USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume I > Part 38
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"Colonel Fannin is said to be on the march to this place with re- inforcements, but I fear it is not true, as I have repeatedly sent to him for aid without receiving any. Colonel Bonham, my special mes- senger, arrived at La Bahia fourteen days ago, with a request for aid; and on arrival of the enemy in Bejar, ten days ago, I sent an express to Colonel F., which arrived at Goliad on the next day, urging him to send us reinforcements; none have yet arrived. 1 look to the colonies alone for aid; unless it arrives soon, I shall have to fight the enemy on his own terms. I will, however, do the best I can under the circumstances; and I feel confident that the deter- mined valor and desperate courage, heretofore exhibited by my men, will not fail them in the last struggle; and although they may be sacrificed to the vengeance of a Gothic enemy, the victory will cost the enemy so dear, that it will be worse for him than a defeat. I hope your honorable body will hasten on reinforcements, ammuni- tion, and provisions to our aid as soon as possible. We have pro- visions for twenty days for the men we have. Our supply of ammu- nition is limited. At least five hundred pounds of cannon powder, and two hundred rounds of six, nine, twelve and eighteen pound balls, ten kegs of rifle powder and a supply of lead, should be sent to the place without delay, under a sufficient guard.
"If these things are promptly sent, and large reinforcements are hastened to this frontier, this neighborhood will be the great and decisive ground. The power of Santa Anna is to be met here, or in the colonies ; we had better meet them here than to suffer a war of devastation to rage in our settlements. A blood red banner waves from the church of Bejar, and in the camp above us, in token that the war is one of vengeance against rebels; they have declared us as such ; demanded that we should surrender at discretion, or that this garrison should be put to the sword. Their threats have had no influence on me or my men, but to make all fight with desperation. and that high souled courage which characterizes the patriot, who is willing to die in defence of his country's liberty and his own honor.
"The citizens of this municipality are all our enemies, except those who have joined us heretofore. We have but three Mexicans now in the fort: those who have not joined us, in this extremity. should be declared public enemies, and their property should aid in paying the expenses of the war.
"The bearer of this will give your honorable body a statement more in detail, should he escape through the enemy's lines.
"God and Texas-Victory or Death.
Your obedient servant,
W. BARRETT TRAVIS, "Lieut. Col. Comm."
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HISTORY OF TEXAS
"P. S. The enemy's troops are still arriving, and the reinforce- ment will probably amount to two or three thousand. T.'
The movements of the Mexicans against the Alamo can be followed in the words of Colonel Almonte, whose diary was found in San Jacinto by Dr. Anson Jones. The first division of Santa Anna's army reached San Antonio on February 23. The Texans were taken by surprise, and retired to the Alamo without resistance. Later, as we have seen from Travis's letter, they were fortunate enough to collect some supplies with- in the walls. Almonte's account of the next week's action is as follows : "Thursday, 25th. The firing from our batteries was commenced early. The General-in-Chief, with the battalion de Cazadores, crossed the river and posted themselves in the Alamo; that is to say, in the houses near the fort. A new fortification was commenced by us near the houses of M'Mullen. In the random firing, the enemy wounded four of the Cazadores de Matamoras battalion, and two of the bat- talion of Ximenes and killed one corporal and a soldier of the bat- tallion of Matamoras. Our fire ceased in the afternoon. In the night two batteries were erected by us on the other side of the river, in the Alameda of the Alamo; the battalion of Matamoras was also posted there, and the cavalry was posted on the hills to the east of the enemy, and in the road from Gonzales at the Casa Mata Antiqua. At half-past eleven at night we retired. The enemy in the night burnt the straw and wooden houses in their vicinity, but did not attempt to set fire with their guns to those in our rear. A strong north wind commenced at nine at night.
"Friday, 26th. The northern wind continued very strong; the thermometer fell to 39, and during the rest of the day remained at 60. At daylight there was a slight skirmish between the enemy and a small party of the division of the east, under the command of General Sesma. During the day the firing from our cannon was continued. The enemy did not reply except now and then. At night the enemy burnt the small houses near the parapet of the battalion of San Luis, on the other side of the river. Some sentinels were advanced. In the course of the day the enemy sallied out for wood and water, and were opposed by our marksmen. The northern wind continues.
