After several months of failed attempts to take San Antonio back from the Mexican Army, failures which had left his men disillusioned and bored, Colonel Milam rallied 300 volunteers for an ultimately successful six-day advance on the city, or what became known as the Siege of Bexar. During the intense house-to-house combat, thinking he was protected by the high walls of the courtyard, Milam ventured into the backyard between the Veramendi Palace and the river to confer with another commander. But, in the tall cypress that overlooked the palace courtyard waited a Mexican sharpshooter who, with a single shot to the head, killed Milam instantly. Milam was buried on the grounds and later moved to a cemetery on the current site of Milam Park.

This twin cypress, believed to have been frequently utilized by Mexican snipers to target Texans as they approached the river for water, can still be viewed from the riverwalk, though the Veramendi Palace fell into disrepair and was demolished around 1910.