It was radiant spring-time when Davy leaned upon his rifle and looked across the Texas plains and over the hills that rose to the north and east of the valley. He had read the grim orders for the expected assault as he might have read an unimportant order of the day. No comments had been heard as the proclamation passed from hand to hand. On the walls of the Alamo and the tops of the flanking stockades5 were fourteen guns loaded[301] with grape and slugs, ready to be fired at a moment’s notice. Every man was supplied with bullets and a full powder-horn.
Some of the garrison7 were Mexicans, fighting for the common cause. These were armed with rifles carrying bayonets. They were not marksmen or experts in rapid firing, but they knew their fate if defeated, and were relied upon to resist to the last.
A hush8 fell over all the land as the sun went down, touching9 with tender beauty the early verdure of the plains. In the cottonwoods finches sung their vesper songs, and the redbirds piped their plaintive10 calls. The melody of the thrushes came from the willows11 along the river’s banks, so sweet and far-away that Davy seemed to stand once more by the winding12 current of the Obion. The odor of cedar13 was in the air as the people of the city prepared their evening meals over fires of the fragrant14 wood. The softened15 tones of the vesper bells came from the Mission towers, full of an infinite peace and calm, and the day merged16 into night, and the stars came out, and the birds were still. So ended the 5th of March at San Antonio de Bejar.
[302]
The fitful sleep of the garrison came to an end when word was passed around that activity had begun in the camp of the Mexicans. The sound of horses’ feet was heard as the men of Sesma’s cavalry17 command turned out for service at three o’clock, before the first sign of day appeared. By four o’clock the tramp of moving hosts had ceased, and in the bright moonlight the glitter of bayonets showed that the forces that were to make the assault had taken the positions assigned them. Every American took his place upon the walls of fort or stockade6, and saw that the priming of his gun or rifle was renewed.
As the first glimmer18 of dawn came out of the east, the fateful winding of a bugle broke the stillness of the Sabbath morn. Voices were faintly heard in stern command, and then, like the sweep of a tidal wave, mingled19 with the earthquake’s sullen20 roar, the unleashed21 hosts of Santa Anna swarmed23 against the massive walls of the Alamo. When near the fort they were met by a storm of grape and slugs and the bullets of the riflemen. Two thousand five hundred Mexicans took part in[303] the first attack, advancing in three columns against the eastern, western, and northern sides, but they recoiled24 in confusion before the withering25 fire. Colonel Duque was killed as he approached the northern wall, and his men were thrown into terrified confusion. Upon the other sides of the fortress26 the attack was at first repelled27; but behind the shrinking men who faced the first fire came the forces in reserve, until they outnumbered the defenders28 fifteen to one, and at last they reached the walls. Finding it impossible to scale them, the whole assault was directed against the stockade upon the northern side. Here the walls were comparatively low, and the ladders could be used. In the meantime the men within were loading and firing with desperate energy. The slaughter was terrible, and two or three hundred Mexicans had fallen before the partial shelter of the walls was gained. Here they were safe from the fire of the cannon29 overhead, but at so close a range almost every bullet found a victim. Only the knowledge that others were hurrying to their support kept them from fleeing for their lives.
[304]
Travis had been killed at the northwestern angle of the parapet, while working one of the cannon defending a small breach30 that had been made. After repeated attempts, General Amador succeeded in scaling the walls at this point, and a swarm22 of Mexicans followed him. Under Morales and Mi?on, the outer defenses of the stockades had been occupied, the cannon captured, and the defenders forced to retire to the main part of the Alamo and the long barracks attached. The Texans soon fired their last shots, then swung their clubbed rifles against the mobs that pressed upon them with bayonet and sword. As these drove the Americans against the walls, their keen-edged knives were drawn31 for a moment of desperate conflict before they fell dying one by one. Bowie was lying in an almost helpless condition in an upper room of the barracks, but when the enemy rushed in upon him he shot down several with his pistols before he was despatched. Bonham, who had been one of the most active of the garrison, had been killed while loading a cannon. Crockett had retreated with the others into the plaza32 in which the long two-story[305] barracks opened. The last that is known about him is that his mutilated body was seen near the main walls of the Alamo by Mrs. Dickinson, whose life was spared by the Mexicans. The story of his capture behind a pile of dead men, whom he had killed before being overpowered, is not true. Like most of his companions, he died in his tracks, disdaining33 to ask for quarter. A few of his comrades are known to have attempted escape by hiding in the barracks, an act which was entirely34 justifiable35, for the fighting was over, and longer resistance was useless. The Mexicans stood at last within the walls of the Alamo, surrounded by the dead, with no hand raised against them.
