In fact, he liked
danger.
The Mexican army, upon reaching San Antonio, began firing upon the Alamo.
Their cannon riddled the fort, making wide breaches in the weak outer
walls through which from every side thousands of Mexicans thronged into
it. The Americans emptied their muskets and then fought with knives and
revolvers. They fought with desperate bravery until only five of the
soldiers were left.
[Illustration: The Fight at the Alamo.]
One of these was David Crockett. He had turned his musket about and was
using it as a club in his desperate struggle with the scores of men who
sought his life. There he stood, his back against the wall, with the
bodies of the Mexicans he had slain lying in a semicircle about him. His
foes dared not rush upon him, but some of them held him at bay with their
lances, while others, having loaded their muskets, riddled his body with
bullets. Thus fell brave David Crockett, a martyr to his country's cause.
* * * * *
A few weeks after the tragedy of the Alamo, Santa Anna's army massacred a
force of five hundred Texans at Goliad. The outlook for the Texan cause
was now dark enough. But Sam Houston, who commanded something like seven
hundred Texans, would not give up.
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