Archaeologists have uncovered an intact bronze cannon ball that was used on Battle of the Alamo. They made the discovery a day before the 190th anniversary of the historic conflict between Mexican troops and white settlers in Texas.
Alamo’s Director of Archaeology, Tiffany Lindleyannounced the find in an episode of Alamo’s podcast, “Stories bigger than Texas“, Thursday (March 19).
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The Alamo is a historic Spanish mission and fortress built in 1718 in what is now San Antonio, Texas. It was the site of an important battle in 1836 in the Texas Revolution, when Anglo-American settlers in Texas seceded from the Republic of Mexico.
During a 12-day siege, thousands of Mexican troops commanded by General Antonio López de Santa Anna surrounded the Alamo, which was defended by a small group of about 180 Texan rebels led by William Travis, James Bowie, and Davy Crockett. The Mexican army launched an attack on March 6, 1836, killing all of the Alamo’s defenders. During later skirmishes in the Texas Revolution, soldiers shouted “Remember the Alamo!” when they fought Mexican troops for independence.
In early March, the archeology team worked near northeast corner of the churchwho had been part of the Spanish mission, when they discovered the cannonball buried about 3 feet (0.9 m) below the surface.
“I basically sprinted over to the unit,” Colby LanhamAlamo’s senior researcher and historian said in the podcast. “It’s a literal artifact from the Battle of the Alamo, and you’re holding it for the first time since the battle happened.”
Lanham noted that the artifact is a 4-pound (1.8 kilogram) bronze bullet, which is the type of ammunition used by the Mexican army. The Texans, on the other hand, preferred iron cannonballs.
“I would say with a fair amount of certainty that this is a Mexican Army cannonball and that it was probably fired at the Battle of the Alamo or could have been during the 12-day siege,” Lanham said. “This artifact waited 190 years to be pulled out of the ground.”
In addition to the intact ball, the archaeologists found four cannonball fragments outside the church. At least one of those fragments is likely from the Battle of the Alamo, Lindley said. But the fragments are from hollow balls that were likely fired by the Mexican army from a short-barreled cannon called a howitzer, said Lanham, whose team is now working to put the fragments back together.
Archaeological and historical work is ongoing at the Alamo, and researchers are regularly recovering new information and artifacts such as the cannonballs. “Things like this change the history of the Alamo,” Lanham said.
The Alamo recently marked the 190th anniversary of the battle on March 6.
“We found this cannonball on March 5,” Lindley said, “the day before the commemoration. I’m getting chills now just thinking about it.”
