The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle's stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout are past;
Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that never more may feel
The rapture of the fight.
--Theodore O'Hara.

"REMEMBER THE ALAMO"

"Thermopylae had its messengers of death, but the Alamo had
none." These were the words with which a United States senator
referred to one of the most resolute and effective fights ever
waged by brave men against overwhelming odds in the face of
certain death.

Soon after the close of the second war with Great Britain,
parties of American settlers began to press forward into the
rich, sparsely settled territory of Texas, then a portion. of
Mexico. At first these immigrants were well received, but the
Mexicans speedily grew jealous of them, and oppressed them in
various ways. In consequence, when the settlers felt themselves
strong enough, they revolted against Mexican rule, and declared
Texas to be an independent republic. Immediately Santa Anna, the
Dictator of Mexico, gathered a large army, and invaded Texas. The
slender forces of the settlers were unable to meet his hosts.
They were pressed back by the Mexicans, and dreadful atrocities