Alamo Traces (34 page)

In the end Bowie and Houston, being unable to take Austin's army away from him, had to settle for second best. They had Austin taken away from the army. The Consultation selected Austin to represent Texas in the United States. Bowie returned to Bexar with the courier that carried the results of the Consultation to General Austin. George M. Patrick, the express rider, wrote: “Genl. Sam Houston had told me that Col. James Bowie would accompany me to San Antonio, [that] I must not leave him. When my papers were handed [to] me, I announced the fact at once to Genl. H. [that] my horse and myself had been ready all night, only
waiting the delivery of the papers. [Houston replied, ] ‘But now, oh
horrors
, you must not leave, Patrick, Col. B. will be ready in 15 minutes.' You [Moses Austin Bryan] have been tried in patience by drinking friends, but never more surely than I was tried on that occasion[.] Surely. After a painful lapse of about one hour the Col. with assistance was mounted. [Bowie said] ‘Now Patrick you have been kind enough to wait for me, keep up with me, and I guarantee to make up the lost time, never mind your horse, I have plenty of horses at De Wees on the Colorado.' Good as his promise he made things quite lively enough for me.”
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The volunteer army at Bexar replaced Austin with Edward Burleson on November 24. Courier Patrick also left a statement in regard to that change of command: “You [Bryan] know my Dear Sir why Col. Jas Bowie wanted to be in camps. . . . When Genl. Austin resigned the command of the army, but unfortunately for his prospects; he had access to strong drink from the city of San Antonio the night of our arrival. On the morning of the electing a successor of your uncle, Col. B. was drunk which secured the election of Genl. Burleson which doubtless was all for the best.”
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Nevertheless, Bowie somehow secured a position on Burleson's command staff, replacing F. W. Johnson, Burleson's original appointment as the army's adjutant general. Bowie, however, did not remain with the army for long. After participating in the Grass Fight on November 26, he moved down the road to Goliad. He appears to have returned to San Antonio sometime in mid-December. On December 17 Houston issued orders for Bowie to organize a volunteer force to proceed to Matamoros and “if possible reduce the place and retain possession [of it] until further orders.” Bowie received the orders on or about December 27, when he reached Houston's headquarters in Washington-on-the-Brazos.
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Bowie appeared before the General Council in San Felipe on December 28 and 29. He presented his views on the status of the volunteer forces at Bexar and recommended that those troops be used in an expedition against Matamoros. On January 6 he reviewed Houston's orders for the attack on Matamoros with the Council. Afterward, he departed for Goliad. He and a “Captain Blount” arrived at Goliad on January 11, 1836.
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In mid-January Houston joined Bowie in Goliad. On January 17 Houston received a missive from Lt. Colonel James C. Neill, the commander at San Antonio, that reported a major attack on that city was expected
within days. Bowie immediately collected an unknown number of mounted volunteers and rode to San Antonio, arriving the next day, January 18. Bowie's men appear to have come from Captain John Chenoweth's company of United States Invincibles, a unit that Bowie probably recruited in the summer of 1835 in the Jackson, Mississippi area. If there was one unit in the revolution that could be called Bowie's company, it was the Invincibles. The muster roll of that unit, however, does not list a man named Rose.
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Also, the name of Moses Rose or a variant is not found on any of the known siege of Bexar muster rolls or the James C. Neill's muster roll of about December 31, 1835. More importantly, the February 1, 1836 Alamo voting list contains Bowie's name and a number of names of men from Chenoweth's company, but no “Rose.” The only Alamo list that shows a man named Rose is the March 24, 1836 issue of the
Telegraph and Texas Register
. That roll does not include a first name for Rose. Therefore, the name may refer to James M. Rose, who entered the Alamo with David Crockett. In sum, if one Moses Rose went to the Alamo with James Bowie, his name should be on many of the known documents, but it is not found on a single one.
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Next, there is the entire Travis “line” speech, which is extremely compromised by the fact that Zuber admitted he had created the speech and that one paragraph was fiction.
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In 1877 Zuber wrote Texas Adjutant General William Steele:

Given that Zuber failed to mention the “line in the sand” in his “by the number” explanation, it appears the one paragraph that he admitted was fiction was the one in which Travis's sword line in the dirt is described.

Furthermore, several other features in the story indicate that the entire document is fiction. Is there any truth to the Zuber/Rose allegation that Travis called the troops together and informed them there was no hope of relief and offered them the opportunity to escape? A new Alamo document coupled with Travis's March 3 letter to the Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos and Susanna (Dickinson) Hannig's adjutant general testimony brands the Zuber tale as bad fiction.

