Travis gathers his men together outside the chapel and tells them there is no hope...they will die. Taking his sword and drawing a line in front of the Alamo chapel, he then requests that those who will stay to cross the line, those who wish to go, may do so. All, including the ill Jim Bowie who had his cot carried over, crossed over...however, Moses Rose did not. He left that night. The last courier, James Allen, is sent out from the Alamo. (Source)
By March 5, 1836, Col. William Barrett Travis had known for several days that his situation inside the old Spanish mission called the Alamo had become hopeless.
Several thousand soldiers under the command of Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had Travis and some 189 other defenders surrounded.
The young Texas colonel - only 26 - was a lawyer, not a professional military man, but Travis knew enough history to understand that in a siege, the army on the outside usually prevails over the army on the inside.
So he gathered his fellow defenders that Saturday afternoon and gave them a speech.
"We must die," he began. "Our business is not to make a fruitless effort to save our lives, but to choose the manner of our death."
He saw three possibilities: Surrender and summary execution, trying to fight their way out only to be "butchered" by Mexican lancers or "remain in this fort…resist every assault, and to sell our lives as dearly as possible."
Then, with a flourish, Travis drew his sword and slowly marked a line in the dirt. "I now want every man who is determined to stay here and die with me to come across this line."
Young Tapley Holland made his decision quickly, proclaiming "I am ready to die for my country!" as he jumped over the line. It's hard to picture it as a stampede - the men knew they were voting to die - but all but two of them walked over the line. Co-commander Jim Bowie, lying sick on a cot, asked some of his men to carry him across. Only Louis Moses Rose, a French soldier of fortune, remained behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment