پرچم قرمز

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Red Flag

One morning a messenger arrived. “I have a message from General Fannin: He is very sorry. He cannot send any soldiers. You must leave the Alamo now. General Santa Anna is near. You are all in danger.”

“We don’t want to leave the Alamo,” said Jim Bowie. “We want to fight for the independence of Texas. How many soldiers has General Santa Anna got?”

“He’s got about 4,000 soldiers!” said the messenger.

Colonel Bowie looked at Colonel Travis. “We must speak to our men,” said Colonel Travis. “Yes,” said Bowie, “we must speak to them.”

Colonel Travis called his 187 men. He said sadly, “General Santa Anna is coming to attack us. He has about 4,000 soldiers and lots of ammunition. We have only 187 men and little ammunition. We have little food and water. Remember, there are women and children in the fort.”

Then he marked a line on the ground with his sword. “Those who want to fight for the independence of Texas, cross this line! The others can leave the fort and go home.”

There was a very long silence. Davy thought about his wife and his five children. Then he thought about the independence of Texas and the American settlers. He thought about a new American state: Texas!

All the men crossed the line. These men wanted to defend the Alamo. These men wanted an independent Texas.

On February 23, 1836, General Santa Anna and his army arrived. He sent a messenger to the Alamo. He wanted the people in the Alamo to leave. The men in the Alamo answered with a cannon shot! They did not want to leave. They did not want to return to the United States. General Santa Anna was furious. He showed a red flag. The red flag meant: No Prisoners! He wanted to kill everyone in the fort!

On February 24, 1836, General Santa Anna’s army attacked the Alamo. The Mexicans had an enormous cannon. It shot a cannon ball that damaged a wall of the fort.

Davy said, “We must destroy that cannon. It can destroy the walls of our fort.”

That night, Davy and Jim Bowie left the fort. They went to the Mexican camp. Everyone in the camp was sleeping. Davy and Jim silently passed behind the two Mexican guards. They put mud and stones in the enormous cannon. Then they returned to the Alamo.

The next morning, the Mexican army used the cannon. It exploded! The Mexicans were very surprised. Their enormous cannon was destroyed.

The men in the Alamo killed many Mexican soldiers. The Mexican army attacked many times during the day. But the Texans and the American army defended the Alamo.