THE FALL OFTHE ALAMO ~ page 18
An assault made there by even a larger force than that which captured the other fort might have met with a bloody repulse; which would have led to the rescue of the garrison and changed the character of the campaign, which in that event would probably have been terminated west of the Guadalupe. But such a transfer of garrison and armament was impossible in the state of discipline and command which the foregoing narrative shows to have enlisted.
A military lesson, though not a new one, may be derived from the fall of the Alamo. Among the essential qualities of a soldier we must consider not only the discipline and subordination that blends him with the mass in which the word of command moves him, but also the individual self-reliance and efficiency which may restore the battle even after the mass is broken. From the lack of the former quality the men of the Alamo were lost; by their possession of the latter they became in the last struggle as formidable as veterans, and died gloriously; and in a better position they would have been saved by it. Though the latter quality depends more on nature than the former, it admits of development, and the perfection of training neglects neither.
Neither Travis nor Bowie had much of the experience or instruction of the soldier, and their were the reverse of each other in certain antecedents and outward traits. The latter in his youth had been noted for daring in bloody personal feuds, and his name has attached to it a characteristic memento in the designation of a homicidal knife, whose pattern he originated. Travis, though ambitious and not backward in revolutionary movements, had been in civil life habitually cautious in avoiding broils and personal collisions, so much so that the rougher class of his contemporaries took for signs of timidity what I believe merely indicated a cool temper and guarded deportment. That he was deficient in courage is contradicted, not only by the closing scenes of his life and his heroic death, but by the testimony of one who had the best opportunity of judging. Colonel Seguin, who was frequently with him under fire, not only on the works, but in the early sallies of the siege, was convinced that Travis possessed a high degree of constitutional bravery.
The garrison of the Alamo, in personal character, was made up of diverse elements, whose relative proportions cannot now be ascertained. The ruffian, filibuster type, men whose death alone redeemed their life, of course comprised no small part of it, but with them stood also those who, like the band from Gonzales, were fighting for near homes,
where their kindred dwelt and among the new comers was perhaps an