The conflict had been terrible, but was soon over. It was yet an hour before the rising of the sun upon the plains when the calm, sweet notes of a bugle sounded from the midst of drifting smoke above the captured fort. The bands without were hushed, and the fierce Degüello was no longer needed to incite36 to fury and frantic37 assault. The Lone4 Star flag that had been so proudly raised upon Washington’s Birthday lay trampled38 in the[306] dust, and in its stead the tri-color of Mexico flaunted39 in the morning breeze. There was a rolling of drums as the victorious40 Santa Anna appeared before the open gates of the Alamo. Five men who had secreted41 themselves in the barracks were brought before him. Their captors asked what disposition42 should be made of the prisoners. For answer Santa Anna wheeled his horse until his back was turned. Disregarding all the tenets of military discipline, the guard about him broke ranks and fell upon the captives like a pack of wolves, and in a moment’s time the last of the defenders of the fort had gone to his final accounting43.
It has been generally supposed that Crockett and a few others were massacred by Santa Anna’s command; but the best evidence now disproves this, though it confirms his savage44 cruelty in ordering the shooting of Colonel Fannin and his men, afterwards captured at Goliad.
Five hundred dead and dying Mexicans met the gaze of the victorious commander-in-chief as he rode into the fort; and the total losses of the Mexican army were between fifteen hundred and[307] sixteen hundred men. Almost two hundred Americans lay among the ghastly harvest they had reaped.
The bodies of all the Americans, with the possible exception of Bowie, whose wife was a sister of the wife of Santa Anna, were at once laid upon a pile of wood and brush and burned. The Mexicans’ own dead were buried, and preparations were made for the extermination45 of the last vestige46 of rebellion.
In February, 1837, Colonel Seguin removed the ashes and charred47 bones of the funeral pile of the defenders of the Alamo, and buried them near the fort. In after years a small monument was set up in the entrance to the State House at Austin, built from fragments of the stockade against which the tide of battle swept with such fury on that quiet Sabbath morn. Upon this monument are the names of one hundred and sixty-six men who met death before the bugle rang above the old church walls. Among the first is the name of Davy Crockett.
The Alamo is now cared for by the Society of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. The[308] patriotic48 ladies who compose this Society have done everything possible to restore and preserve the historic building. The four-foot walls are intact, and the roof has been rebuilt. A custodian49 is always in charge, and many objects of interest have been collected and placed on exhibition. Pictures of Crockett, Travis, Milam, Burleson, and others are hung upon its walls. The most characteristic of all the pictures of Davy Crockett is one painted by John L. Chapman in 1834, while Crockett was in Congress. It shows him as he looked as scout50 and hunter, and reveals in every feature a kindly51 and sympathetic nature, liable to strong emotion and sensitive to every slight. Another picture, now in the Alamo, is that of Crockett in more fashionable attire52. The two are by different artists, but are so alike in almost every lineament that each is a guaranty for the other. For the use of the first of these pictures, the publishers are indebted to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
The death of Davy Crockett and the other brave men who fell in the Alamo could not be made the occasion for interference by the United States, but[309] thousands of Americans took up their cause, and it was not long before the Stars and Stripes were lowered in salute53 before the battle-scarred fortress, as our army passed by on its way to Mexico.
What visions came to Davy Crockett in the smoke and flame of his last fight, we do not know; but the love of his own, like an attendant angel, stood by him as he met his enemies one by one; and when the last ray of light had faded from his soul, the glory of his sacrifice grew out of the ghastly ending of a life unspoiled by false ideals, and never unfaithful to those who shared his humble54 home. The soft airs of the Southland play about his resting-place, and the thrush and robin55 sing their plaintive songs above his dust. While the laurels56 glorify57 the Limestone’s rugged58 hills, and the mayflowers scent59 the Nolichucky’s wilderness60, he sleeps unmindful of their fragrance61 and beauty, or the singing of the birds. But his memory cannot die; his epitaph is upon the walls of the Alamo—
THERMOPYL? HAD ITS MESSENGER OF DEFEAT:
THE ALAMO HAD NONE!
The End
The End
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1
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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bugle
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| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
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3
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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stockades
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| n.（防御用的）栅栏，围桩( stockade的名词复数 ) | |
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stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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7
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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8
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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9
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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10
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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11
willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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12
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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13
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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14
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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15
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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16
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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17
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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18
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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19
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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20
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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21
unleashed
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| v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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23
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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24
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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25
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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26
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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27
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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28
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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29
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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30
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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31
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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32
plaza
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| n.广场，市场 | |
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33
disdaining
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| 鄙视( disdain的现在分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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34
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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35
justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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36
incite
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| v.引起，激动，煽动 | |
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37
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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38
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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39
flaunted
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| v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的过去式和过去分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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40
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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41
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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42
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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43
accounting
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| n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表 | |
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44
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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45
extermination
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| n.消灭，根绝 | |
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46
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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47
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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48
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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49
custodian
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| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
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50
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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51
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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52
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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53
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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54
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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55
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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56
laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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57
glorify
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| vt.颂扬，赞美，使增光，美化 | |
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58
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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59
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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60
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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61
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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