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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1836 WAR for TX INDEPENDENCE 1836 “Rags were our uniform, sire! Nine out of ten of them was in rags and it was a ghting uniform.” Quartermaster Valentine Bennet, 1843. Mexico won its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, creating a vast nation of great potential. e Republic of Mexico stretched from the Yucatán Peninsula in the south to Alta California in the north. Mexico City, the republic’s capital, was centrally located but distant from its southern and northern borders. Sharp social, racial, and economic dierences divided Mexico’s population and rival political parties oen clashed. Due to this turmoil, federal leaders in Mexico City sent limited revenues to provincial ocials. In northern provinces such as New Mexico and Texas, weak military garrisons were unable to defend selers against Indian aacks. To increase its population, between 1821 and 1835, Mexico encouraged selement from other countries. Mexican ocials awarded large land grants to empresarios such as Stephen F. Austin, an American businessman from Missouri. In turn, empresarios arranged for selers to move to Texas from the United States and Europe. By 1835, Austin had seled 8,000 people in Texas. Several disputes brought on the Texas Revolution. As a Catholic nation, Mexico expected seers who were not Catholics to convert to Catholicism, but many Americans and Europeans remained staunch Protestants. e Mexican Constitution of 1824 prohibited slavery and Mexico wanted American selers to leave slaves in the United States. Instead, some Americans brought slaves to Texas but refused to emancipate them. For purposes of administration and determining seats in the Mexican Congress, Texas was joined to the state of Coahuila. Some Texans decided that Texas would be beer represented in congress if it were not joined with Coahuila, but national authorities declined to separate them. Estranged from Mexico’s government, many Texans disdained national taxes and commercial laws. When federal authorities restricted elected representatives and cancelled the Constitution of 1824, rumors of of rebellion ourished. Troubles ared during the summer of 1835. In June, a lawyer from Alabama, William Barret Travis, led men to take over the port of Anáhuac, driving away its small military garrison. Texans were ambiguous. Some wanted increased representation in the Mexican Congress and to remain a Mexican pro-CAMPAIGNS There were 10 signicant bales or actions in the War for Texas Independence from Mexico. ere was not an ocial campaign ribbon issued. 􀃕 GONZALES 1835 􀃕 GOLIAD 1835 􀃕 CONCEPCION 1835 􀃕􀀃SAN ANTONIO 1835 􀃕􀀃THE ALAMO 1835 􀃕􀀃SAN PATRICIO 1836􀀃 􀃕􀀃THE ALAMO 1836 􀃕􀀃GOLIAD 1836 􀃕􀀃RUNAWAY SCPE 1836 􀃕􀀃SAN JACINTO 1836 BELLIGERENTS 􀃕􀀃Republic of Texas VERSUS 􀃕􀀃Mexican National Army 􀃕􀀃Texans loyal to Mexico STATISTICS (Estimated) 􀃕􀀃Total Texans 2200 􀃕􀀃Bale Deaths & Executions 700 􀃕􀀃Non-mortal Woundings 100 At San Antonio, Texans looked to their commanders, including Col. Travis, Col. James Bowie (a knife-designer and land speculator from Louisiana), and David Crocke, recently a U.S. congressman from Tennessee. Texans debated trying to hold San Antonio or withdrawing to consolidate forces in East Texas. Deciding to oppose Santa Anna’s army, Travis, Bowie, and Crockecollected about 180 Texans, including some Tejanos. ey set up a makeshidefense in the Alamo, an old mission. Santa Anna’s army laid siege to the Alamo from 23 February to 5 March. Travis dispatched inspiring, patriotic messages summoning reinforcements, but only a few responded. Before sunrise, on 6 March 1836, the Mexican army launched multiple assaults and breached the Alamo’s walls. Determined to reestablish national control and set a stern example to rebels, Santa Anna wiped out the Alamo’s garrison, leaving Mrs. Susana Dickinson and her daughter, Angelina, the only Anglo survivors. Some 600 Mexican soldiers were killed and wounded. However, the general’s actions and the Alamo’s heroic defense inspired Texans and Americans to rally behind the war for independence. Elsewhere, at Coleto Creek, Gen. José Urrea skirmished with Texans led by Col. James Fannin, a seler from Georgia who for two years had aended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. On 19 March at Goliad, Urrea persuaded Fannin to surrender. On 27 March 1836, by order of Santa Anna, Fannin and most of his 400 soldiers were executed. e loss of Fannin and his troops was a blow to Houston, who had planned to add them to his army. e Alamo and Goliad disasters convinced Houston that his defeat would snuout the revolution. Enduring criticisms that he would not stand and ght, Houston abandoned and burned Gonzales, then retreated into East Texas to avoid the advancing Mexican army--the so-called “Runaway Scrape.” In order to hunt down Houston, Santa Anna divided his army to cover more ground. Believing that they were on the verge of a nationalist victory, the Mexicans failed to conduct aggressive patrolling and relaxed their camp security. Recruiting about 900 volunteers, Houston learned that Santa Anna had split his army and encamped his division along the San San Jacinto River (near the modern city of Houston). In the late aernoon of 21 April 1836, Houston’s volunteer Texas army, including a contingent of Tejanos led by Juan Seguín, launched a surprise aack on Santa Anna’s 1200 men. Caught completely by surprise, Santa Anna’s soldiers put up limited resistance. Screaming “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” the Texans took revenge, inicting 600 casualties on the Mexican troops while Texan losses totaled 9 killed and 30 wounded. Lasting only 18 minutes, the Bale of San Jacinto ended in a resounding victory for the Texans and answered Houston’s critics who had called him a cowardly runaway. Santa Anna discarded his general’s uniform and became one of many prisoners. Once someone identied Santa Anna, Houston required him to sign a treaty that allowed Texas to claim its independence. e War for Texas Independence resulted in an independent republic for ten years, contributing to the distinctive aura of the Lone Star State. e bale at the Alamo created heroic images and a legacy that grew into an American legend perpetuated in literature and movies. Some of the Revolution’s leaders, Travis, Bowie, Crocke, and Houston, likewise achieved legendary status. Other results strained relationships on both sides of the Rio Grande. Mexicans of all political parties never acknowledged that Texas had seceded from Mexico. Furthermore, Mexicans insisted that Texans violated legal and traditional borders when the revolutionaries contended the Lone Star Republic’s boundary was the Rio Grande rather than the traditional line of the Nueces River and by illogically asserting that Texas included Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was continuously governed by Mexican authorities. Mexican army expeditions tried to recapture San Antonio and Texans raided into New Mexico and along the Rio Grande. When Texas agreed to be annexed into the United States in 1845, disputes between Mexicans and Texans became disputes between Mexicans and Americans. Joseph G. Dawson III, PhD, Texas A&M University vince. Having no interest in converting to Catholicism, or intent on keeping their slaves, or disliking Mexican laws, others advocated independence. Tejanos, Texans of Hispanic descent, joined the revolution, including, notably, Juan N. Seguín of San Antonio de Bexar. On 2 October 1835, the opening bale of the War for Texas Indepedence occurred at Gonzales when a Mexican army ocer called for Texans to give up a cannon that the government had provided for the town’s defense. “Texians,” as some styled themselves, refused to give it back and waved a ag that read “Come and Take It.” Aer a skirmish, the Mexican army retreated. Some people called Gonzales “the Lexington of Texas,” recalling the initial skirmish of the American Revolution at Lexington, Massachuses. e Texas army gathered support and Stephen F. Austin won election as a general. Lacking military experience, Austin still recognized the importance of the political center of San Antonio and intended to seize it. Without formal training, haphazardly supplied, supplied, and without discipline, Texas volunteers came and went as they pleased but skirmished with Mexican soldiers. e volunteers’ zeal provided the basis for the Texas army. ey presented a contrast to the well-trained and brightly uniformed Mexican army. Major Valentine Bennet, quartermaster of the Texas army at Gonzales, said “Rags were our uniform, sire! Nine out of ten of them was in rags, and it was a ghting uniform!” In November, Austin accepted the assignment as a Texas commissioner (emissary) to the United States. e next month Texans assaulted San Antonio and took control of it aer three days of combat. ey also gained control of Goliad. As 1835 ended, the War for Texas Independence seemed poised for success, helped by political unrest in the provinces of Yucatán and Zacatecas. National authorities rejected concessions or kind treatment of the Texas rebels, including many from America. Mexican nationalists, such as Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, took steps to suppress the conict. In early 1836, Santa Anna marched into Texas leading an army containing trained cavalry, infantry, and artillery units but also unprepared draees. Heading to San Antonio, his army numbered around 4,000 soldiers. Other Mexican military units, 550 more men, marched separately toward Goliad. On 2 March 1835, 59 Texas leaders, including three Tejanos, met at Washington-on-the-Brazos and signed a declaration of independence. Despite having no money and few munitions, a new Texas government convened at San Felipe de Austin. Soon Texans draed a constitution modeled on the U.S. Constitution. ey picked Sam Houston, a former governor of Tennessee, to recruit and command an army. But winning independence was more challenging than declaring it. First ag used in the War for Texas Independence, Gonzales, October 1835. 􀃕 President Samuel Houston 22 October 1836 -10 December 1838 “Surrender of Santa Anna” by William H. Huddle, 22 April 1836. Colonel Davey Crockeby John G. Chapman. Republic of Texas $3 note. Mission San Antonio de Valero, Valero, “e Alamo,” c.1900. Flag made by Sarah Dodson, September 1835. Colonel William Barret Travis Colonel James Bowie by George Healy, 1825. Stephen F. Austin, known as the Father of Texas. Painted by a Chicago artist named Brand. c. 1830, Texas State Library. 􀃕 􀃕 Dimmi’s rst ag of Texas Independence, 20 December 1835. One of four ags own at the bale of San Jacinto. Allegedly painted by James Beard, it was brought to Texas by Sidney Sherman of the Newport (Kentucky) Rie Company. “Come and take it” cannon, Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. 􀃕 William. S. Brown ag, 5 December 1835 © 2010 e Memorial for all Veterans of the Brazos Valley, Inc. Le-Write Ink 1835􀃕WAR FOR TEXAS INDEPENDENCE􀃕1836