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Texas Revolution

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Texas Revolution
Conflict The Texas Revolution
Date October 2, 1835- April 21, 1836
Place Texas
Result Treaty of Velasco
Combatants
Republic of Texas Mexico
Strength
2000? 6,500
Casualties
aprox 700 aprox 1500

The Texas Revolution was fought from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836 between Mexico and the Tejas portion of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas.

Animosity between the Mexican government and the North American settlers in Texas began with the Siete Leyes of 1835, when Mexican President and General Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón, abolished the Constitution of 1824 and proclaimed a new anti-federalist constitution in its place. Unrest soon followed throughout all of Mexico and war began in Texas on October 1, 1835 with the Battle of Gonzales. Early Texian success at La Bahia and San Antonio were soon met with crushing defeat at the same locations a few months later.

The war ended at the Battle of San Jacinto (about 20 miles east of modern day Houston) where General Sam Houston led the Texas army to victory over a portion of the Mexican Army under Santa Anna, who was captured shortly after the battle. The conclusion of the war resulted in the creation of the Republic of Texas. The Republic was never recognized by the government of Mexico, and it teetered between collapse and invasion from Mexico. Texas was annexed by the United States of America in 1845, and it was not until the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848 that the "Texan Question" would finally be resolved.

The Roots of Texas

Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas".

The Panic of 1819 plunged the United States into a major depression. An American businessman and former Spanish subject named Moses Austin lost his lead manufacturing business during this time. After a trip to Tejas, he developed a plan to bring American settlers into the region, which would help Spain develop the area and help him jump-start his business career. In 1820, he applied for a Spanish grant to settle 300 families in Texas. His son, Stephen F. Austin helped his father secure loans in the U.S. to back this venture. In late 1820, Moses Austin received his grant from Spain but died in June 1821. Stephen F. Austin inherited his father’s Spanish grant and continued the colonization enterprise. Because of the economic hardships in the U.S. he had no problem finding the 300 families stipulated in the grant.

Mexican Independence and Texas settlement

Austin’s plans for settlement were being worked on amid ongoing political turmoil in Mexico. The Declaration of Independence from Spain, by the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, in 1810, initiated eleven years of brutal warfare. Fortune seemed to favor the Spanish forces until 1821 when Spanish generals, notably Agustín Iturbide and Santa Anna, switched allegiance in favor of the Mexican rebellion. This resulted in Mexican victory and the Mexican War of Independence ended in 1821.

In December 1821 Austin’s settlers arrived by land and sea to settle around San Felipe. To Austin’s disappointment, the government of newly independent Mexico refused to approve the original Spanish grant. But Austin traveled to and from Mexico City for three years to settle the issue and the grants were eventually accepted by the new government. During this time Austin learned to speak Spanish and became close friends with Mexican Revolutionary José Antonio Navarro. In the coming years, they would work together to bring more settlers to Texas.

Under the rules of the grant, each new settler had to convert to Roman Catholicism, meet high standards of moral character, become a Mexican citizen, and change their names to Spanish equivalents. Each were given over 4,000 acres (16 km²) of land. The anglo settlers were called Texians and the Latin settlers were called Tejanos. The colony flourished and three years after it was started, its population had grown to 18,000. Navarro found himself to be the owner of more than 25,000 acres (101 km²) of land by 1830.

The Start of Mexico and the Texas Colony

In 1822, Agustín de Iturbide, was crowned Emperor of the newly formed Mexican Empire and in 1823, Emperor Iturbide finally approved Austin’s grant. Under his Plan de Iguala slavery was formally abolished for the first time, but it still continued throughout the nation. Iturbide’s regime soon became unstable, and in the same year Guadalupe Victoria and Antonio López de Santa Anna issued the Plan de Casa Mata. It called for the overthrow of the Emperor in order to establish a republic. Iturbide abdicated and was executed a year later. Austin had to restart negotiations to maintain his grant with the new government, but was eventually successful.

Mexico became a republic under the new Constitution of 1824, and Texas was merged with Coahuila to form the state of Coahuila y Tejas. The borders of the Texas part of this state were considerably different than those today. The lower border only extended to the Nueces River (where Corpus Christi sits today). South of that was the state of Tamaulipas. The western border of Texas ended about 200 miles west of San Antonio where the state of Chihuahua began, and a 200-mile wide strip of land extended between Tamaulipas and Chihuahua 100 miles southwest across the Rio Grande River to connect Texas to Coahuila.

