Alamo Cenotaph (San Antonio, Texas)

 memorial, monument, cenotaph

The Alamo Cenotaph was erected in 1939 by the Texas Centennial Commission. The memorial stone of gray Georgia marble rests upon a slab base of pink Texas granite. The shaft rises sixty feet from its base and is forty feet long and twelve feet wide.

The theme of the monument is the Spirit of Sacrifice, represented on the main (south) face of the shaft by an idealistic figure rising twenty-three feet from the long sloping capstone emblematic of the tomb. The east and west ledges are decorated with background panels of eight figures in low relief depicting the men who died in the Alamo. Before the east panel stand the portrait statues of James Bowie and James B. Bonham; before the west panel, the portrait statues of William B. Travis and David Crockett. On the north side appears a feminine figure symbolizing the state of Texas, holding the shields of Texas and the United States.

Pompeo Coppini conceived and executed the sculptural parts of the monument, which was designed by Adams and Adams Architects, with Frank T. Drought as consulting engineer. Dr. Amelia W. Williams compiled for the inscription the list of men who died in the battle of the Alamo.

Some believe that the monument is built where many of the Alamo defenders were put to death after the fall. Others believe the corpses of the dead defenders were piled here and unceremoniously burned.