San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-12-12
THE ALAMO STORMED.
THIS HISTORICAL EVENT Is A
COMPLETE SUCCESS.
The Old Fort Was Attacked Yesterday and
Is Scheduled to Fall TOday-A
Large Crowd Witnessed It.

Inc StOfmlnS Oh the Aldluo has
begun, and San Antonio is now the
seat of a peaceful war. Memories
of the past are refreshed and incidents
that have gone into history are re-
called. 1t is an occasion which ey-
cry Texan should remember, for it
gives him reason to feel proud that on
his native soil there We're men who
died like heroes for his welfare.
Although not on the corresponding
date of this memorable event, an idea
was given yesterday of what happen
ed in San Antonio sixty years ago.
The scenes were warlike enough, and
all that seemed lacking were few
bullets to make it interesting. 1t was
a war with no fatal results, not even
an accident of any kind. The roaring
of the cannon and the cracking Of the
rifles inspired the six thousand, which
witnessed the spectacle, with patriot
ic feelings, and many veterans who
were in the assemblage said that it
made them feel like shouldering a
musket to go to the front again.
THE WAR BEGINS.
The brave defenders of the Alamo
were represented by the Belknap ri
fies and Colonel Frank Bass Travis
was there with Davy Crockett, Jim
Bowie, Bonham and others. The Mex
lean forces were in command of Gen
eral Lucian Lacoste Santa Anna, and
his aides, Col. Nat Villareal Castril-
Ion and Colonel 1. Charles Baker Cos.
The war begun about 4:30 O'clock
and continued about an hour, during
which time there was incessant firing
on all sides. The Mexican troops,
composed of the real article and of the
Governors guards and the West Tex
as Cadets, were located north and
northwest of the Alamo, and the artil-
lery was stationed east of the fort.
The day closed with the Texas flag
unfurled to the breeze, floating from
the Alamo, and camp fires burning
around the fort. Re-inforcements for
the brave band of Travis arrived this
morning, and the fort is better pre-
pared for the attack this afternoon.
Surgeon-in-chief Hadra had the hos
pial tent all to himself. There were
no wounded brought in off the field.
He will have this important fault @r-
rected today, he says, and will have
out full ambulance corps.
CADETS AND ZOUAvES DRILL.
The exhibition drill given by the
West Texas Cadets and the Zouayes
were splendid and received merited
were almost perfect and their manual
drill was executed with machine-like
order. The Zouaves scaled sixteen
foot wall in a most clever manner,
which doubtless required a great deal
of practice for perfection. The sue
cess with which this company is
meeting is the result of the ambition
of Captain Hernandez and his men to
gain laurels for the San Antonio Zou-
ayes as well as for the Alamo city,
and the projects in this direction are
very bright.
STORMED THE LUNCH STAND.
Just before the battle the troops,
both regulars and militia, marched to
the exposition building, where a sub
stantial lunch awaited them. This
was followed by liberal supply of
beer and ham and corn-beef sand
witches, which were served at anoth-
er stand. This was a true picture of
"Storming the lunch stand" when
from the troats of 500 or more came
the demand for "more beer" Two
colored boys were behind the bar,
drawing the beverage, which was dis
posed of quicker than they could place
it on the counter. Shouts for more
beer came from all sides, while emp
ty glasses were all over the counters,
and the colored bartenders did not
know at which end to start first
THE FRONTIERSMEN.
A squad of rontiersmen was repre-
scented in the parade and battle by
Mounted Police Officers Mitchell, Par
ker, Rogers, Herrera, Foster, Wosnig,
Mcconnell and Robb. They took ac-
tive part in the battle and their work
was very realistic. Their appearan-
ces would have made any train rob-
ber's heart tremble in his boots and
the way they handled the six shooter
will give any man good reason to
steer clear of these fellows. These
officers had to be up all Of Thursday
night. without sleep, on duty and up
all of last night, and took their first
rest today in "a hours.
TEP'S EXHIBITION.
Adolph Toepperwein gave an exhi-