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Line in the Sand by Steve Payne
 Author
says: what if the "coward of the Alamo" inspired the Confederacy? Please
note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the
views of the author(s).
In 1861, on April 24st
the Republic of Texas formally recognised the Confederate States of America
in a keynote speech delivered by President William B. Travis on this day in
Austin.
Whilst offering critical diplomatic support to his fellow
South Carolinians, Travis carefully avoiding any direct comparison between
the sieges of Fort Sumter and the Alamo. No longer the hot-headed twenty-six
year old Lieutenant Colonel of the Texian Army, Travis had learnt a number
of valuable lessons about leadership since he wrote the famous "Victory or
Death" Letter on March 3rd, 1836.
Because having drawn a line in the sand, only one of the
defenders of the Alamo had refused to cross it - Moses Rose, a French born
former soldier in Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée who insisted that he was
not ready to die. And so during the late night hours of March 5th, Rose had
snuck through enemy lines, broke into the Old Governor's Mansion and
assassinated the Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna.
Whereupon his successor, General Castrillon launched a
disasterous strike on the east wall which was repelled by heavy cannon fire
(that was in fact mostly shrapnel) but which caused the Mexican troops to
despair and quit the siege.
Author
says to view guest historian's comments on this post please visit the
Today in Alternate History web site.
Other Contemporary Stories
Steve Payne, Editor of Today in
Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History
That Never Occurred Today. Follow us on
Facebook, Myspace and
Twitter.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit
differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items
explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist
superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy
Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting
fictional blog.
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