with heavy artillery; but they had no idea of flinching, and made
a desperate defense. The days went by, and no help came, while
Santa Anna got ready his lines, and began a furious cannonade.
His gunners were unskilled, however, and he had to serve the guns
from a distance; for when they were pushed nearer, the American
riflemen crept forward under cover, and picked off the
artillerymen. Old Crockett thus killed five men at one gun. But,
by degrees, the bombardment told. The walls of the Alamo were
battered and riddled; and when they had been breached so as to
afford no obstacle to the rush of his soldiers, Santa Anna
commanded that they be stormed.

The storm took place on March 6, 1836. The Mexican troops came on
well and steadily, breaking through the outer defenses at every
point, for the lines were too long to be manned by the few
Americans. The frontiersmen then retreated to the inner building,
and a desperate hand-to-hand conflict followed, the Mexicans
thronging in, shooting the Americans with their muskets, and
thrusting at them with lance and bayonet, while the Americans,
after firing their long rifles, clubbed them, and fought
desperately, one against many; and they also used their
bowie-knives and revolvers with deadly effect. The fight reeled
to and fro between the shattered walls, each American the center
of a group of foes; but, for all their strength and their wild
fighting courage, the defenders were too few, and the struggle
could have but one end. One by one the tall riflemen succumbed,
after repeated thrusts with bayonet and lance, until but three or
four were left. Colonel Travis, the commander, was among them;
and so was Bowie, who was sick and weak from a wasting disease,
but who rallied all his strength to die fighting, and who, in the