At 10 p.m. on March 5, the Mexican artillery ceased their bombardment. As Santa Anna had anticipated, the exhausted Texians soon fell into the first uninterrupted sleep many of them had since the siege began.[97] Just after midnight, more than 2,000 Mexican soldiers began preparing for the final assault.[98] Fewer than 1,800 were divided into four columns, commanded by Cos, Colonel Francisco Duque, Colonel José María Romero and Colonel Juan Morales.[95][96] Veterans were positioned on the outside of the columns to better control the new recruits and conscripts in the middle.[99] As a precaution, 500 Mexican cavalry were positioned around the Alamo to prevent the escape of either Texian or Mexican soldiers. Santa Anna remained in camp with the 400 reserves.[96][100] Despite the bitter cold, the soldiers were ordered not to wear overcoats which could impede their movements.[96] Clouds concealed the moon and thus the movements of the soldiers.[101]

At 5:30 a.m. troops silently advanced. Cos and his men approached the northwest corner of the Alamo,[99] while Duque led his men from the northwest towards a repaired breach in the Alamo's north wall.[102] The column commanded by Romero marched towards the east wall, and Morales's column aimed for the low parapet by the chapel.[102]

The three Texian sentinels stationed outside the walls were killed in their sleep,[103][104] allowing Mexican soldiers to approach undetected within musket range of the walls.[103] At this point, the silence was broken by shouts of "¡Viva Santa Anna!" and music from the buglers.[98] The noise woke the Texians.[104] Most of the noncombatants gathered in the church sacristy for safety.[105] Travis rushed to his post yelling, "Come on boys, the Mexicans are upon us and we'll give them hell!"[103] and, as he passed a group of Tejanos, "¡No rendirse, muchachos!" ("Don't surrender, boys").[97]

In the initial moments of the assault, Mexican troops were at a disadvantage. Their column formation allowed only the front rows of soldiers to fire safely.[106] Unaware of the dangers, the untrained recruits in the ranks "blindly fir[ed] their guns", injuring or killing the troops in front of them.[107] The tight concentration of troops also offered an excellent target for the Texian artillery.[106] Lacking canister shot, Texians filled their cannon with any metal they could find, including door hinges, nails, and chopped-up horseshoes, essentially turning the cannon into giant shotguns.[103] According to the diary of José Enrique de la Peña, "a single cannon volley did away with half the company of chasseurs from Toluca".[108] Duque fell from his horse after sustaining a wound in his thigh and was almost trampled by his own men. General Manuel Castrillón quickly assumed command of Duque's column.[26]

Although some in the front of the Mexican ranks wavered, soldiers in the rear pushed them on.[106] As the troops massed against the walls, Texians were forced to lean over the walls to shoot, leaving them exposed to Mexican fire. Travis became one of the first occupiers to die, shot while firing his shotgun into the soldiers below him, though one source says that he drew his sword and stabbed a Mexican officer who had stormed the wall before succumbing to his injury.[106] Few of the Mexican ladders reached the walls.[109] The few soldiers who were able to climb the ladders were quickly killed or beaten back. As the Texians discharged their previously loaded rifles, they found it increasingly difficult to reload while attempting to keep Mexican soldiers from scaling the walls.[26]

Mexican soldiers withdrew and regrouped, but their second attack was repulsed. Fifteen minutes into the battle, they attacked a third time.[26][106] During the third strike, Romero's column, aiming for the east wall, was exposed to cannon fire and shifted to the north, mingling with the second column.[26] Cos' column, under fire from Texians on the west wall, also veered north.[110] When Santa Anna saw that the bulk of his army was massed against the north wall, he feared a rout; "panicked", he sent the reserves into the same area.[111] The Mexican soldiers closest to the north wall realized that the makeshift wall contained many gaps and toeholds. One of the first to scale the 12-foot (3.7 m) wall was General Juan Amador; at his challenge, his men began swarming up the wall. Amador opened the postern in the north wall, allowing Mexican soldiers to pour into the complex.[109] Others climbed through gun ports in the west wall, which had few occupiers.[112] As the Texian occupiers abandoned the north wall and the northern end of the west wall,[109][112] Texian gunners at the south end of the mission turned their cannon towards the north and fired into the advancing Mexican soldiers. This left the south end of the mission unprotected; within minutes Mexican soldiers had climbed the walls and killed the gunners, gaining control of the Alamo's 18-pounder cannon.[101] By this time Romero's men had taken the east wall of the compound and were pouring in through the cattle pen.[112]

