Brevity by Dan Thompson for June 18, 2015

Bruno Zeigerts: In college, I would choose movies on the basis of the one I wanted to see and the other of the (quite common in those days) double feature of a historic location and play find the errors. I have seen those “bolt action” muskets in quite a few movies. I got a laugh out of one in which there was a careful shot showing the charge being rammed into the barrel – except in that battle, they were using Ferguson breach-loaders. .The Alamo display cases aren’t much better, with caplocks (recently invented, but hadn’t reached Texas at that time – later conversions of original flintlocks, so were hardly used at the Alamo), and Roman-style gladius as back-up (various styles of knives, tomahawks, cavalry sabers, and even blunderbuses were the close-range weapons of choice). .We await what changes will take place now that control has been taken away from Daughters of the Texas Revolution – maybe a bit more recognition of the part Adelfa de Zavala played in preserving the building, as well as more accuracy in the exhibits.