in response to this appeal were
thirty-two gallant men from Gonzales, who made the whole number one
hundred and eighty-eight. Colonel Fannin, at Goliad, set out with three
hundred men, but the breaking down of one of his wagons and a scarcity
of supplies obliged him to return. Among the patriot garrison were Davy
Crockett and Colonel James Bowie, the latter as famous a man in his way
as the great hunter. He was a duelist of national fame, in those days
when the border duels were fought with knife instead of pistol. He
invented the Bowie knife, a terrible weapon in the hands of a resolute
man. To be famed as a duelist is no worthy claim to admiration, but to
fight hand to hand with knife for weapon is significant of high courage.

Small as were their numbers, and slight as were their means of defence,
the heroes of the Alamo fought on without flinching. Santa Anna planted
his batteries around the stronghold and kept up a steady bombardment.
The Texans made little reply; their store of ammunition was so small
that it had to be kept for more critical work. In the town a blood-red
banner was displayed in lurid token of the sanguinary purpose of the
Mexican leader, but the garrison showed no signs of dismay. They were
the descendants of men who had fought against the Indians of the South
under like conditions, and they were not likely to forget the traditions
of their race.

On the 3d of March a battery was erected within musket-shot of the north
wall of the fort, on which it poured a destructive fire. Travis now sent
out a final appeal for aid, and with it an affecting note to a friend,
in which he said,--

"Take care of my boy. If the country should be saved I may make him a
splendid fortune; but if the country should be lost and I should
perish, he will have nothing but the proud recollection that he is the
son of a man who died for his country."

The invading force increased in numbers until, by the 5th of March,
there were more than four thousand of them around the fort, most of them
fresh, while the garrison was worn out with incessant toil and watching.
The end was near at hand. Soon after midnight on the 6th the Mexican
army gathered close around the fort, prepared for an assault. The
infantry carried scaling-ladders. Behind them were drawn up the cavalry
with orders to kill any man who might fly from the ranks. This indicated
Santa Anna's character and his opinion of his men.

The men within the walls had no ne