessed and recorded Bowie's death so was he delirious with fever unable to move or did he take out a half dozen Mexican Soldados with pistols and knife before dying himself?
Where did Crockett die? We have de la Pena's account of the execution but was it Crockett? Susanna Dickinson also stated she saw his body amongst a pile of dead Mexicans as she left the chapel-but the shock of losing her husband and her fear for the safety of her daughter would she have noticed Crocketts prone figure amongst the rest of the dead?
Truth is no one who knew him saw him fall and lived to tell of it and if you have read any number of Alamo tomes-Crockett died everywhere!
All we do know is he did perish and I suppose if you think about it his end fitted the life of a legend-for as they say- When no one see's a legend die, the legend lives on!
So if the creek don't rise and breaks the levee the next chapter might well be;
"The Battle Begins"
