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no relief was sent until too late, except the men from Gonzales, who merely added to
the butchery.
Santa Anna hoisted the black flag on the parish church, (now San Fernando
Cathedral) , which signified "no quarter" and commenced a vigorous cannonading, which
continued, with few intervals, but did no material damage to the building and injured
none of the gallant defenders. The Texans' fire was sparsely delivered for they were
short on ammunition, and wisely reserved it for the final attack.
Santa Anna chafed under being kept at bay and feared re-inforcements might
arrive, and it was decided that an attack should be made at dawn on Sunday, March
6th, 1836, and at that time Santa Anna, at the head of his army, marched to the Alamo.
The attack was made in six columns and at different points. For some time the brave
defenders kept the Mexicans off and killed many, but the reserves were brought to the
front and the Mexicans succeeded in making breaches in the walls and in scaling them.
Then occurred a most desperate hand to hand fight, which is thus described by Santa
Anna in his official report:
"They (the Mexicans) met with a stubborn resistance. The combat lasted more
than an hour and a half and the reserves had to be brought into action. The scene
offered by this engagement was extraordinary. The men fought individually vieing with
each other in heroism."
But resistance against such an overwhelming force was in vain, and every Texan
perished in the strife. The commander, Travis, was killed at the gun; Dave Crockett
died in the main building; Bowie, who was sick in bed in one of the side rooms, near
the door, died fighting, and Bonham met with a like fate. Major Evans was killed as
he was attempting to explode the powder magazine.