Mexico formally abolished slavery for a second time under the Constitution of 1824, although it continued throughout the entire nation. Austin gained three more grants from the newly formed Mexican Republic to settle 900 additional families in 1825, 1827, and 1828 under the new empresario system of immigration, which Mexico instituted. As an empresario, Austin was given the duties of both bringing in qualified families and then governing them when they arrived. Many others were made empresarios such as Dr. Lorenzo De Zavala, Haden Edwards, and the old filibuster Ben Milam. During all of this, however, illegal immigrants from the U.S. trickled in with the legal immigrants.

Descent into revolution

The Fredonian Rebellion

By 1826, the empresario Haden Edwards had been in several land and political disputes with various settlers. These cumulated in a final dispute that resulted in a massive financial loss to Edwards. This inspired him to instigate and organize a minor uprising in Nacogdoches. He proclaimed the area an independent republic called Fredonia. Lt. Col. Mateo Ahumada was ordered to Texas. Austin gathered the Texian militia and joined Ahumada’s forces. Together they marched on Nacogdoches. Edwards and his followers immediately fled Texas without a shot fired.

Mexico becomes concerned

In 1827, John Q. Adams offered Mexico USD $1 million to buy Texas, which was rejected. Two years later, in 1829, Andrew Jackson tried again with an offer of $5 million dollars, which Mexico also rejected. The same year Spain attempted to re-conquer their former colony. Santa Anna swiftly defeated the invading Spanish army at Tampico and was hailed as a national hero. In 1830, Mexico became alarmed by the illegal immigrants crossing the border from the U.S. into Mexico. With the recent Fredonian Rebellion and the U.S. so obviously hungry for Texas, there was concern about who was entering the state. Mexico passed the April 6 laws. These would annul prospective or incomplete settlements previously approved in various grants given to various empresarios. The decree allowed taxes to be collected, provided a larger military presence in Texas, and ended immigration into Texas. Austin eventually got the law repealed after three years of working with the Mexican government but in the meantime military measures were enacted to enforce this law, which triggered an uprising in Anahuac, Texas. This was the first of what would be called the Anahuac Disturbances.

Texian disillusionment

Texians were becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Mexican government. Many of the Mexican soldiers garrisoned in Texas were convicted criminals who were given the choice of prison or serving in the army way out in Texas. Many Texians were also unhappy with the location of their state capital, which moved periodically between Saltillo and Monclova, both of which were in southern Coahuila, some 500 miles away; they wanted Texas to be a separate state from Coahuila (but not independent from Mexico) and to have its own capital. They believed a closer location for the capital would help to stem corruption and facilitate other matters of government. Some citizens were accustomed to the rights they had in the U.S. that they did not have now in Mexico. For example, Mexico did not protect Freedom of Religion, instead requiring colonists to pledge their acceptance of Catholicism. Unlike in the states of the Southern United States, where slavery was legal, the status of slaves in Mexico was ambiguous. Although Mexico had officially outlawed slavery, the government was widely tolerant of the holding of slaves, but not the sale of slaves. Slave traders were thus unhappy with the limitations imposed upon them. Although these many issues caused friction, they were not yet sufficient to incite the settlers to revolt as a whole.

Santa Anna the Dictator

Antonio López de Santa Anna

Between 1829 and 1832, a series of Mexican presidents were killed in a series of coups. Santa Anna had a hand in each of these events. The Mexican Republic became heavily divided between two factions known as Conservatives, who were for a centralized, monarchial government, and Liberals, who were for a democratic, federal government. In the presidential elections of 1833 Santa Anna ran as a liberal and won. Soon after, Santa Anna retired to his hacienda, allowing his Vice-President, Valentín Gómez Farías, to run the country. The government initiated drastic liberal reforms, angering the Conservatives. Biding his time, Santa Anna suddenly renounced the government's policies, overthrew the presidency (which was really himself) declared that Mexico was not ready for democracy, became a centralist, and appointed himself dictator.

