Juan Seguin (6 page)

One night we had a party to celebrate George Washington’s birthday. There was music and dancing and lots of food. Davy played a few tunes on his fiddle and everyone was having fun. Late in the evening a messenger rode into town. He found Juan and me sitting at a table watching the dancers.

“What’s the news?” Juan asked.

The messenger sat next to Juan and leaned in close so no one else could hear. “Santa Anna is within twenty miles of San Antonio. I heard he sent some cavalry to attack the town tonight.”

Juan stood up and walked to Travis’s table. Bowie and Crockett joined us.

“Colonel Travis,” Juan said. “My messenger just told me that Santa Anna is nearly to San Antonio. We might be attacked by cavalry tonight.”

Travis shook his head. “Juan, how many times are we going to get this old story? I’ve told you Santa Anna won’t be here for another couple of months.”

Bowie stared at Travis. “Travis, I think it’s time we started paying attention to these reports. I know Juan and his men. They’re not going to tell us things that aren’t true.”

Davy nodded. “I’ve only known Juan a short time, but I don’t think he’s going to spread false rumors.”

Travis threw up his hands. “Oh, all right. I’ll put a sentry in that bell tower. He can watch for your enemy army. Now, let’s enjoy the party.”

The party lasted until late in the night. We finally got to bed and I was just starting to go to sleep when I heard the bell in the tower ringing. I ran outside and saw Travis and Bowie running toward the bell tower.

“What’s wrong?” Travis shouted to the sentry.

The man pointed toward the prairie. “The enemy are in view!” he shouted.

The streets of San Antonio were filled with people rushing in all directions. Some were heading out of town. Others were gathering their families and possessions and heading toward the Alamo. Juan gathered his company of men and we rode toward the old mission. The bridge across the river was jammed with people and wagons so we turned down the river and crossed at a shallow ford.

The scene inside the Alamo was as confused as the one on the streets of San Antonio. I saw Jim Bowie helping some men place a cannon on one of the walls. Davy Crockett and his men were taking their places at the wooden stockade on the south side of the chapel. Travis walked into his room, followed by several men. As we passed the chapel, I saw Almeron Dickinson lead his wife, Susannah, and his baby daughter into one of the small rooms in the back of the chapel. Gregorio Esparza rushed by us, leading his wife and children into the chapel. In a short time he walked out of the chapel and joined us.

“Gregorio,” Juan said. “Why did you bring your family here? You should be taking them out of town.”

Gregorio shook his head. “I’m a member of your company. My place is with you. My wife said her place is with me. Texas is our home. We want to fight for her.”

“Isn’t your brother with Santa Anna?” Juan asked.

Gregorio nodded. “I believe he is. He has fought with him before. Just give me a spot to defend. I’ll do my part.”

“I know you will,” Juan said. He turned to the others. “Put the horses in the pen. I’m going to talk to Travis and see where he wants us.”

I followed Juan into Travis’s office. He was writing a message as we entered the room. He finished the letter and gave it to a man standing by his desk.

“Take this to Colonel Fannin. Tell him Santa Anna is here and we need more men right away.”

The man took the letter and ran out of the room. In a short time we heard the clatter of horse’s hooves as the messenger raced out of the gate. Travis turned to Juan.

“Captain Seguin, what can I do for you?”

“Just tell me where to put my men. We’ll do whatever you want.”

Travis thought for a moment. “I need one more man to work with Captain Dickinson on his cannon. It’s the one firing from the ramp in the Alamo chapel. The others can find a place on the walls. I don’t know yet where I will need the most men, so just spread them out as you see fit.”

We walked outside and found our men standing beside the horse pen.

“Gregorio, go find Captain Dickinson. His cannon is in the chapel. You’re now on his crew. The rest of you spread out on the walls. Make sure your guns are loaded.”

We heard music coming from the town. We ran up a ramp and looked over the wall. A band was marching into the plaza. Behind the band marched row after row of enemy soldiers. I don’t ever remember seeing so many soldiers at one time. Juan watched the soldiers march into the town in silence. No one said anything as the band stopped and the soldiers formed a giant square in the middle of the town. A group of officers rode into the middle of the square. One officer rode forward and spoke to the troops gathered around him. We couldn’t hear what he said, but the soldiers all cheered his words.