"Saturday, 27th. Lieutenant Menchard was sent with a party of men for corn, cattle, and hogs, to the farms of Seguin and Flores. It was determined to cut off the water from the enemy on the side next the old mill. There was little firing from either side during the day. The enemy worked hard all day to repair some intrenchments. In the afternoon the President was observed by the enemy, and fired at. In the night a courier was despatched to Mexico, informing the Government of the taking of Bexar.
"Sunday, 28th. News received that a reinforcement of 200 men was coming to the enemy by the road from La Bahia. The cannon- ading was continued.
"Monday, 29th. In the afternoon, the battalion of Allende took post at the east of the Alamo. The President reconnoitered. At midnight General Sesma left the camp with the cavalry of Dolores
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and the infantry of Allende, to meet the enemy coming from La Bahia to the relief of the Alamo.
"Tuesday, March 1st. Early in the morning General Sesma wrote from the Mission of Espada that there was no enemy, or traces of any, to be discovered. The cavalry and infantry returned to camp. At twelve o'clock the President went out to reconnoiter the mill site of the northwest of the Alamo. Colonel Ampudia was commissioned to construct more trenches. In the afternoon the enemy fired two twelve-pounds shots at the house of the President, one of which struck it.
"Wednesday, 2nd. Information was received that there was corn at the farm of Seguin, and Lieutenant Menchard with a party sent for it. The President discovered in the afternoon a covered road within pistol-shot of the Alamo, and posted the battalion of Ximenes there.
"Thursday, 3rd. The enemy fired a few cannon and musket shot at the city. I wrote to Mexico, directing my letters to be sent to Bexar-that before three months the campaign would be ended. The General-in-Chief went out to reconnoiter. A battery was erected on the north of the Alamo, within pistol shot. Official despatches were received from Urrea, announcing that he had routed the Colo- nists of San Patricio, killing sixteen, and taking twenty-one pris- oners. The bells were rung. The battalions of Zapadores, Aldama, and Toluca arrived. The enemy attempted a sally in the night, at the sugar mill, but were repulsed by our advance.
"Friday, 4th. Commenced firing early, which the enemy did not return. In the afternoon one or two shots were fired by them. A meeting of Generals and Colonels was held. After a long confer- ence, Cos, Castrillon, and others, were of opinion that the Alamo should be assaulted after the arrival of two twelve-pounders expected on the 7th instant. The President, General Ramirez Sesma, and my- self, were of opinion that the twelve-pounders should not be waited for, but the assault made. In this state things remained, the Gene- ral not coming to any definite resolution."
At two o'clock in the afternoon of March 5 Santa Anna issued secret orders to prepare for storming the Alamo at four o'clock the following morning :
"To the Generals, Chiefs of Sections and Commanding Officers.
"The time has come to strike a decisive blow upon the enemy oc- cupying the Fortress of the Alamo. Consequently, His Excellency, the General-in-Chief, has decided that, to-morrow at 4 o'clock a. m., the columns of attack shall be stationed at musket-shot distance from the first entrenchments, ready for the charge, which shall com- mence, at a signal to be given with the bugle, from the Northern Battery.
"The first column will be commanded by Gen. Don Martin Per- fecto Cos, and, in his absence, by myself.
"The Permanent Battalion of Aldama (except the company of Grenadiers) and the three right centre companies of the Active Bat- talion of San Luis, will compose this first column.
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"The second column will be commanded by Col. Don Francisco Duque, and, in his absence, by Gen. Don Manuel Fernandez Cas- trillon ; it will be composed of the Active Battalion of Toluca (except the company of Grenadiers) and the three remaining centre com- panies of the Active Battalion of San Luis.
"The third column will be commanded by Col. José Maria Romero, and, in his absence by Col. Mariano Salas ; it will be com- posed of the Permanent Battalions of Matamoras and Jimenes.
"The fourth column will be commanded by Col. Juan Morales, and, in his absence, by Col. José Miñon ; it will be composed of the light companies of the Battalions of Matamoras and Jimenes, and of the Active Battalion of San Luis.
"His Excellency, the General-in-Chief, will, in due time, designate the points of attack, and give his instructions to the Commanding Officers.