According to the Zuber/Rose account, “two hours before sunset” on March 3, Travis told his men: “Our fate is sealed. Within a few days – perhaps a very few hours – we must all be in eternity.” Travis is alleged to have told the defenders that Fannin had not answered his call for help, that his messengers had not returned, and that no aid was on the way to the Alamo. The truth, however, is the opposite. On March 3, Travis had every reason to think that help was coming, including assistance from Colonel James W. Fannin.
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On the morning of March 1, John W. Smith and Albert Martin, two of Travis's couriers had returned with thirty men from Gonzales. Then, in broad daylight on the morning of March 3, James B. Bonham, Travis's “Special messenger” to Fannin, galloped into the Alamo untouched by the enemy. Bonham carried a March 1 missive from Major R. M. Williamson, Travis's good friend, who was in command of the relief effort at Gonzales.
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The important document, quoted earlier in Chapter Four, is repeated here:

Also, Travis's last letters from the Alamo, dated March 3, are certainly upbeat. Travis, to his friend Jesse Grimes, wrote: “I am still here, in fine spirits and well to do, with 145 men, I have held this 10 days against a force variously estimated from 1,500 to 6,000, and shall continue to hold it till I get relief from my countrymen, or I will perish in its defense.” Hardly the words of man who believed all hope of survival and victory was lost.
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Thus it is unbelievable that Travis, on the afternoon of March 3, would have declared to his troops that he had been betrayed by his friends and that there was no hope of relief and victory. That conclusion is confirmed by a statement from Susanna (Dickinson) Hannig's 1876 adjutant general's affidavit, which reads: “The Mexicans came unexpectedly into San Antonio & witness [Hannig] & her husband & child retreated into the Fort. Enemy began throwing bombs into Fort, but no one hurt till the last day, i.e. the assault, except one horse killed – Had provisions enough to last the besieged 30 days. . . . The enemy gradually approached by means of earth-works thrown up.
Besieged were looking for reinforcements which never arrived
[italics added].”
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Equally implausible and impossible is Rose's alleged departure from the Alamo and Bexar and his journey to the Zuber home in southeast
Texas. Zuber reported that an unarmed Rose jumped from an Alamo wall and strolled down to the San Antonio River, crossed the bridge at what is now Commerce Street, and continued on through downtown Bexar, passing the San Fernando cathedral on the main plaza. That route would have put Rose within pistol shot of Santa Anna's headquarters, regardless of the date he left the Alamo. This amazing walk was supposed to have been completed in the clear light of late afternoon, without Rose seeing a single Mexican soldier or citizen of Bexar. Such an act would have been impossible on any day of the siege, but it was especially inconceivable on the afternoon of March 3, 1836.
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Mexican dragoon officer

Photo courtesy of Joseph Musso collection

Thursday, March 3 may not have been the most active day of the siege. Still, Colonel Juan N. Almonte's diary entry for the date reports a situation that conflicts with the one communicated by Zuber. Almonte
wrote: “Commenced clear, at 40 [degrees], without wind. The enemy fired a few cannon and musket shots at the city. . . . The General-in-Chief went out to reconnoiter. A battery was erected on the north of the Alamo within musket shot. Official despatches were received from Gen. [Jose] Urrea, announcing that he had routed the colonists at San Patricio – killing 16 and taking 21 prisoners. The bells were rung. The battalions of Zapadores, Aldama, and Toluca arrived.” Jose Enrique de la Pena's authentic and unpublished diary manuscript (Campaign Diary) reports that the Zapadores entered Bexar “between 4 and 5 in the afternoon.”
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Furthermore, on Thursday, February 25 the “
batalion de Cazadores
” had been stationed in houses “half a rifle shot” south of the Alamo. Then, after dark, according to Almonte: “Two [artillery] batteries [probably only two guns] were erected by us on the other side of the river in the Alameda of the Alamo – the battalion of Matamoros was also posted there. . . .” In total, the area that Rose was supposed to have strolled through unarmed, unseen, and untouched was swarming with Mexican soldiers who would have killed or captured him in the proverbial blink of an eye.
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In regard to Rose's departure from the city, Zuber claimed that Rose left the Bexar area “three miles below the town” at twilight on March 3. He remained south of the Gonzales road and walked all night. Rose, however, allegedly made little progress because of numerous cactus collisions that forced him off course. Thereafter, the account claims that Rose only traveled during the day. He reached the Guadalupe River below Gonzales sometime during the day on March 6 and floated across the river on a log. On the east side of the river he found a deserted house, where he remained two or three days. From that point on Rose only traveled on roads. On those arteries he found empty houses because the citizens had retreated in advance of the threat of the enemy. This scenario, however, conflicts with common sense and historical truth.
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