Though disturbed by Santa Anna’s turn, Austin and the settlers had backed Santa Anna in his bid for power and now wanted to capitalize on it. Austin therefore traveled to Mexico City with a petition asking for separate statehood from Coahuila, a better judicial system, and the repeal of the April 6 law that had caused the Anuhuac Disturbances, among other things. They were all approved except for separate statehood. Despondent over not getting Texas separated from Coahuila, he wrote an angry letter to a friend, which seemed to encourage rebellion. Mexican officials intercepted the letter and Austin was arrested for sedition. He would spend 18 months in prison.

By this time, the trickle of illegal immigrants entering Texas had become a flood. Santa Anna believed that the influx of immigrants to Texas was part of a plot by the U.S. to take over the region. In 1834, due to perceived troubles within the Mexican government, Santa Anna went through a process of dissolving state legislatures, disarming state militias, and abolishing the Constitution of 1824. These actions triggered outrage throughout the nation of Mexico. The country then became divided between Centralists, who backed Santa Anna’s dictatorship, and Federalists, who wanted the Constitution of 1824 re-instituted. Santa Anna then ordered all illegal immigrants out of Texas.

Revolution Begins

Revolution started when the Mexican state of Zacatecas revolted in 1835, against Santa Anna, under the banner of Liberalism. The revolt was brutally put down and civilians, by the thousands, were massacred. This was to become a disturbing tendency Santa Anna would employ on those he regarded as traitors. Now, he ordered his brother-in law and General, Martin Perfecto de Cos, to march into Texas and to put an end to disturbances against the state. See History of Zacatecas.

Revolution in Texas

Throughout 1835, as many tried to incite revolt, Texians informally debated the issue. In July, Austin was released from jail having never been formally charged with sedition and was in Texas by August. Despite their disgust over what had happened to Austin, the horrific events in Zacatecas, the call to disarm militias, the order to expel all illegal immigrants, and particularly the dissolution of the Constitution of 1824, the Texians as a whole were relatively loyal to Santa Anna until a spark ignited the powder keg when a Mexican soldier bludgeoned Texian settler Jesse McCoy with a musket in an altercation. Following this incident, and having severely damaged his standing in Mexico City, Austin began to see little choice but revolution. A consultation was scheduled for October to discuss possible formal plans to revolt and Austin sanctioned it.

Texan Victories

Come and take it.

Before the consultation could happen, however, in accordance with Santa Anna’s nationwide call to disarm state militias, Colonel Domingo Ugartechea, who was stationed in San Antonio, ordered the Texians to return a cannon given to them by Mexico that was stationed in Gonzales. The Texians refused. Ugartechea sent Lieutenant Francisco Castañeda and 100 dragoons to retrieve it. When he arrived at the rain-swollen banks of the Guadalupe River near Gonzales, on the other side, there were just eighteen Texians to oppose him. Unable to cross, Castañeda established a camp, and the Texians buried the cannon and called for volunteers. Two Texian militias answered the call. Colonel John Henry Moore was elected head of the combined rebels/militias and they dug up the cannon and mounted it on a pair of cartwheels. A Coushatta Native American entered Castañeda’s camp and informed him that the Texians now had 140 men. All was ready for the Battle of Gonzales.

On October 1, 1835 at 7 p.m., the Texians headed out slowly and quietly to attack Castañeda’s dragoons. At 3 a.m. they reached the camp and gunfire was exchanged. There were no casualties except for a Texian who had bloodied his nose when he fell off his horse during the skirmish. The next morning negotiations were held and the Texians urged Castañeda to join them in their revolt. Despite claiming sympathy for the Texian cause, he was shocked by the invitation to mutiny and negotiations fell through. The Texians created a banner with a crude drawing of the disputed cannon and the words "Come and take it" written on it. Since they had no cannon balls, they filled it with scrap metal and fired it at the dragoons. They charged and fired their muskets and rifles, but Castañeda decided not to engage them and led the dragoons back to San Antonio. Thus the war had begun. And as at Gonzales, most of the early engagements favored the Texans because the sudden upheaval had not given Mexican garrisons time to prepare for war.

