CHAPTER XXVIII.
WITHIN THE WALLS OF THE MISSION.
The Alamo church, the principal building of the mission, was built inthe form of a cross, of rough stone, with walls several feet thick. Atthe time of the battle which was to witness its downfall the centre ofthe structure was roofless, but the ends were well covered. The sidesof the church were over twenty feet high, and the windows wereexceedingly narrow, for the building had been built to resist attacksby the Indians. It faced both the river and San Antonio proper.
Attached to the left wing of the church was a large square called theconvent yard, with walls of heavy stone sixteen feet high. Spread outin front of this yard, and beyond it, was the convent, two storieshigh, and nearly two hundred feet long. In front of the convent was along and broad plaza, covering over two acres, and surrounded by wallsat either end and by the convent in the rear, and a house and wall inthe front. On the right of the plaza was a small prison and a gateway,and from the corner of the prison there was a stockade of cedar logsextending to the nearest corner of the church.
For this extensive fortress, if such we may call it, Lieutenant Travishad less than twenty cannon, and the construction of the place was suchthat but few of the pieces could be placed to advantage, and even thenhardly any of the soldiers knew how to do any effective firing.
Next in command to Travis was Colonel James Bowie, already mentioned inthese pages, and among the best of the fighters was Davy Crockett,celebrated as a hunter and trapper, who had come down to Texas, withtwelve other Tennesseans, about three weeks before the arrival of SantaAnna. Crockett carried with him his favourite rifle, "Betsy," and as afighter on this memorable occasion proved a whole host in himself.
"We'll whip 'em," said Crockett, confidently. "They can't stand upagainst real Americans."
"You're right, Davy," answered Bowie. "An American who isn't equal to adozen greasers isn't fit to live." And so the talk ran on from one toanother of the garrison. Once Crockett came to Dan, and eyed himcuriously.
"You're rather a young soldier boy," he observed.
"Yes, sir, but I can shoot."
"Can you bring down a bird on the wing?"
"Yes, he can, and he has done it lots of times," put in Poke Stover.
"If that's so, he's all right," said Crockett.
Santa Anna did not make an immediate attack on the Alamo, for thereason that all of his troops had not yet arrived, and because hewished to give his soldiers a little rest after the long journeynorthward. He ordered General Castrillon to knock down some of the oldhouses near the river, and construct a bridge with the timbers.
"They are going to build a bridge!" was the cry that went through theAlamo.
"A bridge? Where?" asked Crockett, and, when told, he smiled, andpatted his rifle. "Let 'em try it!"
The Mexicans did try, and soon a detachment of at least a hundred wereat work. About forty of the garrison, led by Bowie and Crockett, openedfire upon the workers, and at least a dozen were killed.
"Down they go!" was the cry. "Give 'em another round!" And again therifles cracked at a lively rate. With thirty killed outright, and anumber badly wounded, the Mexicans left the river in a great hurry, andhid in the neighbouring houses.
On February 24th, Travis sent out a strong appeal for assistance. "I ambesieged by a thousand or more of Mexicans, under Santa Anna," hewrote. "I have sustained a continual bombardment for twenty-four hours,and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender atdiscretion; otherwise the garrison is to be put to the sword if theplace is taken. I have answered the summons with a cannon-shot, and ourflag still waves proudly from the walls. _I shall never surrender, orretreat!_" Could anything be more unflinchingly patriotic than that?
This appeal was followed by another, and a despatch was sent to ColonelFannin, at Goliad, asking him to bring reinforcements without delay.
"They are drawing in closer to us," said Poke to Dan, on the morning ofthe 25th, as the two mounted one of the walls for a survey of thesituation. Far off, a portion of the Mexican army could be distinctlyseen.
"A division of the soldiers is approaching with some cannon," answeredthe youth. He was right, and presently Santa Anna attempted to plant abattery three hundred yards south of the gateway to the plaza of themission.
"Shall we allow that?" asked the Texan commander, while the Mexicansoldiers were coming up.
"No! No!" came back the cry. "Down with the Mexicans!" And in less thanfive minutes the garrison was pouring through the gateway and out onthe plain beyond. The sharpshooters were in front, and so deadly weretheir aims that the enemy was speedily forced to retreat, draggingtheir cannon with them.
