The “Imposter” of the Alamo?
by Robin Montgomery
It was March 3, 1836. With overwhelming force of arms, Mexican President and General Santa Anna surrounded the Alamo. Inside, Colonels William B. Travis, David Crockett and James Bowie addressed their situation. It was hopeless, they agreed. Evitable, was defeat. Accordingly, Travis assembled his men and, with his sword, drew a line in the sand. “All who wish to stay, cross this line,” he announced.
The first to cross was Tapley Holland, from off Holland Creek between Anderson and present Navasota. Later came Charles Grimes, son of Jesse Grimes for whom Grimes County received its name. Also among those who crossed was John Goodrich, the brother of Dr. B. B. Goodrich of Anderson, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Facing sure death, all some 190 fighting men present within the walls of the Alamo crossed Travis’s line that day, three days before Santa Anna’s final assault.
Or did they? Was this instead all the figment of someone’s imagination? The truth rests on several factors. Key to these is the veracity of William Zuber. At the time of the fall of the Alamo, then young Zuber was with Sam Houston’s Army preparing for what turned out to be the decisive battle for Texas’ Independence at San Jacinto.
In 1873, William Zuber wrote the story of Travis’s line in the sand as told to him by his parents. Zuber stated that not every fighting man in the Alamo crossed the line on that fateful day. A Frenchman named Moses Rose refused to cross. Rather, he slipped away over the wall into the night, to eventually find rest and sustenance in the home of William Zuber’s parents living just outside of present Shiro. William Zuber’s father, Abraham Zuber, was an old friend of Moses Rose, having known him in Nacogdoches before the
Texas Revolution.
Nestled there with old friends, Rose revealed his story. He related how on the way to the Zuber’s he had told the story one time leading to a bitter reaction leaving him saddled with the label of imposter, the “Coward of the Alamo.” Was it to spare further ridicule of his father’s friend that William Zuber waited 37 years after the fall of the Alamo to release Rose’s story in print? Sources vary on Zuber’s motives.
But bear this in mind: Most sources agree that Rose had fought bravely under Napoleon as the latter sought to become the ruler of Europe, to the point of receiving battlefield honors. Furthermore, he fought in three battles in Texas’ drive for independence previous to the Alamo encounter. Should William Zuber’s story of Rose leaving the Alamo ring true, it is apparent that he did not leave because of cowardice.
Robin Montgomery may be reached at Zippoboo@aol.com
It was March 3, 1836. With overwhelming force of arms, Mexican President and General Santa Anna surrounded the Alamo. Inside, Colonels William B. Travis, David Crockett and James Bowie addressed their situation. It was hopeless, they agreed. Evitable, was defeat. Accordingly, Travis assembled his men and, with his sword, drew a line in the sand. “All who wish to stay, cross this line,” he announced.
The first to cross was Tapley Holland, from off Holland Creek between Anderson and present Navasota. Later came Charles Grimes, son of Jesse Grimes for whom Grimes County received its name. Also among those who crossed was John Goodrich, the brother of Dr. B. B. Goodrich of Anderson, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Facing sure death, all some 190 fighting men present within the walls of the Alamo crossed Travis’s line that day, three days before Santa Anna’s final assault.
Or did they? Was this instead all the figment of someone’s imagination? The truth rests on several factors. Key to these is the veracity of William Zuber. At the time of the fall of the Alamo, then young Zuber was with Sam Houston’s Army preparing for what turned out to be the decisive battle for Texas’ Independence at San Jacinto.
In 1873, William Zuber wrote the story of Travis’s line in the sand as told to him by his parents. Zuber stated that not every fighting man in the Alamo crossed the line on that fateful day. A Frenchman named Moses Rose refused to cross. Rather, he slipped away over the wall into the night, to eventually find rest and sustenance in the home of William Zuber’s parents living just outside of present Shiro. William Zuber’s father, Abraham Zuber, was an old friend of Moses Rose, having known him in Nacogdoches before the
Texas Revolution.
Nestled there with old friends, Rose revealed his story. He related how on the way to the Zuber’s he had told the story one time leading to a bitter reaction leaving him saddled with the label of imposter, the “Coward of the Alamo.” Was it to spare further ridicule of his father’s friend that William Zuber waited 37 years after the fall of the Alamo to release Rose’s story in print? Sources vary on Zuber’s motives.
But bear this in mind: Most sources agree that Rose had fought bravely under Napoleon as the latter sought to become the ruler of Europe, to the point of receiving battlefield honors. Furthermore, he fought in three battles in Texas’ drive for independence previous to the Alamo encounter. Should William Zuber’s story of Rose leaving the Alamo ring true, it is apparent that he did not leave because of cowardice.
Robin Montgomery may be reached at Zippoboo@aol.com