"The reserve will be composed of the Battalion of Engineers and the five companies of Grenadiers of the Permanent Battalions of Matamoras, Jimenes and Aldama, and the Active Battalions of Toluca and San Luis.
"This reserve will be commanded by the General-in-Chief in per- son, during the attack; but Col. Augustine Amat will assemble this party, which will report to him, this evening, at 5 o'clock, to be marched to the designated station.
"The first column will carry ten ladders, two crowbars and two axes ; the second, ten ladders; the third. six ladders; and the fourth, two ladders.
"The men carrying the ladders will sling their guns on their shoulders, to be enabled to place the ladders wherever they may be required.
"The companies of Grenadiers will be supplied with six packages of cartridges to every man, and the centre companies with two pack- ages and two spare flints. The men will wear neither overcoats nor blankets, or anything that may impede the rapidity of their motions. The Commanding Officers will see that the men have the chin straps of their caps down, and that they wear either shoes or sandals.
"The troops composing the columns of attack will turn in to sleep at dark ; to be in readiness to move at 12 o'clock at night.
"Recruits deficient in instruction will remain in their quarters. The arms, principally the bayonets, should be in perfect order.
"As soon as the moon rises, the centre companies of the Active Battalion of San Luis will abandon the points they are now occupying on the line, in order to have time to prepare.
"The cavalry, under Col. Joaquin Ramirez y Sesma, will be stationed at the Alameda, saddling up at 3 o'clock a. m. It shall be its duty to scout the country, to prevent the possibility of an escape.
"The honor of the nation being interested in this engagement against the bold and lawless foreigners who are opposing us, His Ex- cellency expects that every man will do his duty, and exert himself to give a day of glory to the country, and of gratification to the Supreme
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Government, who will know how to reward the distinguished deeds of the brave soldiers of the Army of Operations."
Santa Anna's official report to the war department of the fall of the Alamo is in some particulars undoubtedly false-as, for example, in the numbers which he gives-but with full allowance for misrepre- sentations, it pictures a thrilling engagement :
"Most Excellent Sir: Victory belongs to the army, which, at this very moment, 8 o'clock a. m., achieved a complete and glorious triumph that will render its memory imperishable.
"As I had stated in my report to Your Excellency of the taking of this city, on the 27th of last month, I awaited the arrival of the 1st Brigade of Infantry to commence active operations against the Fort- ress of the Alamo. However, the whole Brigade having been de- layed beyond my expectation, I ordered that three of its Battalions, viz., the Engineers-Aldama and Toluca- should force their march to join me. These troops together with the Battalions of Matamoras, Jimenes and San Luis Potosi, brought the force at my disposal, recruits excluded, up to 1,400 Infantry. This force, divided into four columns of attack, and a reserve, commenced the attack at 5 o'clock a. m. They met with a stubborn resistance, the combat lasting more than one hour and a half, and the reserve having to be brought into action.
"The scene offered by this engagement was extraordinary. The men fought individually, vieing with each other in heroism. Twenty- one pieces of artillery, used by the enemy with the most perfect ac- curacy, the brisk fire of musketry, which illuminated the interior of the Fortress and its walls and ditches, could not check our dauntless soldiers, who are entitled to the consideration of the Supreme Gov- ernment, and to the gratitude of the nation.
"The Fortress is now in our power, with its artillery, stores, etc. More than 600 corpses of foreigners were buried in the ditches and intrenchments, and a great many, who had escaped the bayonet of the infantry, fell in the vicinity under the sabres of the cavalry. I can assure Your Excellency that few are those who bore to their asso- ciates the tidings of their disaster.
"Among the corpses are those of Bowie and Travis, who styled themselves Colonels, and also that of Crockett, and several leading men, who had entered the Fortress with dispatches from their Con- vention. We lost about 70 men killed and 300 wounded, among whom are 25 officers. The cause for which they fell renders their loss less painful, as it is the duty of the Mexican soldier to die for the defense of the rights of the nation ; and all of us were ready for any sacrifice to promote this fond object; nor will we hereafter, suffer any foreigners, whatever their origin may be, to insult our country and to pollute its soil.
