The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-09-29
THE ALAMO MASSACRE,
WIEN BESlEGED TEXANS FOUGHT
AS NEVER MEN FOUGHT BEFORE.
Hurting lack the Brutal Hosts OF Santa
Anna-Mcyz,c to Yuzz,e and Hand TO
Hand-Dcuth of Howfc, Travis anu

Hurting IiaeIr the Brutal Hosts of Santa
Anna-M-yzic to rIuzz,e and Hand to
Hand-Death of Howfc, Travis and
Crockett.
The advance guard of Santa A@as army
arrived on the 22d of February, l5jd, and the
| next dav Santa Ana came bearing the red
| fac, which be displayed from tie tower OF
| the cathedral between the main ard nhlitcry
| plazas. in plain sight of the Alamo He then
| sort a simmons to the Texans TO surrender,
| but was answered by cannon shot. This
| day Col Travis s.cured eighty bushels Of
corn and twenty on thirty becyes. On tie
| second dav the Mexicans bombarded the
| Alamo, without eject. Col Travis sent out
| couricrs to Goliad md Washington, Tex, for
rc-eaforcernents. IN his dispatch he said: Il
| slinlI never surrender or retreat On the
| third day Santa Ana moved his headquarters
across the river and made personal recon
Eoian"e The Texans opened ON ths recon
| rcitering party with their batteries, killing
two of the party and wounding six others
| I.1tc at night some of the Texans sailed out
| and burned some wooden buildings, behind
| which the Mexicans had taken a
position On the fourth day the
| MoNians made an unsuccessful at
tempt 10 divert the water from the ditcfes
which supplied the Alamo with water That
pight In" Tcxons burned some wooden build
ins-s north of the Alamo On the fifth Jay
the hombardment was continued without
effect.
On the sixth day Col Travis sent John n
Segun and corr oral to hurry upre enforce
| mcnts from Goliad On the seventh day the
bombar,Iment was continued without effect.
| On the eighth day thirty two citizen soldiers
| from Gonzales re-cnforced the besieged Tex
aus In the afternoon twelve pound shot
from the Alamo struck the house occupied by
Santa Ana On the ninth day the lombard
mcnt was vigorously continued, but with no
casualties for the Texans On the tenth day
Col. Bcnhaln. who had been sent 10 Gohad
| for re-euforccrnerte, re-entcrcd the Alamo,
BEARING word that no aid might 10 expected
from that quarter. The bombarbment was
| continued Col Travis now made his last
| appeal iur and, this time to the convention,
aud sent IT to s W. Smith, the guide who
had conducted the Gonzales party to the
| Alamo Smith LETT the Alamo at midnight
and ,1awlel stcaltbily upon his hands and
knees until safely bevond the Mexican lines,
As he departed Col Travis said 10 AIM
.LGv,q-v n1ruiI,. at ,iaN break / witl fire a can
non ~ 4 sign that we still hold the tort but
whom that cannon Is heard no more lis silence
will toll that the Alamo is fallen
On the eleventh day the McNlcans con
tnucI the rpmUarlment. hut the Texans, be
me- hort of ammunition, seldom fired Col
Trayis nov despaired OF succor and, accord
M to Que account, he proposed to surrender
| Z An ttith ~ r,lpIDp of hUi
Santa Ana's answer was: You must sur
reu,i,r AT discretion, without any guarantee
even OF life. which traitors do not deserve.
] Santa Ana's excuse for this course was that
1t accorded with the will of the Mexican con
g-ress. According to an account published in
1850 by Mr. Rose, Col Travis now an
nouncerl to his companions their desperate
situation, and. after declaring his deternina
ton t, sell hi, life as dearly as possible, drew
Il lir. with hi, sword ard asked all who vert
willing to fight with him to form on the lire
With one exception they all fen into tho
ranks AMI even Col Bowie who was dying
! hal bis cot carried to the line
During the night the Mexican army
fortified and at the first light of dawn On that
memorable SUNDAY morning its bugle:
sounded the fatal peal With a rush like
forward hut tue heroic Texans, reused t
their last duty 10y the sound of the terrible
,lsIuclo tine Mexican huSle call for Death
no quarter, ringing III their ears, every ont
was at his post, and so well did they do theil
duty that twice the brutal hosts of SAINT;
Ana were Eurlel back defeated, only to b.
again forced forward by the sabers of th
Mexican cavalry
N,,, ord
troops Gen. Castilhon's division, after hal
an hours desperate fighting, and after re
peated repulscs and ullheard of losses, sue
ceoied in clfecting an entrance i'll the uPpe
part of the Allmo in a sort of outwork. Tn
lighting had only begun. The doors and win
dows Of the Alamo church were barricade,
and Guarded by bags of sand heapcd up a
high as a mans shoulder, and even on tn
roof were rows of sand bags, behind which
the Texans fought as never men fought be
fort-mus2la to muzzle, hand TO hand. Fac!
Texan rife shot exhausted its force and spen
itself in successive bodies of Mexicans packe,
together like Il wall of flesh. Muskets en-,
, rifles were dubbed, and hayonets and bowl
knives never before wrought such fearful
carnage The ceascless crash of firearms, tn
shots Of the beleagucred, desperate and dc
. faint Texans, and the shrioks of the dying
= made tho din Internal and the scene indies
Z eribable in its sublime terrors Each room il
i the building was the scene of a desperat
!, struggle with fearless men, driven to desPcra
L ton and conscious that escape was impossible
h a piece of artillery, supposed TO he tina
is which Crockett had used during the siege
!. was shotted with grape and canister an,
turned upon the desperate occupants of tn
apartment. After the explosion the Mex
cans entered and found the emaciated bodie
of fourteen men, torn and mangled an
blackeued and bloody. Forty-two Mexican
lay ut the door. Col. James Bowie who's
name tells Of his fearful knife and deeds, Ia,
stark and stiff ON a cot in this room. He wa
helpless and in bed when the Alamo was in
vested twelve days before, but the bodies q
> the victims of his uueiIng aim and invinclhl
courage atte5tcd that his death was not az
conpit, he'd without tenfcld loss to the enemy
. | Their" are several accounts of the death q
4 Col Travis. one of which is derived from
Mexican soldier i'll the army of Santa Ana
That "Col. Travis and David Crockett wcT
. found Wing among the Texan dead, utterl
t worn out Icy sleeplcss nights of watching an
. long continued fighting. When discovered
Col Travis gave a Mexican soldier som
: gold, and whsle conversing with him Ger
: Cos, with whom Col Travis had dealt vei'
!; | generously when San Antonio was capture
: by the Americans, appeared. Cos warml
embraced Travis aud induced other Mexican
among them Gen. Castillion-to join wit
him in asking Santa Ana to spare Travi
life. Then David Crockett also YEARLY arcs
TO his feet from among the corpscs Tt
i,,.,vt Il A,,, L.