Many of the shells did not burst, and the damage done was small.

The Texans did not reply from the shelter of their walls for a long time.

At last the Mexicans came closer, emboldened perhaps by the thought that resistance was crushed, and then the Texan sharpshooters opened fire with their long-barreled rifles.
The Texans had two or three rifles apiece, and they poured in a fast and deadly fire.

So many of the Mexicans fell that the remainder retreated with speed, leaving the fallen behind them.

But when the smoke lifted others came forward under a white flag, and the Texans allowed them to take away their dead.
The cannonade now became spasmodic.