"I shall, in due time, send to Your Excellency a circuinstantial re- port of this glorious triumph. Now I have only time to congratulate the nation and the president ad interim, to whom I request you to submit this report.
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"The bearer takes with him one of the flags of the enemy's Bat- talions, captured to-day. The inspection of it will show plainly the true intention of the treacherous colonists, and of their abettors, who came from the ports of the United States of the North.
"God and Liberty !
"Headquarters, Bexar, March 6th, 1836.
ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA."
"To His Excellency, the Secretary of War and Navy, General José Maria Tornel."
Francisco Ruiz, the alcalde of San Antonio, gives some important additional details. He says :
"On the 6th March (1836) at 3 a. m., General Santa Anna at the head of 4,000 men advanced against the Alamo. The infantry, ar- tillery and cavalry had formed about 1.000 varas from the walls of the same fortress. The Mexican army charged and were twice re- pulsed by the deadly fire of Travis's artillery, which resembled a constant thunder. At the third charge the Toluca battalion com- menced to scale the walls and suffered severely. Out of 830 men only 130 were left live.
"When the Mexican army entered the walls, I with the political chief, Don Ramon Musquiz and other members of the corporation, accompanied by the curate, Don Refugio de la Garza, who by Santa Anna's orders had assembled during the night at a temporary forti- fication on Protero Street, with the object of attending the wounded, etc. As soon as the storming commenced we crossed the bridge on Commerce street, with this object in view and about 100 yards from the same a party of Mexican dragoons fired upon us and compelled us to fall back on the river and the place we occupied before. Half an hour had elapsed when Santa Anna sent one of his aides-de-camp with an order for us to come before him. He directed me to call on some of the neighbors to come with carts to carry the (Mexican) dead to the cemetery and to accompany him, as he was desirous to have Colonels Travis. Bowie, and Crickett shown to him.
"On the north battery of the fortress convent, lay the lifeless body of Colonel Travis on the gun carriage, shot only through the fore- head. Towards the west. and in a small fort opposite the city. we found the body of Colonel Crockett. Colonel Bowie was found dead in his bed in one of the rooms on the south side.
"Santa Anna. after all the Mexican bodies had been taken out. ordered wood to be brought to burn the bodies of the Texans. He sent a company of dragoons with me to bring wood and dry branches from the neighboring forests. About three o'clock in the afternoon of March 6, we laid the wood and dry branches upon which a pile of dead bodies were placed. more wood was piled on them and another pile of bodies was brought and in this manner they were all arranged in layers. Kindling wood was distributed through the pile and about 5 o'clock in the evening it was lighted.
"The dead Mexicans of Santa Anna were taken to the grave-yard, but not having sufficient room for them. I ordered some to be thrown into the river, which was done on the same day.
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"The gallantry of the few Texans who defended the Alamo was really wondered at by the Mexican army. Even the generals were astonished at their vigorous resistance and how dearly victory was bought.
"The generals, who under Santa Anna participated in the storni- ing of the Alamo, were Juan Amador, Castrillon, Ramirez y Sesma and Andrade.
The men [Texans] burnt were one hundred and eighty-two. I was an eye-witness, for as Alcalde of San Antonio, I was, with some of the neighbors, collecting the dead bodies and placing them on the funeral pyre."
FRANCIS ANTONIO RUIZ."
The most thorough study of the fall of the Alamo which has yet been made was published by Captain R. M. Potter in 1878, and the ex- tracts which follow are from his study :
"The fall of the Alamo and the massacre of its garrison, which in 1836 opened the campaign of Santa Anna in Texas, caused a pro- found sensation throughout the United States, and is still remembered with deep feeling by all who take an interest in the history of that section ; yet the details of the final assault have never been fully and correctly narrated, and wild exaggerations have taken their place in popular legend. The reason will be obvious when it is remembered that not a single combatant of the last struggle from within the fort survived to tell the tale, while the official reports of the enemy were neither circumstantial nor reliable. When horror is intensified by mystery, the sure product is romance. A trustworthy account of the assault could be compiled only by comparing and combining the ver- bal narratives of such of the assailants as could be relied on for veracity, and adding to this such lights as might be gathered from military documents of that period, from credible local information. and from any source more to be trusted than rumor. As I was a resident at Matamoros when the event occured, and for several months after the invading army retreated thither, and afterwards resided near the scene of action, I had opportunities for obtaining the kind of information referred to better perhaps than have been possessed by any person now living outside of Mexico. I was often urged to publish what I had gathered on the subject, as thereby an in- teresting passage of history might be preserved. I consequently gave to the San Antonio Herald in 1860 an imperfect outline of what is contained in this article, and the communication was soon after printed in pamphlet form. Subsequently to its appearance, however. I obtained many additional and interesting details, mostly from Col. Juan N. Seguin of San Antonio, who had been an officer of the garrison up to within six days of the assault. His death, of which I have since heard, no doubt took away the last of those who were soldiers of the Alamo when it was first invested. I now offer these sheets as a revision and enlargement of my article of 1860.
