The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-05
COMMANDER IN THE ALAMO
 ALABAMA REARED AND BRED

fourth acres of ground The walls were twenty-three feet high and three feet broad. Day after day the fight ing continued until the morning of March 9th, when Santa Anna deter mined upon the final assault. The fight the Americans were making was mad dening. It was humiliatng 10 any l leader to know that q slender comrany of men were holding in check so large an army. It was q situation that had nothing of credit or glory in it for the Mexican arms.
 So the assault was determined upon. The Blood-red sand.
 All the morning the fight went on and the sands were red with blood. But the sands without the fort were | redder than that within the fort When one American fell within the fort five | Mexicans lay stretched on the ground | without the fort. A break was made, | a cannon manned by the defenders was 1 captured and turned upon the Ameri | cans--and the end was not far off, The I Mexicans swarmed in. Only a few of | the defenders were alive, but they were l fgating as confidently, as bravely as l though an army of ten thousand were l at their back.
 i Bowie the great frontiersman, an in | | on a bed and unable to use that de- ] structive knife which he invented, and | which bears his name. He was in the i last stages of consumption. And DO doubt he joyfully accepted the splen- I did chance to die fighting than te
 waste away enervated and hopeless. | His bed was weighed down with l loaded pistols. He heard the shots and l the clash below. the victorious shouts | of the Mexicans and the tramp Q: l their feet upon the steps.
 They saw him prnpped upon his pile low with his great eyes burning But | the. first of those who saw him never lived to tell the tale. He turned the room Of his death bed into a shambles Before his eyes were closed, before his I finger lost the strength to null the | trigger the dead Of Mexico filtered l the floor and surrounded the bed. 1 In that famous company of the Ala mo was Davy Crockett, as brave as tho | bravest and the best rifle shot in the generation of Americans whose proud est boast was of true shooting. On that day when he stood with his back ] to the wall and made the last fight l af his life. he was national figure. in the front rank of Americans. For this l Tennessee rifisman had been sent to Congress from Tennessee where he first attracted attention because of his pin- turesduenessy and where later his native ability wen recognition and ability He was the political opponent of the great Andrew Jackson, and many believed
 him Jackson's equal In abilits
 Davy Crocketf,s Fight,
 Of him if is told in this Alamo fight that he kept silent for two days Mex can cannon that held the place and the range to batter down the walls of the Alamo When he saw them mount the gun 1t is said he calmly took the wall with his Tennessee rifle and coolly pick
 ed of the Mexieans Gho had put the gun into place. And as one after am other tried to slip or run forward to
 shoot the gun, the Tennessee rifleman dropad them before they could touch powder or ram rod.
 Death came to Crockett as perhaps he would have chosen it. He met fl
 with a ciuhbed rifle swinging high above his head and upon the horde of
 Mexleans pressing forward upon the
 eaged Hon. And thus he died. T There were other heroes--mora than fthree signalIized themselves in this great fight. There was James Bonham, I of the best blood of South Carolina. and one of Traviss officers. With two companions he was sent away to Go | Had to get help for the fighters cooped
 up in the Alamo. The three ridnrs slipped through the line and faithfully did their errand. It was useless. There was no hein They rode back towards
 the beleagured fort surrounded by the
 merciless Mexicans.
 II It was the task of a fero to rida through those lines and get back into
 the fort. And in the fort there was
 only death and noble companinnship No help was coming and the three
 knew it. Bonhsm's companions knew
 1t and drew back. What was the use?'' But Bonham thought Of the men in | k4roR Rnvf. ha 1ernf nf axyfe 4A ofRa
 airic and the brave, shut in with his
 fcriorn hope, all straining their eyes
 and looking for the aid that was never
 to come
 RonhaIn'a Bravery.
 You may do as you please" he tole
 his cautious companions, 'hut I am gp'
 ing back into the fort or die in tne
 effort. Colonel Travis sent me away or
 mission I am going Into that fort
 and make my report to him."
 And he did, He swan his horse
 across the river and he made his pert
 lcus way through the lines of the mur-
 derous Mexicaps. He won his share Of
 the glory and died ir the choice com-
 panIonship of the Alamo. The othsr two rode away and their names are not known.
 Crockett, Bowie, Bonham and every one of the others were it to hghi , shoulder to shoulder with these men 1 l Sucn are LHe IIltH tHdL commanded. And the things they dic
 which handed them down to whai honor and glory posterity could be.
 stow Is recorded, imperfectly 1t Is true
 but in such a way 1t Is hoped tha
 any Twentieth Century Alabamiar
 might know what Travis did and leaC | up to some remarks, tc show wha
 manner of man 1t was that pioneer Alabama gave to Texas to lead her to : waFds her independence and to hel z greatness of today To appreciate th' !, man it is meet to know where ant 2 how he lead. .. z The brother at Evergreen, who Il now full 77 years of age, is rar' !. and interesting link connecting Ala | bama as we know it with the pioneei z days and with the splendid Travis O boundless fame And at " he Is stronl and hale with clear vivid recollec ton of his elder brother A grandson . of the hero. Charles Travis De Corsey [ lives at Evergreen he IS today thu only descendant of Colonel Travis n The leader of the Texans has man! q other relatives in Conecuh county anf . in Middle and South Alabama. Blu . Captain Travis. in his old age ant : after a long life, in which his peopli
 have seen it to honor him Is the sole
 survivor of the pioneer days who knew
 and who has a vivid recollection O.
 hls distinguished brother.
 It was a privilege to talk to hin ]. nF Travfs hfs aarIV life In AIabana