The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 37, July 1933 - April, 1934 Page: 19
330 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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A Critical Study of the Siege of the Alarmo
his plates, located a small gun in a kind of tower room on the
southwest corner of the long barracks. Some writers claim that
the flag, the Mexican tricolor, the federal flag of 1824, floated
from the corner of this tower room; others say that it waved over
the chapel.47 Two other guns were mounted on a platform near
the south end of the main area. All the guns in this area were
mounted on high scaffolds of stockades and earth so that they
could be fired over the walls.
The Alamo fortress was well watered by two aqueducts, one
touching the northwest corner of the main area, the other running
close to the eastern wall of the chapel. A ditch connected with
the aqueduct on the west and carried water throughout the length
of the main area. Most authorities claim that the water supply
of the Alamo during the siege came from these aqueducts. This,
in all probability, is true, especially for water for the live stock
within the fort and for cleansing purposes; but the Texans had
foreseen the probability of the ditches being cut by the enemy,
and had dug a well within the large area,48 thereby making their
water supply secure. The Mexicans, however, attempted to cut
off the water from the ditches, but seem never to have been suc-
cessful in doing it.49
4"There is considerable discrepancy among writers of Texas history
concerning the flag of the Alamo. My study of the problem leads me
to think that Travis and his men fought under the Mexican tricolor
with the numerals 1824 in black figures on the white bar, and that this
flag floated over the southeast corner of the long barracks. For a de-
tailed discussion of the problem, see Appendix IV of the thesis from
which these chapters are taken.
48Green B. Jameson to Henry Smith, February 16, 1836, Army Papers,
Texas State Library. Jameson's plat, Appendix No. II, locates this well.
4'Concerning the water supply of the Alamo during the siege, see
Yoakum, History of Texas, II, 76; Bancroft, North Mexican States and
Texas, II, 205; Homer Thrall, A Pictorial History of Texas, 240; George
L. Rives, The United States and Mexico, I, 327. All these writers say
that the water supply came from the aqueducts, but John Sutherland,
Dallas News, February 12, 1911, says, "Although there was an abund-
ant water supply from the aqueducts, the Texans did not use this but
dug a well within the walls." William Corner, San Antonio de Bejar,
118, tells that in an interview that he had had with Madam Candalaria,
she told him that the reason that the Mexicans were never able to cut
off the water supply from the Alamo so as to distress the Texans, was
that the Indians at the mission would not allow it. Much time has
been spent in trying to discover what part, if any, the Indians played
in the siege of the Alamo. The conclusion is that the above statement
was merely the irresponsible reply of a very old woman, for no evidence
can be found-besides this statement-to show that the Indians had
any part whatsoever in this event.
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Texas State Historical Association & Barker, Eugene C. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 37, July 1933 - April, 1934, periodical, 1934; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101094/m1/27/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.