"Hurrah! They are running!" shouted the Texans, joyfully. This secondrepulse made them more determined to resist than ever.
But when the following morning came, it was seen that Santa Anna hadtaken advantage of the darkness and planted the battery, anyway, and sowell was it protected that none of the guns from the Alamo could reachit. But the sharpshooters under Crockett watched the gunners, and oneMexican was shot dead while in the very act of discharging a shot atthe plaza gate.
"It looks as if we might hold this place for an indefinite period,"said Dan, on the day following. "That is, if we don't fall short ofprovisions."
"The meat we drove in will last us for some time, lad," answeredStover. "And they have found a lot of grain in one of the friar'shouses. But about holding the place, that's a question. We are onlyabout a hundred and fifty strong. What if Santa Anna storms the placesome night, with several thousand men? We'll all be put to the bay'netafore sunrise."
"Do you really think he'll do such a barbarous thing, Poke?"
"Think it? I know it. He's one of the most bloodthirsty Mexicans a manever met. To surrender to him would be foolish. We've got to do asTravis says, fight or die."
"Then I'll fight,--and to the bitter end," answered the boy, earnestly.The enthusiasm of those around him had entered his soul, and he hadforgotten the meaning of the word fear.
As one day and another passed, Santa Anna's army increased in size, andhe succeeded in planting many other batteries around the Alamo. Thebombarding was continual, yet but few of the Texans suffered from this,being well protected by the heavy stone walls of the mission.
On the first of March, when the garrison was much worn by constantguard duty, there was a commotion during the night. At first it wasthought that the Mexicans had begun an attack, but soon it wasdiscovered that the newcomers were Texans. They numbered thirty-two menfrom Gonzales, who had stolen through the Mexican lines with scarcelyany difficulty.
"Henry Parker!" cried Dan, as he recognized his friend in the crowd. "Inever dreamed of seeing you here."
"I couldn't stay behind, after I read Travis's appeal for help,"answered Henry Parker. "I guess a lot more of our men are coming, too."But in this Parker was mistaken; none others arrived at the ill-fatedplace. Colonel Fannin started from Goliad with three hundred men and afew pieces of artillery, but his ammunition wagon broke down, he had norations but a little rice and dried beef, and at the river his cannongot stuck and could not be gotten across. So the party returned whenceit had come.
Henry Parker and the others had come in on Monday night, and by Tuesdaythe last of Santa Anna's troops arrived at San Antonio. Following thiscame three days in which but little was done upon either side.
"This looks as if the Mexicans were going to give up trying to take theplace," remarked Dan to Stover, as both rested in one of the side roomsof the convent on a litter of straw.
"Don't worry, lad; it may be the calm afore the storm," was the answer."Sumthin' is bound for to happen soon, hear me!"
"If it doesn't, I'll be for going home," went on Dan. "I believe I canget through the Mexican lines just as well as Henry Parker and thoseothers."
"It would be risky, Dan, mighty risky." Poke Stover puffed awaythoughtfully at the corncob pipe he was smoking. "We missed italtogether on the white mustang and on Carlos Martine, didn
't we?"
"Yes. I would like to know if Martine is still in San Antonio."
"Like as not--and hobnobbing with some of them Mexican officers, too.Well, he sha'n't have your pap's land, and that's all there is aboutit."
So the talk ran on, man and boy hardly knowing how to put in their timewhen not on guard duty. At first the mission had proved of muchinterest, with its quaint carvings and curious decorations, but noweven this was beginning to pall.
On Saturday Santa Anna called a counsel of war, and at this it wasdecided that a general assault should be made upon the Alamo atdaybreak on Sunday. The assaulting troops numbered twenty-five hundredagainst a pitiful one hundred and eighty-two Texans!--and were dividedinto four columns, the first of which was under the command of GeneralCos, the same Mexican who had surrendered to the Texans but a shorttime before.
Each column of the attacking party was furnished with ropes,scaling-ladders, crowbars, and axes, as well as with their ordinarymilitary weapons. As the soldiers advanced, the cavalry were drawn upin a grand circle around the Alamo, so that no Texans might escape. Inthe meantime the blood-red flag of "no quarter" was still flying highfrom the Mexican camp, and now the band struck up the Spanishquickstep, "Deguelo," or "Cut-throat," as an inspiration to thesoldiers to have no mercy on the rebels!
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