網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版
[ocr errors]

Result of Travis' Speech.-When Travis had finished, the silence of the grave reigned over all. Drawing his sword, he drew a line in front of his men, and cried : I crave your pardon, hoping that, after hearing my explanation, you will sympathize with me in my extreme necessity In deceiving you, I also deceived myself, having first been deceived by others. I have continually received the strong assurance of help from home. Every letter from the Council has teemed with the assurance that, within a short time, we might confidently expect recruits enough to repel any force that would be brought against us. These assurances I received as facts. They inspired me with the greatest confidence. But the promised help has not come, and our hopes are not to be realized. Let us not be in haste to censure our friends. The enemy has invaded our territory much earlier than we anticipated, and their present approach is a surprise. Our friends were not informed of our perilous condition in time to save us. My calls on Colonel Fannin remain unanswered, and my messengers have not returned. His whole command has probably fallen into the hands of the enemy, and our couriers have been cut off. I trust that you do not now censure me for my course. [Fannin received Travis' dispatch, and set out for San Antonio, February 28, with three hundred men and four pieces of artillery. After going a short distance, some of his wagons broke down, and he found it almost impossible to move his cannon. Rice and dried beef were the only food he had for his men. Under these discouraging circumstances, a council of war was called, and it was decided to return to Goliad.] "Relying upon these promises from home, I retained you here until the enemy outnumbered us two to one, and escape became impossible. We have no hope of help, for no force our friends could send would now be able to cut through the strong ranks of these Mexicans. We dare not surrender, for, should we do so, that blood-red flag now waving in our sight, as well as the merciless character of our enemies, admonishes us of what would be our doom. We can not cut our way through the enemy's ranks, for we should all be slain in less than ten minutes. Nothing remains, then, but to stay in this fort and fight until the last moment. In this case, we must, sooner or later, all be slain, for I am sure Santa Anna is determined to storm the fort and take it, whatever the cost. Then we must die! This is a fixed and inevitable fact. Our business is not to make a fruitless effort to save our lives, but to choose the manner of our death. Three modes are presented to us. Shall we surrender and be deliberately shot without taking the life of a single enemy? Shall we try to cut our way through the Mexican ranks, and be butchered before we can kill twenty of our adversaries? I am opposed to either method, for, in either case, we could but lose our lives without benefiting our friends at home-our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters, our wives and little ones. My choice is to remain in the fort, to resist every assault, and to sell our lives as dearly as possible. Then let us band together as brothers, and vow to die together. Let

"Those who wish to die like heroes and patriots, come over to me." There was no hesitation. In a few minutes, every soldier, save one, had crossed.* Even the wounded dragged themselves across the fatal mark. Colonel Bowie was too ill to leave his couch, but he was not to be deterred by this. "Lads," he said, "I can't get over to you, but won't some of you be kind enough to lift my cot on the other side the line?" In an instant it was done.

Mexican Council.-That night Santa Anna called a council of war. It was decided to storm the Alamo between midnight and sunrise, March 6.† Special orders were given to all troops, and officers were instructed to take the fort at any sacrifice.

us resolve to withstand our enemies to the last. And when they shall storm our fortress, let us kill them as they come! Kill them as they scale our walls! Kill them as they leap within! Kill them as they raise their weapons, and as they use them! Kill them as they kill our companions, and continue to kill them as long as one of us shall remain alive! and be assured our memory will be gratefully cherished by posterity. But I leave every man to his own choice. Should any man prefer to surrender, and be tied and shot, or attempt an escape through the Mexican ranks, and be killed ere he can run one hundred yards, he is at liberty to do so. My own choice is to stay in this fort and die for my country, fighting as long as there shall be breath in my body. This will I do, even if you leave me alone. Do as you think best; but no man can die with me without affording me comfort in the moment of death."

