A Canadian at the Alamo and the Drawing of the Line

The Alamo siege is one of the most legendary events in history, known all around the world and the details of it have been argued by historians for years. Certainly one event which has been debated for some time is the "drawing of the line" when Colonel Travis assembled the Alamo garrison, explained to them that they could expect no help from Colonel Fannin at Goliad. He explained to them that if they stayed their situation was clearly hopeless, yet he was determined to remain in the Alamo and fight to the death, taking as many of the enemy with him as he could. He drew a line in the sand with his sword and asked all those who would stay and die with him to cross the line.           Here is where a young soldier named Tapley Holland enters the legend. Born in Ohio to two Canadian immigrants, the Hollands were among the "Old 300" of Stephen F. Austin's colony in Texas. This second generation Canadian Texan joined the volunteers inside the Alamo when he was 26-years-old and served in the artillery under Captain William R. Carey of Gonzales. The legend says that when Travis drew the line it was Tapley Holland who was the first to step across, with his hand over his heart saying, "I am willing to die for Texas!"           The debate over whether or not this dramatic episode took place is never likely to end, and most doubts stem from the fact that only one man, Louis Moses Rose, reported it. Personally, I believe it, and probably always will. I believe Rose's story mostly because he was the only one who did not cross the line, escaping over the walls and running for his life back to the colonies. It seems absurd to me that a man would simply invent a story that never happened which portrayed him as the only coward among the Alamo defenders. If this veteran of Napoleon's army was going to make up a story out of thin air, wouldn't he make up one that placed him in a little better light? Lines in the sand was a typical way of taking a military vote in that time, Milam did it at the battle for San Antonio and I see no reason to believe Travis did not do the same at the Alamo and that Tapley Holland was the first of those brave men to cross the line for Texas.