They never did much with the cannon at the Alamo.

When they came too close there, we shot down all their cannoneers, and we can do the same here." Ward chose the best sharpshooters, posting them at the loopholes and on the walls.

They quickly slew the Mexicans who tried to man the gun, and General Urrea was forced to withdraw it to such a distance that its balls and shells had no effect whatever upon the strong walls of the church.
There was another period of silence, but the watchers in the old mission saw that much movement was going on in the wood and presently they beheld the result.

The Mexican army charged directly upon the church, carrying in its center men with heavy bars of wood to be used in smashing in the door.

But they yielded once more to the rapid fire of the Texan rifles, and did not succeed in reaching the building.