Climax of The Battle and Death
Dickinson survived the battle until its last day. In the early morning hours of March 6, 1836, Santa Anna sent an assault force which breached the walls of the Alamo on their third charge. Capt. Dickinson had hidden his wife and daughter inside the chapel. By her own account afterward, near the end of the battle Capt. Dickinson rushed into the chapel where she was hiding, saying "Great God, Sue! The Mexicans are inside our walls! All is lost! If they spare you, love our child." Capt. Dickinson then returned to his post. By that time there was intense fighting inside the garrison, which eventually became hand to hand. By reliable Mexican accounts, Capt. Dickinson was one of the last defenders killed in action.
According to the Mexican Army accounts, the last of the Texians to die were the eleven men manning the two 12-lb cannon in the chapel. The entrance to the church had been barricaded with sandbags, which the Texians were able to fire over. A shot from the 18-lb cannon destroyed the barricades, and Mexican soldiers entered the building after firing an initial musket volley. Dickinson's crew fired their cannon from the apse into the Mexican soldiers at the door. With no time to reload, the Texians, including Capt. Dickinson, Gregoria Esparza, and James Bonham, grabbed rifles and fired before being bayoneted to death. Texian Robert Evans was master of ordnance and had been tasked with keeping the gunpowder from falling into Mexican hands. Wounded, he crawled towards the powder magazine but was killed by a musket ball with his torch only inches from the powder. If he had succeeded, the blast would have destroyed the church, killing the women and children hiding in the sacristy as well.
Capt. Dickinson's body was burned along with those of the other defenders killed during the battle. His young widow Susannah, their daughter Angelina, and a freed former slave to Col. Travis named Joe were spared. It is generally accepted that over the course of the battle, the Mexican forces lost an estimated 400 to 500 soldiers killed, while the Texian defenders suffered a total loss of between 182 and 189. Capt. Dickinson has since, along with many of the other defenders, become a legend in Texas history for the heroic stand.
Read more about this topic: Almaron Dickinson
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