<P> Several months previously, Texians had driven all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas . About 100 Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo . The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis . On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas . For the next 10 days, the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties . Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies, but the Texians were reinforced by fewer than 100 men . </P> <P> In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo . After repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack . As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian soldiers withdrew into interior buildings . Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape . Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed . Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texians died, while most historians of the Alamo agree that around 600 Mexicans were killed or wounded . Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat . The news sparked both a strong rush to join the Texian army and a panic, known as "The Runaway Scrape", in which the Texian army, most settlers, and the new Republic of Texas government fled from the advancing Mexican Army . </P> <P> Within Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican--American War of 1846--48 . In 19th - century Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle site rather than a former mission . The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the early part of the 20th century and designated the Alamo chapel as an official Texas State Shrine . The Alamo is now "the most popular tourist site in Texas". The Alamo has been the subject of numerous non-fiction works beginning in 1843 . Most Americans, however, are more familiar with the myths and legends spread by many of the movie and television adaptations, including the 1950s Disney mini-series Davy Crockett and John Wayne's 1960 film The Alamo . </P> <P> Under President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government began to shift away from a federalist model . The increasingly dictatorial policies, including the revocation of the Constitution of 1824 in early 1835, incited many federalists to revolt . The border region of Mexican Texas was largely populated by immigrants from the United States . These people were accustomed to a federalist government and to extensive individual rights, and they were quite vocal in their displeasure at Mexico's shift towards centralism . Already suspicious after previous American attempts to purchase Mexican Texas, Mexican authorities blamed much of the Texian unrest on American immigrants, most of whom had made little effort to adapt to the Mexican culture . </P>

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