In March 1836, the Mexican army led by General Santa Anna massacred about 200-250 Texans who had been trapped in a church in San Antonio for thirteen days. The devastating loss galvanised the surviving Texans. Under General Sam Houston, a maverick with a rocky past, the tiny army of settlers rallied. Just one month after the massacre, the underdog Texans soundly defeated the 'Napoleon of the West' (as Santa Anna styled himself) at the Battle of San Jacinto. Thanks to Kilmeade's storytelling, a new generation of readers will remember the Alamo.
