Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire After the Fall of the Alamo

The Texian formation was stranded out in the open, 250 men with no cover, in an area no more than 20 or 30 yards across. Fortunately for them, in his haste to catch them Urrea had outrun his artillery, which did not arrive until after nightfall.

I ain't seen it mentioned, but the losses on the field to the exposed Texians could have been worse the 30% casualties they suffered. Urea was low on ammunition.

Though I had given instructions for the infantry to be provided with four rounds to the man, this order had been neglected in part under frivolous pretext of lightening their load. They had counted on the early arrival of what was coming up on our rear, when we left the camp at Manahuilla our ammunition was being loaded. The party conducting it, however, lost its way and did not arrive until the following day. Urrea

OK, I was wrong earlier, it appears there WERE three assaults made by the Mexicans against the square; the first one, the one at the end of the day, and this second one....

I decided to make a new and simultaneous charge on all fronts to see if I could disconcert the enemy before the sad moment arrived when we would entirely without munitions.....

...fortune refused to favor us. The enemy redoubled its resistance with new vigor. They placed their artillery on the corners, flanking, in this way, our weakened columns. The fire from the cannons, as well as from the rifles, was very lively, making itself all the more noticeable in proportion as ours died out for lack of ammunition.

For much of that afternoon a sort of armed standoff devolved, both sides going prone and taking aimed potshots.

In order to protect our soldiers as far as possible, we ordered them to throw themselves on the ground while loading raising up only to fire. Urrea

Fannin himself, attempting to stay on his feet as officers were expected to do back then, had already been hit three times. Three of the four Polish veterans manning the cannon had likewise been hit.

At this time four of our cannon were idle, because the regulars were wounded or killed, and Capt. Westover said that the volunteers did not like to undertake to man them, and allowed that they could do as much good with their rifles. Morgan

The Texians had brought with them some Mexican prisoners, and their actions during the fight are indicative of just how exposed the Texian square was....

We had some five or six Mexican prisoners (the couriers of the old padre, captured at Carlos Ranch). These we had placed within the square, when the fight began, for safe keeping, and in an incredibly short time, with picks and shovels, they dug a trench deep enough to "hole" themselves, where they lay "perdue" and completely protected from bullets.

I for one, however, didn't blame them, as they were non-combatants, and besides to tell the truth when the bullets were singing like mad hornets around me, and men were struck down near me, I had a great inclination to "hole up" myself and draw it in after me. Duval

Precision shooting however, was an American specialty.

...they contented themselves with falling down in the grass and occasionally raising up to fire; but whenever they showed their heads, they were taken down by the riflemen. Shackleford



About that time after I had fired eight or ten times of myself there came out four more men, and we formed a platoon of five, an Irishman by the name of Cash was at the head of the platoon. I was next. A Dutchman by the name of Baker next. A young fellow from Georgia next. A man by the name of Hews next. The last had a rifle...

Hews took advantage of the wagon to rest his rifle on. There was a low tree, from 140 to 170 yards distant where the Mexicans would creep up and shoot at us. Hews killed two and wounded a third at that tree....

...for every man killed or wounded on our side, I am confident that two or three Mexicans fell before the deadly fire from our rifles. Duval

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