The Struggle f(IT lndependmc1, I835-.I836
San Felipe. By-passing San Antonio he considered better, as it would eliminate the difficulties of a march over the semi-desert area between Laredo and San Antonio and enable the Mexican army to strike at the very heart of the colonies. But Santa Anna, unable to forget the insult offered to General Cos, decided to wipe out the affront by re- capturing the city. The advantage of marching directly to the center of the Texas colonies over a shorter and more convenient route was sacrificed to the desire for revenge. 41 The siege amJ, fall of tlie Alamo, illission Sa1J Antonio de Valero. Once the decision was reached, Santa Anna hurried to Laredo, where he arrived just as General Sesma was preparing to cross the river. On February 13, the very day that Travis was denouncing the un- soldierly conduct of Bowie, the Mexican army began its march from Laredo to San Antonio. The terrain was desolate and the weather bad. Santa Anna had intended to surpise the overconfident Texans on February 22, but his advance guard did not reach Alazan Creek until the next day. The Mexican population of San Antonio showed unmistakable signs of apprehension. A lookout had been placed in the church steeple by the Texans to ring the bells the minute the enemy was sighted. Early on the morning of February 23 the bells rang out the alarm, but peer as they would, the Texans could not see the approaching army. The lookout swore he had seen the glint of burnished steel over the hills to the west. The first shock of fear gave way to a feeling of relief, and then of jocularity as they made fun of the lookout. Never- theless, as a precautionary measure, two well-mounted scouts were sent out the Laredo road to explore. Dr. John W. Sutherland and John W. Smith had not gone far beyond the hills before they returned at a gallop to report the advance of some 1,500 mounted men. The garrison was called to arms and ordered to take their posts in the old mission fortress that was to be their grave. Defiantly facing west stood the battered chapel of old Mission San Antonio de Valero, now known everywhere as the Alamo. Its stately towers 42 had fallen in 1762 and had caused the dome and arched roof 4 1Filisola, op. cit., II, 255-269. 42 The original fay1de of the Alamo resembled present Mission Concepcion. The front, so familiar to everybody today, was built in I 84l, when the ruins were repaired by the United States Army for the Quartermaster's Department.
Powered by FlippingBook