Davy Crockett stood next to us. He pointed toward the officer. “Is that Santa Anna?”

Juan stared at the officer. “I don’t know. I would guess that it is. It’s sure somebody important.”

As the enemy officer finished speaking some of the soldiers walked over to a church. They climbed up to the top of the bell tower and raised a large red flag. The flag hung limply on the pole until a breeze caught it and made it wave in the clear sky.

Davy pointed to the flag. “What does that mean?”

Juan watched the flag blow in the breeze. “It means that we can expect no mercy in the coming battle.”

As we continued to watch the flag wave in the wind, a messenger rode out of the town and headed toward the Alamo. Colonel Travis ran up the ramp as the messenger stopped his horse in front of the wall. He pulled a document from his jacket and began to read the message to the men gathered on the wall. It said that the men in the Alamo should surrender to Santa Anna with no conditions. He would decide what would happen to the men. Bowie had joined us, and we all looked at Travis and waited for him to reply. Finally Travis took off his hat and wiped his forehead.

“Fire the cannon,” he yelled.

The men were surprised at the order and they stared at Travis for a few minutes.

“Fire the cannon!” he yelled again.

This time the men ran to the cannon that pointed toward San Antonio. They touched the powder and the cannon roared. The large eighteen-pound cannonball flew toward the town. It hit the ground and rolled harmlessly down the street. The messenger turned his horse and raced back toward the enemy lines.

Davy turned to Juan. “What do you think about that, Juan?”

Juan looked toward San Antonio. “I think we’re going to have a real big fight. Real soon.”

“Why did you do that?” Bowie yelled at Travis. “There’s no chance of reaching an agreement with Santa Anna now.”

“There was no chance before,” Travis said. “At least now he knows we will fight for independence.”

Juan stepped between the two men. “We can’t fight amongst ourselves. What’s done is done. We need to figure out how we can hold off Santa Anna’s army until more men get here.”

Travis walked over and sat down behind his desk. Bowie leaned against a wall and began to cough. Juan looked from one man to the other, and then he looked at Davy Crockett, who was standing in a corner with his arms folded.

“What do you think, Davy?” Juan asked.

Davy took off his coonskin hat and rubbed his head. “I think we’re in a fine mess. But it’s going to be worse if we can’t agree. We don’t have many men, but the ones we have will fight. If we pull together we can hold out until Houston gets here with his army.”

“I agree,” Juan said. “You two must get along. You are the leaders. Now shake hands and let’s start working together to find a way to beat Santa Anna.”

Bowie and Travis walked slowly to the middle of the room and shook hands. Bowie stared at Travis.

“From now on, let’s talk about what we’re going to do.”

Travis nodded. “Sure, Jim. I didn’t think you would disagree with the cannon being fired. There could be no mistaking that answer.”

Bowie coughed, then turned and walked outside. Travis walked over and sat at his desk. He picked up his pen and started to write another letter. Travis looked at Juan.

“I may need to use some of your men as messengers,” he said. “They know this country better than most of the others, and they speak Spanish so they can talk their way past the enemy if they need to.”

Juan nodded. “My men are ready to do whatever is needed.”

We walked outside and soon Davy Crockett joined us.

“We have quite a problem here,” Davy said. “If our leaders can’t get along, we don’t have much of a chance to beat Santa Anna.”

The enemy cannons were firing and a cannonball flew into the corral, where it exploded. The exploding cannonball hit some of the horses. The injured horses whinnied loudly as men ran to help them.

“I think they’ll get along,” Juan said. “They’re good men. They both want what’s best for Texas. They just have different ideas about how to achieve that.”

More cannonballs banged into the walls of the Alamo. Davy watched one fly over the wall and blow up in the courtyard.

“I think before long we’re going to get to see who’s the best shot, Juan. And from what I’ve seen, we’re going to have plenty of targets. I better get back to my men. I’ll talk to you later.”

