This included Dickinson and others considered to be regular troops, as well as several bands of volunteers, led by frontiersmen James Bowie and Davy Crockett. Historians have established that the Alamo was not lower or higher than those two figures, with most believing the number to have been 182. One of the dispatches sent out by Travis gave the figure of 150 and at least 32 others are known to have arrived after that. Antonio Ruiz, the Mayor of San Antonio at the time, said that after the battle Mexican soldiers had burned 182 bodies of Alamo defenders and that tends to be the accepted strength of it. Santa Anna had under his command between 5,000 and 6,000 Mexican troops. From the time of his arrival, a siege began. A Mexican bombardment continued through the morning of February 25, 1836. At approximately 10am, about 200–300 Mexican soldiers, mainly cazadores from the Matamoros Battalion, crossed the San Antonio River and took cover in abandoned shacks approximately 90 yards (82 m) to 100 yards (91 m) from the Alamo walls. They were intending to use the huts as cover to erect another artillery battery, although many Texians assumed that they were actually launching an assault on the Alamo. Travis called for volunteers to burn the huts, despite the fact that it was broad daylight and they would be within range of enemy muskets. Charles Despallier, Robert Brown, James Rose and a few others volunteered for the mission. To provide cover, Dickinson and his men fired 8-lb cannon, filled with grapeshot and canister, at the Mexican soldiers in the huts. Crockett and his men fired rifles, while other Texians reloaded extra weapons for them. Within two hours, the battle was over. As soon as the Texians saw flames erupting from the huts they threw open the Alamo gate and the Texians re-entered unscathed, although Rose was almost captured by a Mexican officer. The Mexicans retreated with two killed and four wounded, while several Texians had been mildly scratched by flying rock. After learning that a relief force under James Fannin had failed to reach the Alamo and that there was unlikely to be any further reinforcement, a group of 25 men set out from Gonzales at 2pm on Saturday, February 27. The party would number 32 upon its arrival at the Alamo, and was led by Albert Martin and George Kimbell, the latter