Two affronts that were committed by Santa Anna on the first
day of the Alamo siege were probably aimed directly at Jim Bowie. First Santa Anna hung his blood-red, death-flag from the top of the San Fernando Cathedral bell tower, then he placed his
first battery of cannon in the backyard of the Veramendi Palace. Better sites were available for both.
The death flag was located over a mile from the Alamo and
could barely be seen from the walls, while the
cannon could have been placed closer to the Alamo, with better cover, and still
across the river from, and beyond the range of the Alamo sharpshooters.
The sites Santa Anna did choose were both significant in the
life of Jim Bowie. In the San Fernando
Cathedral, on April 25, 1831, Bowie had married Maria-Ursula-Fructuosa
Veramendi-Navarro, the beautiful daughter of the Vice-Governor of the Mexican
state of Coahuila-Tejas. In September,
1833, as the senior male member of the Veramendi family, Bowie had gained
control of the Veramendi Palace, when his wife and children, and her parents, all
died from Cholera.
After joining the Catholic Church and swearing allegiance to
Mexico in 1830, Bowie had given every indication that he intended to become an exemplary,
Mexican citizen. But, following the
death of his Texas family, Bowie became an instigator and leader in acts of
rebellion against Santa Anna and his government.
Without a doubt these acts would have caused Santa Anna to
consider Bowie a turncoat.
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