The sun was going down as Juan and I walked across the courtyard and climbed up to look over the wall. We could see the flash of the enemy’s cannon and hear the whistle of the cannonballs as they flew through the air. The smoke from the cannons hung in the air like dark clouds. When the sun set, the cannons stopped firing. The silence was eerie after the noise of the cannons. Colonel Travis walked up beside us and looked at the enemy camp. Soldiers were starting fires and cooking their suppers. We could hear their voices as they called out to one another.

“This is strange,” Travis said. “The enemy is so close we can hear and see them.”

Juan watched the enemy soldiers. “Yes, and I think they’ll try to get closer real soon.”

Suddenly a band began to play. The notes drifted over to us on the night air. The music was strange and haunting. We listened to the song in silence. I looked down the wall. Men were standing and listening to the music.

“Nice of them to serenade us,” one man yelled. Other men laughed.

Travis turned to Juan.

“Do you know the name of that song?” he asked.

Juan listened in silence for a few moments. Then he nodded. “It’s called the Deguello. Like the red flag, it means there will be no mercy given to us in the coming battle.”

The song ended, and soon the cannons began to fire again. Throughout the night the band and the cannons kept us awake. Finally the sun came up. We looked around the courtyard. The cannonballs had not done much damage, and luckily no men had been injured. Juan and I walked over to a campfire. Some of our men were cooking breakfast. The meat smelled good as it roasted over the fire. We were just beginning to eat when one of Jim Bowie’s sisters-in-law came running across the courtyard.

“Colonel Travis,” she called. “Come quick. Jim is real sick.”

I followed Juan as he ran toward Bowie’s room. Colonel Travis raced ahead of us. It was dark in the room and it took several minutes for my eyes to adjust. I could see Bowie lying on a small bed. Even in the dark room his face looked pale. Sweat covered his forehead, and he coughed loudly. One of his sisters-in-law knelt by the bed wiping his forehead with a damp rag. Davy Crockett entered the room followed by another man I knew to be a doctor. The doctor walked over to Jim’s bed and felt his head.

“He has a high fever,” he said. “Get some cool water and some clean rags.”

One of Bowie’s sisters-in-law ran to get the items. The doctor turned to the other lady.

“Keep the wet rags on his head. They will help bring down the fever. I’ll check on him later.”

Juan and I followed the doctor outside.

“What’s wrong with Jim?” Juan asked.

The doctor paused. “It could be tuberculosis, or pneumonia, or something else. I guess you can say he has consumption. All I know for sure is he’s very sick and I don’t think he’ll get well. Now I must go look after my other patients.”

We watched the doctor walk away. I could see the sadness in Juan’s eyes as he thought of his friend. Crockett and Travis walked out of the room and stood next to us.

“He’s sleeping,” Travis said. “He doesn’t look very good.”

“I guess this puts you in command of all the troops,” Juan said.

Travis rubbed his eyes. “I guess so. I’m going to need your advice more than ever, Juan. You know the people of this area and whom they’ll support. I must write a letter now asking for more troops. Will you come by my room later so we can talk?”

Juan nodded. “I’ll be there later. I’m going to check on my men now. We’ve been lucky so far. No one’s been hurt by the cannons. I’ll see you later.”

We walked across the courtyard, dodging a few cannonballs that hit in the open space. We found our men sitting behind a wall where they were safe from the enemy’s fire.

“What happened, Juan?” one of them asked.

“Jim Bowie’s real sick. I don’t think he’ll be fighting anymore.”

“Does that mean Travis is in charge now?”

Juan nodded. “Colonel Travis is in command of all the troops now.”

The men looked at one another. They all ducked as a cannonball thudded into the wall. Rock chips from the wall flew into the courtyard.

One of the men brushed dust from his shirt. “Are we going to stay here, Juan? We’ve been watching Santa Anna’s troops march into San Antonio all day. They’re still coming and I think more are on the way. If we leave now we can still get away.”

Juan shook his head. “Andres, we’re here to fight for Texas. I don’t think any of you want to live under Santa Anna’s rule. If you want to leave, go ahead, but I’m going to stay and do what I can to stop Santa Anna right here. Travis is writing a letter to send to the people in the settlements, asking for more troops. I believe that more men will come. Look what happened at Gonzales last fall. People came to help them. If we can hold on here a few days, I believe we’ll have plenty of troops.”