Alamo Snow

Episode Description 

When Texans picture the road to the Alamo, they usually imagine dust, heat, and blistering sun. But in mid-February of 1836, the reality was far colder. 

This episode takes you back to February 13th, when Antonio López de Santa Anna and his army were still weeks from the Alamo—and already locked in a brutal fight against nature itself. A fierce Blue Norther swept across northern Mexico and South Texas, dropping temperatures to record lows and burying marching columns in snow and ice. 

Before the first cannon fired at the Alamo, Santa Anna’s troops were shivering through deep snow, losing men, animals, and supplies to frostbite, exhaustion, and exposure. By the time they reached San Antonio de Béxar, they were anything but fresh. 

This forgotten winter march shaped the condition, morale, and decisions of the Mexican army—effects that would echo from the Alamo all the way to San Jacinto. 

Texas history wasn’t just forged in fire and gunpowder. Sometimes, it was shaped quietly—in snow, darkness, and bitter cold.  

Show Notes 

• Texans often imagine the Alamo campaign as a sun-baked march, but February 1836 told a different story
• A powerful Blue Norther swept across northern Mexico and South Texas around February 13th
• Snow reportedly piled up 15–16 inches deep, with bitter cold gripping the region
• Santa Anna launched a fast winter offensive to surprise Texian rebels before they could organize
• Mexican infantry marched in worn uniforms, thin sandals, and sometimes barefoot through ice and snow
• Supply wagons failed, draft animals died, and frostbite took a heavy toll before any battle began
• Campfires became essential for survival as soaked clothing froze overnight
• By the time Mexican forces reached Texas soil, they had already endured a punishing campaign
• The army that arrived outside the Alamo on February 23rd was exhausted and strained
• Historians argue the winter march affected morale, logistics, and leadership decisions
• The same fatigue and overconfidence would later haunt Santa Anna against Sam Houston at San Jacinto
• February 13th marks a quiet but important turning point in the Texas Revolution
• Long before the famous battles, winter itself became a combatant in Texas history

This isn't just a podcast, it's a Texas state of mind.

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Scene: 1836 In Winter
• 0:25 Santa Anna’s Risky Winter Offensive
• 1:20 Blue Norther Strikes The March
• 2:03 Exhaustion Before The Alamo Siege
• 3:03 From Alamo To San Jacinto
• 5:14 Closing And Next Episode Tease

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:03

Well, hi there. As we dip into our Texas offering for today, the Texan Edge will remind you that Texans often picture the road to the Alamo as a dusty, sun-baked march. But if you roll the calendar back to mid-February of 1836, right around February 13th, you'll find a very different scene. An army shivering its way through snow and bitter cold long before it ever saw the walls of San Antonio de Bejar, and before the first cannon boomed at the Alamo, General Antonio Lopez de Santa and his men were already fighting a battle against the weather. Imagine northern Mexico in February of 1836, not mesquite and heat waves, but a white, wind-bitten landscape. What Texans call a blue northernhead rolled across the Rio Gran Country, dropping temperatures to record lows and piling up deep snow. Reports from the Times speak of roughly 15 to 16 inches on the ground during the worst of it. And along that frozen road, columns of Mexican infantry march in worn uniforms or simple peasant clothes, many in thin sandals or even bare feet, leaving bloody footprints in the snow. And the man driving this winter campaign is Santa Ena, the cell-style Napoleon of the West. In late 1835 and early 1836, he chose a fast winter offensive, hoping to catch the Texian rebels off guard before they could organize a proper army. And on paper, you know what? It looked pretty bold and brilliant. On the ground, though, by mid-February, it was becoming a test of who could outlast the Cole. Now, San Azani's main column crossed the Rio Grande in early 1836 and pushed towards the New Aces River. That was the traditional edge of what Texans considered their settled country. Now the plan was to sweep into Texas, punish the rebels, and make an example of their leaders, especially in San Antonio. But the closer his troops came to that frontier, the worse the weather got. Around February the 13th, the campaign collided with one of those classic blue northers. The temperature plunged, snow and sleet hammered the marching columns, and icy roads wrecked supply wagons and killed draft animals. Campfires became a matter of survival as shivering soldiers crowded around them all night long, trying to dry soaked clothes and thawed frozen boots. Many had never seen cold like this, and they were enduring it far from home, chasing a rebellion that most of them didn't even really understand. This storm turned Santa Ana's confident advance into a slow, grinding ordeal. Every mile towards Texas now cost him men and animals to frostbite, illness, exhaustion, instead of enemy fire. And by the time the vanguard finally reached Texas soil later in February, those troops had already survived one brutal campaign, waged by nature itself. And all this came just days before a moment every Texan knows, the arrival of Mexican forces at the Alamo in the opening of the siege on February 23rd, 1836. And when those soldiers first saw the old mission at San Antonio de Bejar, they were not fresh troops marching out of a warm barrack. They were weary men who had trudged through snow and ice, short on supplies and sleep. The cold had slowed the columns, strained logistics, and quietly weakened the very army Santa Ana was counting on to crush the rebellion. The February storm did not stop Santa Ana. He still reached San Antonio, encircled the Alamo, and launched the siege that ended in the famous battle March 6th. But the march shaped the condition of his army and the mood of its commander, who was already known for being ruthless and impatient. Many historians argue that the strain of this winter campaign combined with Santa Ana's overconfidence helped set the tone for the rest of the Texas campaign. That same mixture of fatigue and arrogance would later haunt him at San Yacinho in April, when a smaller determined Texian army under Sam Houston surprised his exhausted forces and defeated them in just 18 minutes, effectively ending the war for Texas independence. So when February 13th shows up on the calendar, it may not carry a slogan like Remember the Alamo or Remember Goliath, but it quietly marks the moment when winter itself stopped onto the stage of Texas history, turning the road to war into a frozen gauntlet for Senna and his army. Long before the first cannon fired at the Alamo, the Texas Revolution was already being shaped in the snow, in the dark, and the bitter cold of a February storm. Hey, thank you for sharing your time with the Texan Edge today. And I tell you what, we'll plan on seeing you Monday.