Program Information

In the history of Texas no place is more hallowed than the ruins of Mission San Antonio de Valero, and no event more revered than its defense by a handful of Texas patriots and hangers on in early March 1836.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: For 400 years service men and women have fought to carve out and defend freedom and the civilization we know as America. This series on A Moment in Time is devoted to the memory of those warriors, whose sacrifice gave, in the words of Lincoln at Gettysburg, the last full measure.

Content: In the history of Texas no place is more hallowed than the ruins of Mission San Antonio de Valero and no event more revered than its defense by a handful of Texas patriots and hangers on in early March 1836. Of the men who led the defenders of the Alamo the names James Bowie and Davey Crockett bore legends long before they arrived on the scene, but the real leader, the man who planned and executed the almost hopeless resistance to the vast army of Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was William Barret Travis. His gritty determination transformed the stand by some 150 so-called “Texicans” into a real blood-match and an inspirational rallying cry that led to Santa Anna’s humiliation by Sam Houston at San Jacinto and eventually Texas independence.

Travis was born in Saluda County, South Carolina, but migrated with his family to Alabama and there read for the law and also became a newspaper publisher. Suddenly, in 1831, for mysterious reasons, he left his family and departed for Texas. Practicing law in the coastal village of Anahuac, Travis soon became active among the advocates for Texas independence. This brought him in early 1836 to San Antonio and a shared command with Bowie during the 13-day siege of the Alamo by Santa Anna. His pleas for help to the outside world have inspired the generations, particularly his most famous, “To the people of Texas and the world, I shall never surrender or retreat…VICTORY OR DEATH.” He was among the first to fall when the attack began on March 6, 1836.

At the University of Richmond, I'm Dan Roberts.

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