This is a fascinating discussion for me. In about 2005, I raised this very same issue (of the non-uniform Mexican uniforms) on the Alamo Film board (now lost forever with all of its archival material).
I pointed out at that time that the Mexican army was probably just as scruffy as it appears to be in photographs taken in the 1860s and during and after the Pancho Villa era. It is a fact that no two photographs of the Mexican army taken in this period (1860-1916) show the same uniforms even when all of the men in any particular photo are dressed alike. One photograph shows a group portrait of Mexican soldiers, and each one is wearing a different outfit. I posted these pictures on the old board.
Of course, inconsistent uniforms and equipment is both a reflection and a cause of lack of discipline and poor training. If you want a thousand men to act in unison, especially if you are asking for sacrifice, there are many reasons why you would want them to be dressed in the same uniform, the Confederate army notwithstanding.
I posted a picture of a soldado by a noted military artist-- the uniform pictured is all the fatigue uniform-- and noted that de la Pena seems to say that the Zapadores were wearing big white hats. The order of Santa Anna to leave "overcoats" behind is also somewhat confusing in retrospect: just how many coats did a poor Mexican soldier own, anyhow? Maybe the one with the "fancy soundin name" meant to direct the troops to leave their blue uniform coats behind?
Santa Anna's detailed instructions about which parts of the uniform to wear and how to wear them-- chinstrap, overcoat, etc.-- is a good indication that, under the usual circumstances, they could not be relied upon to adhere to fundamental military discipline and drill. There are also reports in the 1836 war of the Mexican soldiers running from battle, firing off all of their rounds at once (some of them into the backs of the heads of those in front of them), losing their scaling ladders, having to be poked forward into the fight with officers' swords, committing atrocities on the fallen enemy, etc., etc.
It was my opinion that the Mexican army in 1836 was not a crack outfit, and that otherwise they would have had little trouble penetrating the fort and wouldn't have suffered such high casualties. And look at their muskets! I think they were instructed in how to do little more than carry them around without shooting themselves.
It was a bit jarring to have been put in my place by those on the old board (some of whom are still around and might be reading this) on this score. I was told, for example, that no Mexican soldiers wore fatigue cottons at the battle on March 6, that the Mexican soldiers were all proficient and experienced, and that artists who depicted them wearing uniforms not consistent with the Disney version were simply mistaken no matter how much research they'd done.
I was also told that, beyond a doubt, there was no breach in the north wall and that the "breakouts" were beyond question or further analysis. I was told that it was beyond question that there were no towers or remnants of towers in the Alamo, that the battle lasted no longer than 30-45 minutes, that many or most of the defenders had either fled the fort or were killed while still asleep in bed. When I look back at it, it is actually astounding, the material that is bruited about as beyond all question and established without a doubt.
并不是所有人都像拍电影的那么春虫虫
I pointed out at that time that the Mexican army was probably just as scruffy as it appears to be in photographs taken in the 1860s and during and after the Pancho Villa era. It is a fact that no two photographs of the Mexican army taken in this period (1860-1916) show the same uniforms even when all of the men in any particular photo are dressed alike. One photograph shows a group portrait of Mexican soldiers, and each one is wearing a different outfit. I posted these pictures on the old board.
Of course, inconsistent uniforms and equipment is both a reflection and a cause of lack of discipline and poor training. If you want a thousand men to act in unison, especially if you are asking for sacrifice, there are many reasons why you would want them to be dressed in the same uniform, the Confederate army notwithstanding.
I posted a picture of a soldado by a noted military artist-- the uniform pictured is all the fatigue uniform-- and noted that de la Pena seems to say that the Zapadores were wearing big white hats. The order of Santa Anna to leave "overcoats" behind is also somewhat confusing in retrospect: just how many coats did a poor Mexican soldier own, anyhow? Maybe the one with the "fancy soundin name" meant to direct the troops to leave their blue uniform coats behind?
Santa Anna's detailed instructions about which parts of the uniform to wear and how to wear them-- chinstrap, overcoat, etc.-- is a good indication that, under the usual circumstances, they could not be relied upon to adhere to fundamental military discipline and drill. There are also reports in the 1836 war of the Mexican soldiers running from battle, firing off all of their rounds at once (some of them into the backs of the heads of those in front of them), losing their scaling ladders, having to be poked forward into the fight with officers' swords, committing atrocities on the fallen enemy, etc., etc.
It was my opinion that the Mexican army in 1836 was not a crack outfit, and that otherwise they would have had little trouble penetrating the fort and wouldn't have suffered such high casualties. And look at their muskets! I think they were instructed in how to do little more than carry them around without shooting themselves.
It was a bit jarring to have been put in my place by those on the old board (some of whom are still around and might be reading this) on this score. I was told, for example, that no Mexican soldiers wore fatigue cottons at the battle on March 6, that the Mexican soldiers were all proficient and experienced, and that artists who depicted them wearing uniforms not consistent with the Disney version were simply mistaken no matter how much research they'd done.
I was also told that, beyond a doubt, there was no breach in the north wall and that the "breakouts" were beyond question or further analysis. I was told that it was beyond question that there were no towers or remnants of towers in the Alamo, that the battle lasted no longer than 30-45 minutes, that many or most of the defenders had either fled the fort or were killed while still asleep in bed. When I look back at it, it is actually astounding, the material that is bruited about as beyond all question and established without a doubt.
并不是所有人都像拍电影的那么春虫虫
