It's 1836. Settlers in Texas, still a part of Mexico, having been lured there by the government's offer of free land and no taxes, begin to revolt when the new dictator, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, revokes those incentives. The Texans take the town of San Antonio de Bexar and drive the Mexican army out of the town and the old mission-turned-fort called the Alamo.

The ruthless but brilliant Santa Anna, enraged by the stirrings of Texas revolution, marches from Mexico City with his large army to take Bexar back and quell the rebellion. The Texans, under the joint command of James Bowie -the famous knife fighter -and young lawyer William Barret Travis, occupy the Alamo and prepare to defend it. Newcomer David Crockett -a former U.S. Congressman, and already a folk hero -helps to mediate an uneasy peace between the two commanders while inspiring the men of the Alamo with his tall tales and fiddle playing.

Meanwhile, General Sam Houston is desperately trying to make a disparate group of legislators come up with a Declaration of Independence for Texas, to form a united front to face Santa Anna when he reaches Texas. The tension and rivalries among the group make it look as if they will never come to an agreement in time.

After a bitter thirteen day siege, Santa Anna attacks the Alamo. Every man in the fort is killed. Several weeks later, Houston's vengeful army attacks Santa Anna at San Jacinto and defeats him. It is during this brief but exceptionally bloody battle that the cry "Remember the Alamo" was born.