History for the day: 1836: Alamo defenders call for help

History.com has this for 24 February:

On 24 February 1836, in San Antonio, Texas, Colonel William Travis issued a call for help on behalf of the Texian troops defending the Alamo, an old Spanish mission and fortress under attack by the Mexican army.A native of Alabama, Travis moved to the then-Mexican state of Texas in 1831. He soon became a leader of the growing movement to overthrow the Mexican government and establish an independent Texan republic. When the Texas revolution began in 1835, Travis became a lieutenant-colonel in the revolutionary army, and was given command of troops in the recently captured city of San Antonio de Bexar (now San Antonio). On 23 February 1836, a large Mexican force commanded by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana arrived suddenly in San Antonio. Travis and his troops took shelter in the Alamo, where they were soon joined by a volunteer force led by Colonel James Bowie.Though Santa Ana’s five thousand troops heavily outnumbered the several hundred Texans, Travis and his men determined not to give up. On 24 February, they answered Santa Ana’s call for surrender with a shot from the Alamo’s cannon. Furious, the Mexican general ordered his forces to launch a siege. Travis immediately recognized his disadvantage, and sent out several messages via couriers, asking for reinforcements. Addressing one of the pleas to The People of Texas and All Americans in the World, Travis signed off with the now-famous phrase,Victory or Death.Only thirty men from the nearby town of Gonzales responded to Travis’ call for help and, beginning at 0530 on 6 March, Mexican forces stormed the Alamo through a gap in the fort’s outer wall, killing Travis, Bowie, and two hundred of their men. Despite the loss of the fort, the Texian troops managed to inflict huge losses on their enemy, killing at least six hundred of Santa Ana’s men.

The brave defense of the Alamo became a powerful symbol for the Texas revolution, helping the rebels turn the tide in their favor. At the crucial Battle of San Jacinto on 21 April, a thousand Texan soldiers commanded by Sam Houston defeated Santa Ana’s army of twelve hundred men, spurred on by cries of Remember the Alamo! The next day, after Texian forces captured Santa Ana himself, the general issued orders for all Mexican troops to pull back across the Rio Grande. On 14 May 1836, Texas officially became an independent republic.

Rico says that Texas is still unique...