Excavations at the Alamo Shrine [page 8]
In the meantime, the Texans began to appreciate the seriousness of the situation and to realize that a Mexican army under General Santa Anna was indeed advancing on San Antonio. Although a great deal of confusion clouded decisions of what to do, it was finally decided that the Alamo complex, the only sturdy structures available which could withstand an attack, would be repaired and put back into fort fashion as best as time and materials would allow. William Travis and James Bowie were to be joint commanders of the fortifications. Green B. Jameson was appointed garrison engineer and was responsible for fortifying the Alamo (Turner, 1972:122; Williams, 1933:18; Smith, 1967:18-22). The quadrangle and building walls were repaired, and parapets of earth and wood were erected for cannon and riflemen. Men would also take the prone position on rooftops. In the old church, scaffolding was constructed to serve as a catwalk for riflemen; and the door and window openings were blocked off (Fig. 6,b). Other fortifications were erected within the complex, and possibly at this time included a palisade and ditch to close off the open area between the southwest corner of the old church and the southeast corner of the quadrangle, a distance of about 110 feet. This fortification is one of particular interest, since a portion of the palisade trench was discovered during archaeological excavations. The fortification has been described as consisting of two rows of cedar posts spaced six feet apart and set within shallow trenches. The posts in each row were tied together top and bottom with rawhide strips, with the earth rammed around the base. A long, deep ditch was then dug in front on the double palisade, and the excavated earth was packed between the rows of piles (Chabot, 1941:24; Smith, 1967:21). This type of provisional fortification has a very long history and has been described for military use since the Middle Ages (Hoyt, 1811; Wheeler, 1898:161-175), and it is still occasionally used. The actual height of the Alamo palisade is not documented, but probably looked much like that shown in Fig.2 . Behind this fortification were placed four 4-pounder cannons. According to legend, David-Crockett and his Tennessee Boys were assigned to defend the palisade (Williams, 1933:13).
Although there were 20 or so cannons of various sizes at the Alamo, only about 18 were serviceable. In addition to the four cannons at the palisade, an 18-pounder was mounted on an earthen platform with ramp at the southwest corner of the quadrangle. There were three 8-pounders on the north wall, a 12-pounder (possibly two) on the west wall, three 12-pounders on the elevated platform within the old church, and a small cannon of undetermined size (possibly l-pounder) on top of the two-story long barracks. Also there were two 8-pounders placed on a low platform within the south-center area of the quadrangle facing the front entrance, and two 6-pounders in tbe lunette just outside of the main gate on the south side (Smith, 1967:18). Small arms (muskets and pistols) used by the Alamo defenders varied in size, type, and manufacture. Some shoulder weapons were percussion, but most were evidently flintlocks firing lead balls, with calibers ranging from .36 to .70 inches.
The fortifications and weapons at the Alamo were not ideal to withstand a formidable siege, and the 182 men who would be the final defenders were far too few to adequately man such a large area (the area of just the quadrangle was about 2 acres, and more than one-third of a mile of perimeter for the whole complex had to be defended); but the decision was made to stand, despite the odds.