The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1857-12-10
:, The siege has continued for ten days.

The Mexican general has received large re-
inforcements, and his army now numbers
thousands. He has beer upceasino in his
efforts to batter down the walls. but has.
tnus far, failed. The triumph is with Tray.
Is; but 1t Is written in the heart of his ruth
less foe that he must die, and when the can
nonade is suspended on the 9th of March.
small breach has been effected, and Santa
Anna has determined, without a summons.
to surrender that the hour of assault has
arrived. During ten days blood-red flag
has been streaming from the spire of the
church in San Antonio, proclaiming that no
quarter is TO be given to the champions of
the Alamo--that blood alone will appease
the vengeance and fury Of the Mexican NAL.
lee When the sun again goes down, the
flag is no longer seen, for the deed for which
it was the sign has been accomplished.
II is midnight; stars are smiling in the
armament, and the repose of Paradise seems
lowering over the armed hosts and hills and
plains which encircle the Alamo The calm
is so deep and solemn that the angel of
death seems to pause before the strife and
carnage which are TO follow. A low mur-
muir rises upon the air, which gradually be-
comes more and more distinct Lights are
glancing mysteriously in the distance, and
Indicate some unusual movement. The be-
sieging army is IN motion-there is no ad.
vance by columns. The force of the Mex
leans is so great that the fort may be com
| pletely surrounded, leaving intervals only,
for the hire Of artillery. The place is gir.
died by deep line of infautry, and these
are hemmed in and encomnassed bv another
OF cavalry. If the first falter or shrink, they
must be thrust forward to the assault by the
sabres and lances Of their comrades. Sud.
denly the batteries are in a blaze, and, from
their concentric positions, pour forth radii of
fire from the circle of Santa Anna's ven.
geance, gerging 20 a single centre. Amid
the thunder thus created, their own shout
hardly less terrible, and the martial blasts of
| hundred bugles, the Mexicans advance TO
the Alamo. A sheet of flame from the ri.
fles that never failed, is the answer to the
charge. The infantry recoil and fall back
upon the cavalry; their ranks are broken
and disoidered by the deadly fire of the be-
seged. The shouts from the fort are min
gled with the groans of the wounded and
dying on the plain. They return to the at.
tack, but the leadeI shower which they
again encounter, fell them to the earth by
platoons.
Travis shows himself on the walls, cheer.
ing his COOL. uudaun,ed followers; around
him are Crockett, Evans and Borham, rous-
ed to the last struggle, for they know their
doom is sealed. In quick succession rifle
after rifle is discharged, sending hundreds
to their long account. The Mexicans are
again repulsed; they fall back dismayed
and disheartened by the dead and dying
around them. The battalion of Tobuca, the
power of Santa Annals army, is reduced
from touf hundred to twenty. three Men have
become, for moment, regardless of their
officers, and are almost delirious from The
crisis of their fallen and expiring comrades,
yielding to the influence which no discipline
can restrain and no efforts repress. But the
breach now appears practicable !; the dis
jointed forces, by the aid of threats and en-.
treaties, are rallied, and once more return
10 the assault. The fire from the Alamo
has, for some time, been growing slower
and slower. Rifles have dropped from
many vigorous hand, now cold in death,
while others cling to their weapons even in
the agonies of dissolution. Ammunition,
too, has been failing; one by one the muz
H'OS uioP, anu cTS tne laSL rue Is loaded
and discharged, the Mexieans gain the wall.
tearfully conspicuous in that awful moment,
Travis receives shot, staggers and falls
He dies not unayenged. A Mexican officer
rusbes upon him, and is about to plunge his
sabre into the bosom Of the man, when.
gathering his remaining energies, for des,
perate effort, he bathes the sword, to which
he still clings, in the blood of his enemy,
and they die together
In the meantime, the conflict has become
hand to hand, and has been raging hot and
thick. The Mexicans have poured into the
citadel like famished wolves, furious for their
prey. Each man struggles with the energy
Of despair, dealing the death.stroke with ri
fies, sabres, or whatever missiles may bs
within reach. The Texans are almost bu
ried beneath the numbers of their oppo.
nents. The carnage has been so great that
the slain are piled up in heaps. Death
stares each survivor in the face, yet still he
struggles on. Crockett has been conspicu-
GUS in the melee wherever the blows fell
hottest and fastest. He has forced his way
over piles Of the bodies Of his enemies, and
has reached The door of the chapel. Here
he determines to make his last stand. At
the glance Of his eye he sees that the fate
of the Alamo rests upon himself alone, and