Here, then, in this old and crumbling Spanish mission, toward the end of
February, were gathered a hundred and fifty Texans, a wild and
undisciplined band, impatient of restraint or control, but men of iron
courage and the best shots on the border, with Travis in command; while
without was the army of Santa Anna. On February 24th, Travis, in a
letter asking for reinforcements, announced the siege and added that he
would never surrender or retreat. Early in March, thirty-two men from
Gonzales, knowing they were going to well-nigh certain death, made their
way into the fort, raising its garrison to 180.
Santa Anna demanded unconditional surrender, and Travis answered with a
cannon-shot; whereat, on the morning of the sixth of March, the Mexican
army stormed the fort from all sides, swarmed in through breaches and
over the walls, which the Texans were too few to man, and a desperate
hand-to-hand conflict followed. To and fro between the shattered walls
the fight reeled, each tall Texan the centre of a group of foes,
fighting with a wild and desperate courage; but the odds were too great,
and one by one they fell, thrust through with bayonets or riddled by
bullets. Colonel Travis fell, and so did Bowie, sick and weak from a
wasting disease, but rising from his bed, and dying fighting with his
great knife red with the blood of his foes.
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