Interior fighting

As previously planned, most of the Texians fell back to the barracks and the chapel. Holes had been carved in the walls to allow the Texians to fire.[110] Unable to reach the barracks, Texians stationed along the west wall headed west for the San Antonio River. When the cavalry charged, the Texians took cover and began firing from a ditch. Sesma was forced to send reinforcements, and the Texians were eventually killed. Sesma reported that this skirmish involved 50 Texians, but Edmondson believes that number was inflated.[113]

The occupiers in the cattle pen retreated into the horse corral. After discharging their weapons, the small band of Texians scrambled over the low wall, circled behind the church and raced on foot for the east prairie, which appeared empty.[110][112][114] As the Mexican cavalry advanced on the group, Almaron Dickinson and his artillery crew turned a cannon around and fired into the cavalry, probably inflicting casualties. Nevertheless, all of the escaping Texians were killed.[114]

The last Texian group to remain in the open were Crockett and his men, defending the low wall in front of the church. Unable to reload, they used their rifles as clubs and fought with knives. After a volley of fire and a wave of Mexican bayonets, the few remaining Texians in this group fell back towards the church.[113] The Mexican army now controlled all of the outer walls and the interior of the Alamo compound except for the church and rooms along the east and west walls.[115] Mexican soldiers turned their attention to a Texian flag waving from the roof of one building. Four Mexicans were killed before the flag of Mexico was raised in that location.[Note 13][116]

For the next hour, the Mexican army worked to secure complete control of the Alamo.[117] Many of the remaining occupiers were ensconced in the fortified barracks rooms.[118] In the confusion, the Texians had neglected to spike their cannon before retreating. Mexican soldiers turned the cannon towards the barracks.[109] As each door was blown off, Mexican soldiers would fire a volley of muskets into the dark room, then charge in for hand-to-hand combat.[118]

Too sick to participate in the battle, Bowie likely died in bed. Eyewitnesses to the battle gave conflicting accounts of his death. Some witnesses maintained that they saw several Mexican soldiers enter Bowie's room, bayonet him, and carry him alive from the room.[119] Others claimed that Bowie shot himself or was killed by soldiers while too weak to lift his head.[120] According to historian Wallace Chariton, the "most popular, and probably the most accurate"[121] version is that Bowie died on his cot, "back braced against the wall, and using his pistols and his famous knife."[120]

The last of the Texians to die were the 11 men manning the two 12-pounder cannons in the chapel.[116][122] A shot from the 18-pounder cannon destroyed the barricades at the front of the church, and Mexican soldiers entered the building after firing an initial musket volley. Dickinson's crew fired their cannon from the apse into the Mexican soldiers at the door. With no time to reload, the Texians, including Dickinson, Gregorio Esparza and James Bonham, grabbed rifles and fired before being bayoneted to death.[123] Texian Robert Evans, the master of ordnance, had been tasked with keeping the gunpowder from falling into Mexican hands. Wounded, he crawled towards the powder magazine but was killed by a musket ball with his torch only inches from the powder.[123] Had he succeeded, the blast would have destroyed the church and killed the women and children hiding in the sacristy.[124]

As soldiers approached the sacristy, one of the young sons of occupier Anthony Wolf stood to pull a blanket over his shoulders.[123] In the dark, Mexican soldiers mistook him for an adult and killed him.[Note 14][125] Possibly the last Texian to die in battle was Jacob Walker,[126] who, wounded, ran to a corner and was bayoneted in front of Susanna Dickinson.[127] Another Texian, Brigido Guerrero, also sought refuge in the sacristy.[123] Guerrero, who had deserted from the Mexican Army in December 1835, was spared after convincing the soldiers he was a Texian prisoner.[125][128]

By 6:30 a.m. the battle for the Alamo was over.[127] Mexican soldiers inspected each corpse, bayoneting any body that moved.[125] Even with all of the Texians dead, Mexican soldiers continued to shoot, some killing each other in the confusion. Mexican generals were unable to stop the bloodlust and appealed to Santa Anna for help. Although the general showed himself, the violence continued and the buglers were finally ordered to sound a retreat. For 15 minutes after that, soldiers continued to fire into dead bodies.[129]

Remember the Alamo!

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Remember the Alamo!

+1

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Remember the Alamo!

+2

Thanks, Mike. Interesting read

Never forget...

Vote for freedom and Trump.

Never surrender or give up our arms.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Never forget...

Vote for freedom and Trump.

Never surrender or give up our arms.

Thanks for fucking up the thread.

Lest we forget Deaf Smith.

A very sober read.