[Tupelo]

I have read a little of Pena's Journal and find it pretty believable. That said, it takes nothing away from what 180 men did in 13 days in late February and early March 1836.
They stalled Santa Anna's Army long enough for Sam Houston to get the manpower and get them trained enough to defeat Santa Anna at San Jacinto.
Since The Mexican army at that time was probably one of the strongest in the America's this was no mean feat. In fact it was one hell of a heroic feat.

[BenKenobi]

I don’t know if you’ve ever played war games, but it’s really a miracle that San Jacinto resulted in a Texan victory.

I find that despite my best efforts, I cannot replicate what Sam Houston succeeded. I have managed to survive a Mexican attack, but it’s incredibly difficult.

[bcsco]

The Pena document is not new as this suggests and has been debated for years. It takes nothing away from the heroic stance made at the Alamo, but frankly puts Santa Ana in a very bad light for slaughtering the remaining defenders (Crockett included). And it takes nothing away from the memory of David Crockett. Whether he died swinging Betsy, or slaughtered, he’s still an American hero. Yet, there’s always the chance the one they thought was Crockett was someone else.

[Scoutmaster]

They stalled Santa Anna's Army long enough for Sam Houston to get the manpower and get them trained enough to defeat Santa Anna at San Jacinto.

Thanks.

Defeat is a mild word for what Santa Anna suffered. We (and I use the term advisedly; my ancestor was there) Texans killed around 630 Mexican soldiers and captured over 700, while losing only nine men.

According to historians, the battle lasted eighteen minutes (but we continued shooting the Mexican soldiers wallowing in the bayou for another hour; and if you have a problem with that you should read about Goliad).

Even if we held the Alamo for only twenty minutes (after thirteen days), that's longer than the eighteen minutes at San Jacinto.