Why Didn’t They Just Retreat?

At the very least, Santa Anna arrived at the Alamo twenty-two days before he was expected.  Why didn’t Travis lead a retreat?

Question - Was Travis afraid that the men who were loyal to Bowie would not follow an order to abandon the Alamo?

 

Answer - The men would probably have obeyed Travis because on the second day of the siege Bowie had ordered them to.

Question – Were the Alamo and the heavy artillery located there strategically important?

Answer – The Texicans had proved in December, 1835, that they could take the Alamo from the Mexican army and they could probably have done it again.  Most of the artillery in the Alamo was probably too heavy to be removed and used in the field.

Question – Was there a place for them to retreat to and still delay Santa Anna?

Answer – They could probably have withdrawn to Goliad where Fannin and three-hundred men were waiting in the Presidio La Bahia, which was an actual Spanish fort, not a mission like the Alamo.

Question – Would they have been able to escape through the Mexican lines?

Answer – As late as the eighth day of the thirteen day siege it was proven that the Mexican army lines were permeable when thirty-two men from Gonzales rode through the lines and into the Alamo without being detected.