"Before beginning the narrative, however, I must describe the Alamo and its surroundings as they existed in the spring of 1836.
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San Antonio, then a town of about 7,000 inhabitants, had a Mexi- can population, a minority of which was well affected to the cause of Texas, while the rest were inclined to make the easiest terms they could with whichever side might be for the time being dominant. The San Antonio River, which, properly speaking, is a large rivulet. divided the town from the Alamo, the former on the west side and the latter on the east. The Alamo village. a small suburb of San An-
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THE ALAMO, SAN ANTONIO
tonio, was south of the fort, or Mission, as it was originally called. which bore the same name. The latter was an old fabric, built during the first settlement of the vicinty by the Spaniards ; and having been originally designed as a place of safety for the colonists and their property in case of Indian hostility, with room sufficient for that purpose, it had neither the strength, compactness, nor dominant points which ought to belong to a regular fortification. The front of the Alamo Chapel bears date of 1757, but the other works must have been built earlier. As the whole area contained between two
PLAN OF THE ALAMO. BY
LOWER PORTION OF WALL.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS
and three acres, a thousand men would have barely sufficed to man its defenses ; and before a regular siege train they would soon have crumbled. Yoakum, in his history of Texas, is not only astray in his details of the assault, but mistaken about the measurement of the place. Had the works covered no more ground than he repre- sents, the result of the assault might have been different.
"From recollection of the locality, as I viewed it in 1841, I could in 1860 trace the extent of the outer walls, which had been demol- ished about thirteen years before the latter period. The dimensions here given are taken from actual measurement then made; and the accompanying diagram gives correct outlines, though without aiming at close exactitude of scale. The figure A in the diagram represents the chapel of the fort, 75 feet long, 62 wide, and 221/2 high, with walls of solid masonry, four feet thick. It was originally of but one story, and if it then had any windows below, they were probably walled up when the place was prepared for defense. B locates a platform in the east end of the chapel. C designates its door ; and D marks a wall, 50 feet long and about 12 high ,connecting the chapel with the long barrack, EE. The latter was a stone house of two stories, 186 feet long, 18 wide, and 18 high. FF is a low, one-story stone barrack, 114 feet long and 17 wide, having in the centre a porte- cochére, S, which passed through it under the roof. The walls of these two houses were about thirty inches thick, and they had flat terrace roofs of beams and plank, covered with a thick coat of cement. G H I K were flat-roofed, stone-walled rooms built against the inside of the west barrier. L L L L L denote barrier walls, enclosing an area, 154 yards long and 54 wide, with the long bar- rack on the east and the low barrack on the south of it. These walls were 23/4 feet thick, and from 9 to 12 high, except the strip which fronted the chapel, that being only four feet in height. This low piece of wall was covered by an oblique intrenchment, marked R. and yet to be described, which ran from the southwest angle of the chapel to the east end of the low barrack. M marks the place of a palisade gate at the west end of the intrenchment. The small letters (n) locate the doors of the several rooms which opened upon the large area. Most of those doors had within a semicircular parapet for the use of marksmen, composed of a double curtain of hides, upheld by stakes and filled in with rammed earth. Some of the rooms were also loopholed. O O mark barrier walls, from 5 to 6 feet high and 23/4 thick, which enclosed a smaller area north of the chapel and east of the long barrack. P designates a cattle yard east of the barrack and south of the small area; it was enclosed by a picket fence. Q shows the locality of a battered breach in the north wall.
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