For several weeks there was a state of doubt as to the intentions of Santa Anna. Davy was kept busy writing to his friends regarding supplies and future plans. The Bee-Hunter, the Pirate, the Indian, and Thimblerig recognized him as their leader, and kept ready to answer his call.
[XXII.]
THE ALAMO BESIEGED
The city of San Antonio de Bejar—The crumbling monuments of Spanish supremacy—A place of surpassing interest to travellers—The spirit of revenge—The morning of Washington’s Birthday, 1836—Davy, the scout once more, watches the coming of Santa Anna and four thousand men—The Alamo prepares for the last struggle—The Bee-Hunter salutes the Lone Star flag—The Pirate goes for help to Goliad—But one man deserts the garrison of the Alamo—The beginning of the siege on February 24th—Thimblerig is struck by a bullet, and takes revenge—The Pirate is seen returning, pursued by Mexicans, and the Bee-Hunter leads a party to his relief—The Pirate dies of a bullet wound at the gates of the fort, and the Bee-Hunter is fatally injured—The Bee-Hunter’s death—Farewell to Kate of Nacogdoches!—The Red Flag on the walls of the San Fernando church—Orders to the Mexican Army for the assault.
It is not possible here to repeat the history of San Antonio de Bejar. As the site of crumbling monuments of early American history, it has no rival. The Alamo, last remnant of the Mission that was at one time at San Ildefonso, near Santa Fé, is the restored chapel of its Brotherhood. Its massive walls are the same that have met the many shocks of battle for two hundred years. There the wild Apaches and Comanches found a stronghold to check their ravages, and there the equally savage men of fairer skins slaughtered each other with grim delight. When the Missions of the Concepcion, of San José, of San Juan, of San Francis of the Sword, now crumbling to inevitable decay, shall be only mounds in the midst of stunted trees and matted vines, when the exquisite carvings of their broad façades shall have turned to dust again, the traveller will stand before the Alamo with reverence, and enter, with uncovered head, the dim recesses of this altar-place of liberty.
When Davy Crockett and his recruits first saw its walls, the spirit of revenge was rife. The butchery at Tampico of thirty American adventurers, captured in the schooner Mary Jane, in spite of the one hundred thousand dollar ransom offered, and the murder of Governor Salcedo, two other Mexican Governors, and a dozen officers and hidalgos, by Gutierrez and Delgado, Mexican rebels who were allied with a force of Americans camped about the Alamo, had wrought the racial hatred to a frenzy. Every man longed for battle, and the extinction of the last vestige of the power of the enemy. When news came that Santa Anna and four thousand Mexicans were on the way, the cowards faded from sight, knowing that war was to be under the Red Flag, and without quarter.
On the morning of Washington’s Birthday, 1836, Davy and the Bee-Hunter, with a dozen of the roughest riders that ever fought Apaches on the plains, sat their saddles upon a mesquite-covered hill a few miles south of the twin towers of the Mission de La Concepcion, watching a blur of dust that lay upon the hills. Suddenly there flashed upon their sight the glitter of bayonets and of silver eagles perched above waving flags. As they stood intent, the roll of drums came to their ears, and over the winding river rang the bugle calls of the hurrying hosts. Santa Anna was within twenty miles of the Alamo, and the Americans’ horses were put to their utmost speed as they raced towards the town with the long-expected tidings.
As the scouting party clattered through the crooked streets, hundreds of the inhabitants followed to hear the news they brought. At the gates of the fortress were Bowie, Travis, and more than one hundred and fifty others whose names are on the roll of “the Battle Dead.” Every preparation had been made for the struggle, but both ammunition and food were scarce. Their hopes were placed upon the expected relief by the forces under command of Colonel Fannin at Goliad.