* The student may wonder, if none escaped from the Alamo, how we know the above to be true. The story runs, that this one man, Rose by name, who refused to step over the line, did make his escape that night. He reported the events recorded in the last two topics. While some historians doubt the truth of the story, we deem it to the interest of the student to let him investigate the matter for himself.

† A Mexican woman stole from the fort, on the 4th, and carried to Santa Anna the news of the small number of men in the garrison. This decided him to make an immediate attack.

The Attack. Shortly after midnight (March 6), the Mexican troops surrounded the Alamo. The infantry were supplied with crow-bars and ladders for scaling the walls. Back of these were the cavalry, who were ordered to kill any soldier who shirked the fight, and to see that no Texan escaped. Amidst the roar of the cannon, "the trumpets sounding the awful notes of the dequelo, signifying no quarter," Santa Anna's troops advanced to the attack. The Texans received them with a terrible volley of musketry and artillery. Back rushed the Mexicans before that fire of death. Again they advanced, planted their ladders, and tried to mount. The fury of despair nerved the arms of Travis' men, and again they hurled back the foe. The Mexicans, bleeding, wounded, and shattered, hesitated to renew the attack, but the stern command of Santa Anna, and the flashing sabers of the cavalry, forced them on. By tens, by hundreds, they swarmed up the ladders. Down fell the first, down, down went the second, crushing all beneath them, while the Texans stood like gods waiting to let others feel their mighty strength. But there is a limit to all human power. What could one hundred and seventy men, worn out by eleven days of constant effort, do against four thousand fresh troops? The Mexicans were pushed forward over the bodies of their dead comrades. Now they were on the walls, now the noble Travis* fell, now Bon

* Travis was shot early in the attack. As he fell, a Mexican officer rushed up to stab him, but Travis raising himself with a mighty effort, thrust the enemy through with his sword. A moment more, and his spirit had fled. Thus, at the age of twenty-seven, passed away one of Texas' noblest sons.

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small]

literally cut to pieces, yet not one fell unavenged.

Brave Crockett left a score of bodies about him to show his work. The gallant Bowie, though too weak to rise from his bed, shot two fiends who were preparing to butcher him. The court ran with blood, but the conflict did not cease until every one of the noble band lay a bleeding sacrifice upon his country's altar. "Death and Santa Anna held the place."

The Funeral Pyre.-By the order of Santa Anna, thə bodies of the Texans were collected in a huge pile and burned, while the one thousand and six hundred dead Mexicans were taken to the cemetery for burial. When Bowie's body was brought out, Cos said: "He was too brave to be burned like a dog, but, never mind, throw him in." As the Sabbath sun sank slowly in the west, the smoke from that funeral pyre of heroes ascended to heaven ̧ From that sacred fire sprang the flames that lighted all

* From boyhood David Crockett was known throughout Tennessee as the champion hunter. While in the flush of early manhood, he felt that the Lord had called him to be a member of the United States Congress. Though uneducated, he possessed the knack of speaking to please the country people, and he was sent to Washington by a fine majority. Once there, troubles beset him. He could not accustom himself to the manners and customs of city life. When he rose to speak in Congress, he found it very different from making a stump speech; his ignorance of parliamentary rules was continually placing him in awkward positions. Failing to be re-elected, he left Tennessee in disgust and came to Texas.

The only survivors of the Alamo were Mrs. Dickinson, her infant daughter, and a negro servant. Mrs. Dickinson tells the following story: "After the struggle had lasted over two hours, my husband rushed into the church where I was with my little daughter, and exclaimed: 'Great God, Sue, the Mexicans are inside our walls; all is lost. If they spare you, save my child.' Then, with a parting kiss he drew his sword and plunged into the strife. Soon after he left me, three unarmed gunners came into the church, and were shot down by my side. Just then a Mexican officer came in, and asked me in English: 'Are you Mrs. Dickinson?' I answered, 'Yes.' 'Then,' said he, ‘if you wish to save your life, follow me.' I followed him, and, although shot at and wounded, was spared."-MORPHIS.

« 上一頁繼續 »