011r Cat/,olic Heritage in T e:xas
nevertheless, answered the call. Brave, fearless, and unselfish, they came fully resolved to sacrifice their lives to encourage their friends in their fight for freedom, and to delay the enemy as long as possible so that the helpless women and children in the colonies could flee to safety. A few days later there were more than 30 widows and almost 100 orphans in Gonzalez."' Santa Anna relentlessly pounded the exhausted garrison during the following days and drew the line tighter round the brave defenders. On March 3 he received news of Urrea's successful destruction of the Johnson-Grant men. The jubilation of the victors only increased the foreboding of the Texans. Travis sent out his last message with the daring John W. Smith on March 3. He reported to the Convention, which on the previous day had signed the Declaration of Independence, that in reply to repeated requests for assistance, a mere handful of brave men from Gonzalez had joined him at three o'clock on the morning of March I, whereas the enemy had been reinforced in the meantime by more than a thousand men. The Travis message indicated that he had lost hope that Fannin would ever come, for he placed no stock in rumors that he was on his way to raise the siege. He assured the Convention that his men, among whom were three Mexicans, were determined to repel the enemy or die. "I feel confident," he declared, "that the ... valor and desperate courage, heretofore exhibited by my men, will not fail them in their last struggle. . .. The power of Santa Anna is to be met here or in the colonies; we had better meet them here than to suffer a war of devastation to rage in our settlements." 65 By the same messenger he sent a friend an appeal: "Take care of my little boy.... Should I perish, he will have ... the proud recollection that he is the son of a man who died for his country." The next day the Mexican fire increased in intensity, while that of the Texans slackened because of weariness and rapidly dwindling am- munition. Santa Anna, believing that the time for the final assault had arrived, called a council. Generals Cos and Castril16n expressed themselves as desirous of waiting until the arrival of the heavier guns, which were expected momentarily. Generals Almonte and Sesma were for immediate attack, as suggested by Santa Anna. Late in the afternoon of March 5 a hush fell over the countryside, 44 For a list of the men see Williams, op. cit., 245-2 50. 65 W. Barrett Travis to the President of the Convention, Commandancy of the Alamo, March 3, I 836, quoted in full by Williams in op. cit., I 37.
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