Rose, Louis (Moses)

Louis (Moses) Rose, a soldier of fortune who escaped from the Alamo and contributed to its legends, was born 1785 in France. He joined Napoleon’s 101st Regiment in 1806 and eventually became a lieutenant. In 1814 he was named to the French Legion of Honor for his role as aide-de-camp to Gen. Jacques de Monfort. He served in campaigns in Naples, Portugal, and Spain as well as in the invasion of Russia. He settled in Nacogdoches, Texas, about 1827. He joined the Fredonian Rebellion in 1826 and took part in the battle of Nacogdoches in 1832. Rose was a friend of James Bowie and accompanied or followed him to the Alamo in the fall of 1835. He fought in the Siege of Béxar that year. Rose served the cause of Texas independence a fourth time during the siege of the Alamo. He fought for ten days, up to three days before the fall of the fort, and then escaped. He is the source of the story about William B. Travis’s drawing a line in the dirt with his sword. Rose got the nickname Moses because of his age at the time, fifty-one. When asked, “Moses, why didn’t you stay there in the Alamo with the others?” he invariably replied, “By God, I wasn’t ready to die.”

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