Editing Alamo Mission (section)

====Battle of the Alamo====
{{Main|Battle of the Alamo}}
{{quote box
|width=30%
|quote="You can plainly see that the Alamo never was built by a military people for a fortress."
|source=Letter, dated January 18, 1836, from engineer Green B. Jameson to Sam Houston, commander of the Texian forces.<ref name=lord59>Lord (1961), p. 59.</ref>
}}

With Cos's departure, there was no longer an organized garrison of Mexican troops in Texas,<ref name=barr64>Barr (1990), p. 64.</ref> and many [[Texian]]s believed the war was over.<ref name=hardin91>Hardin (1994), p. 91.</ref> Colonel [[James C. Neill]] assumed command of the 100&nbsp;soldiers who remained. Neill requested that an additional 200&nbsp;men be sent to fortify the Alamo,<ref name=todish29>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 29.</ref> and expressed fear that his garrison could be starved out of the Alamo after a four-day siege.<ref name=todish30>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 30.</ref> However, the [[Consultation (Texas)|Texian government]] was in turmoil and unable to provide much assistance.<ref name=todish31/> Determined to make the best of the situation, Neill and engineer Green B. Jameson began working to fortify the Alamo. Jameson installed the cannons that Cos had left along the walls.<ref name=hardin111/>

Heeding Neill's warnings, General [[Sam Houston]] ordered Colonel [[James Bowie]] to take 35–50 men to Béxar to help Neill move all of the artillery and destroy the fortress.<ref name=todish31>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 31.</ref> There were not enough oxen to move the artillery to a safer place, and most of the men believed the complex was of strategic importance to protecting the settlements to the east. On January 26, the Texian soldiers passed a resolution in favor of holding the Alamo.<ref name=hopewell114>Hopewell (1994), p.&nbsp;114.</ref> On February 11, Neill went on furlough to pursue additional reinforcements and supplies for the garrison. [[William Travis]] and [[James Bowie]] agreed to share command of the Alamo.<ref name=todish32>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 32.</ref><ref name=hardin120>Hardin (1994), p. 120.</ref>
[[File:1854 Alamo.jpg|left|thumb|1854 drawing – The Alamo chapel would have looked something like this in the 1830s]]

On February 23, 1836, the Mexican Army, under the command of President-General [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]], arrived in San Antonio de Béxar intent on recapturing the city.<ref name=todish40>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 40.</ref> For the next thirteen days, the Mexican Army laid [[Siege of the Alamo|siege to the Alamo]], during which work continued on its interior. After Mexican soldiers tried to block the irrigation ditch leading into the fort, Jameson supervised the digging of a well at the south end of the plaza. Although the men hit the water, they weakened an earth and timber parapet near the barracks, collapsing it and leaving no way to fire safely over that wall.<ref name=nofi102>Nofi (1992), p. 102.</ref>
[[File: Fall-of-the-alamo-gentilz 1844.jpg|right|thumb|The ''Fall of the Alamo'', painted by Theodore Gentilz in 1844, depicts the final assault]]

The siege ended in a fierce battle on March 6. As the Mexican Army overran the walls, most of the Texians fell back to the long barracks (convent) and the chapel. During the siege, Texians had carved holes in many of the walls of these rooms so that they would be able to fire.<ref name=todish53>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 53.</ref> Each room had only one door which led into the courtyard<ref name=edmondson370>Edmondson (2000), p. 370.</ref> and which had been "buttressed by semicircular parapets of dirt secured with cowhides".<ref name=hardin147>Hardin (1994), p. 147.</ref> Some of the rooms even had trenches dug into the floor to provide some cover for the defenders.<ref name=petite114>Petite (1998), p. 114.</ref> Mexican soldiers used the abandoned Texian cannon to blow off the doors of the rooms, allowing Mexican soldiers to enter and defeat the Texians.<ref name=hardin147/>

The last of the Texians to die were the eleven men manning the two {{convert|12|lb|abbr=on}} cannon in the chapel.<ref name=todish54>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 54.</ref><ref name=petite115>Petite (1998), p. 115.</ref> The entrance to the church had been barricaded with sandbags, which the Texians were able to fire over. A shot from the {{convert|18|lb|abbr=on}} cannon destroyed the barricades, and Mexican soldiers entered the building after firing an initial musket volley. With no time to reload, the Texians, including Dickinson, [[Gregorio Esparza]], and Bonham, grabbed rifles and fired before being bayoneted to death.<ref name=edmondson371/> Texian Robert Evans was master of ordnance and had been tasked with keeping the gunpowder from falling into Mexican hands. Wounded, he crawled towards the powder magazine but was killed by a musket ball with his torch only inches from the powder.<ref name=edmondson371>Edmondson (2000), p. 371.</ref> If he had succeeded, the blast would have destroyed the church.<ref name=tinkle216>Tinkle (1985), p. 216.</ref>

Santa Anna ordered that the Texian bodies be stacked and burned.<ref name=edmondson374>Edmondson (2000), p. 374.</ref><ref group=Note>The only exception was the body of Gregorio Esparza, whose brother, Francisco Esparza, served in Santa Anna's army and received permission to give Gregorio a proper burial. Edmondson (2000), p. 374.</ref> All, or almost all, of the [[List of Alamo defenders|Texian defenders]] were killed in the battle, although some historians believe that at least one Texian, Henry Warnell, successfully escaped. Warnell died several months later of wounds incurred either during the final battle or during his escape.<ref name=edmondson407>Edmondson (2000), p. 407.</ref><ref>Groneman (1990), p. 119.</ref> Most Alamo historians agree that 400–600&nbsp;Mexicans were killed or wounded.<ref name=todish55>Todish ''et al.'' (1998), p. 55.</ref><ref name=hardin155>Hardin (1961), p. 155.</ref><ref name=nofi136>Nofi (1992), p. 136.</ref> This would represent about one-third of the Mexican soldiers involved in the final assault, which historian Terry Todish stated was "a tremendous casualty rate by any standards".<ref name=todish55/>