Friday, February 26, 1836: Water
Friday marked the return of the bitterly cold weather. The Alamo defenders and Mexican soldiers both suffered from the freezing northern winds. These frigid conditions sucked the very heat from everyone’s body. But the cold wasn’t the Alamo garrison’s only crisis. It was water, or more correctly, the lack of it.
The water supply for the Alamo was a small well, which had been dug by the Spanish in 1718 when the Alamo was the Mission San Antonio de Valero. This small well couldn’t handle the needs of the nearly 200 garrison members and their families. However, there was another option, the Acequia Madre de Valero.
The Acequia Madre de Valero was the old agricultural irrigation system used to water the mission’s fields. The Acequia rand north from the San Antonio River and along the Alamo’s eastern side. This ditch could easily handle all the fort’s water needs. However, retrieving this water meant venturing outside the Alamo’s protective walls.
In the early hours of February 26, Texian volunteers dashed from the Alamo’s corrals on the northeast side of the fort to the Acequia. But they ran into a problem.
South of the Alamo on Alameda Road (East Commerce Street today), General Ramírez y Sesma was stationed with his Dolores Cavalry. The Mexican General was aware of the Alamo’s water situation, and he knew that sooner or later, the defenders would need to leave the fort to get water, and he was prepared for this.
As the defenders ran toward the Acequia, Sesma ordered his men to intercept them. Seeing the Mexican cavalry coming, the defenders quickly turned back to the safety of the Alamo.
However, Sesma’s maneuver would be costly for him. As the cavalry passed by the rear of the Alamo’s church, they encountered artillery fire from the cannons mounted on the high platform at the back of the church.
Later that evening, the defenders again attempted to gather water from the Acequia. This time, Mexican sharpshooters stopped them.
Also, on February 26th, Travis still felt there were jacales too close to the fort’s south wall. Once again, he sent a raiding party to burn them. Seeing defenders outside the fort, Mexican Colonel Juan Maria Bringas quickly led an attack. And as before, the heavy gunfire from the Alamo drove them back.
February 26 was a bad day for Santa Anna. His army had received more casualties on the 26th than the previous day.
Still Current 