No one knows for sure exactly what happened in the Alamo the early morning of March 6 before dawn. But the rough story has been pieced together from the few eyewitness accounts and from evidence. At around 3:00 a.m. the Mexican soldiers began sneaking up to the old mission. Although the night was cold, Santa Anna had ordered them to leave their coats and blankets behind. This way they could move quickly and quietly. By 5:30 a.m. the sleeping Texian lookouts lay dead at their feet.
The Mexican bugler sounded the charge to attack. So many times before, the bugle call was a false alarm to frighten the rebels. This time it was for real!
All at once Mexican soldiers rushed at the Alamo. Inside the fort, a Texian threw open the door to Travis’s room and shouted, “The Mexicans are coming!”
Travis jumped out of bed and grabbed his double-barreled shotgun and sword. He ran into the courtyard with his slave, Joe, behind him. It was still dark. Rebels came pouring out of the barracks and granary buildings. Gunners ran to the cannons. From the other side of the wall came a horrible rumble—it was the sound of thousands of enemy feet running toward the fort walls. The north wall was easy to climb up. Logs that reinforced it provided toeholds for the enemy. The Alamo was no longer under siege—it was under direct attack.
“Come on, boys, the Mexicans are upon us!” shouted Travis, eager to fight at last.
The Texians aimed their cannons at the oncoming troops. Many soldiers were killed. But others had already reached the wall and were out of range of the cannons. So rebel riflemen shot down at them. Travis leaned over the parapet and aimed his shotgun. He fired only one round before a bullet hit him in the forehead. Instantly he fell down dead. His shotgun toppled below. Joe managed to find safety in one of the rooms along the west wall.
Still more Mexican soldiers came climbing over the north wall. On the west side of the fort, General Cós’s men bashed in the walls with picks and axes, then stormed inside.
On the east side, another column of soldiers, row after row, were advancing on the compound. Rifle fire from Texians on the roof of the chapel managed to push them back. Mexican soldiers farther back kept firing, but with all the smoke and confusion, they often hit their own comrades.
Still another Mexican force had managed to storm the Alamo’s main gate to the south, but there, too, Texian cannon fire held them back.
Close by the church, a cannon sat on a platform with few men to defend it. The Texians rushed to spike the cannon. That meant blocking the hole so it couldn’t fire anymore. But they were overpowered by enemy troops already inside the fort, and the cannon was taken by the Mexicans.
As for David Crockett, no one knows for sure how he met his death. One story has it that he and his Tennessee boys were stationed by the palisade (the fence made of wooden stakes with sharpened points).
From there they kept firing their rifles, taking down as many of the enemy as they could. No one was a better shot than David Crockett!
Almeron Dickinson blasted the cannon from the top of the church. Inside, his wife and the other women and children stayed huddled, fearful for their lives.
Over the noise of battle and the shouts of dying men came the sound of another bugle call. Santa Anna was sending in his best and fiercest troops. They, too, were greeted by cannon fire from the rebels. It didn’t stop them. They pushed ahead to the wall, climbed over, and joined the other Mexican troops inside the Alamo.
The Mexicans were now coming at the Texians from every side.