The following engament, and victory, occurred at the Battle of Concepcion, where the bravery and Leadership of James Bowie would earn him the trust of the Texan provisional government. Next, the Texans captured Bexar, under the defence of General Cos. When General Austin gave his army of volunteers the boring task of waiting for General Cos’ army to starve, many of the volunteers simply left. Through out November of 1835, the Texian army dwindled from 800 to 600 men and the officers began to bicker about strategy and why they were fighting against the Mexicans. Several officers resigned including Jim Bowie who went to Gonzales. The siege of Bexar, which began on October 12, 1835, would demonstrate how little leadership the Texan "Army" had. Austin had been appointed Commander of all the Texan forces, but his talents were not well suited for military life.

The siege of Bexar ended on December 11 with the capture of General Cos and his starving army, despite Austin's leadership. The Mexican prisoners were paroled and sent back to Mexico after being made to promise not to fight again.

The early victories of the Texans were greatly attributed to their effective hunting rifles, which could fire at distant targets, and with more accuracy, than the smooth bore muskets of the Mexican infantry.

The remaining Texan army, poorly led, and with no collective goal, in terms of what they were fighting for, prepared to advance towards Matamoros, hoping to sack the town, and loot it of provisions and treasure. Although the Matamoros Expedition, as it came to be known, was but one of many schemes to bring the war to Mexico, nothing would ever come of it. On November 6, 1835, the Tampico Expedition under José Antonio Mexía left New Orleans, hoping to capture the town from the Centralists. The expedition failed. These independent missions drained the Texan movement of supplies and men, and would only bring about disaster upon disaster for the months to come.

Texas Provisional Government

In Gonzales, the consultation scheduled for the month before finally got underway after enough delegates from the colonies arrived to signify a quorum. After bitter debate, they finally created a provisional government that was not to be separate from Mexico but only to oppose the Centralists. They elected Henry Smith as governor and Sam Houston was appointed commander-in-chief of the regular Army of Texas. There was no regular army yet; Austin’s army was all volunteers. So Houston would have to build one. They had more land than money so land was chosen as an incentive to join the army; extra land would be given to those who enlisted as regulars and not as volunteers. The provisional government also commissioned privateers and established a postal system. A merchant was also sent to the U.S. to borrow $100,000. They also ordered hundreds of copies of various military textbooks. They also gave Austin the option to step down as commander of the army in Béxar and go to the U.S. as a commissioner. Austin stayed for the time being. On November 24, 1835 Austin stepped down as general. Elections were held and Colonel Edward Burleson became Austin’s successor.

Santa Anna's Offensive

The Army of Operations

With the successes gained at Bexar, and at the Battle of Goliad, and the victorious skirmish of the Grass Fight, by the rebels, time had come for Santa Anna to take the counter-offensive. General Cos informed Santa Anna of the situation in Texas, and the dictator proceeded to advance North with his Army of Operations, a force of about 6,000. The army had gathered in San Luis Potosí, and soon marched across the deserts of Mexico, during the worst winter recorded in that region. The army suffered hundreds of casualties, but it marched forward, arriving in Texas months before it was expected. Taking Bexar, the political and military center of Texas, was Santa Anna's initial objective. Santa Anna's arrival at Bexar on February 23, would mark the second time he had occupied the town, the first being in 1813 after the Battle of the Medina River, in which Santa Anna was engaged as a junior officer under the Spanish Army. In 1813, the prisoners were massacred. Santa Anna would always remember how traitors were to be treated, for, like at Zacatecas, Santa Anna would give "no quarter" to those Texans now barricaded behind the Alamo mission. The rebels waited for reinforcements, and except for a few brave men, no help was ever delivered to the Alamo.

The Alamo was defended by 180 to 250 men under the command of William Barret Travis and James Bowie. The Battle of the Alamo ended on March 6 after a 13 day siege in which all Texan combatants were killed. Santa Anna's casualties were about 400 troops. The defense of the Alamo proved to be of no military consequence for the Texan cause, but its martyrs were soon hailed as heroes. The most important result during this time was the 1836 Convention signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico, on March 2.

Soon, Santa Anna divided his army and sent flying columns across Texas. The objective was to force a decisive battle over the Texan Army, now led by General Sam Houston.

Urrea's Victories

General José Urrea marched into Texas from Matamoros, making his way north. following the coast of Texas, thus preventing any foreign aid by sea, and opening up an oppourtunity for the Mexican Navy to land much needed provisions. Urrea's forces were engaged at the Battle of Agua Dulce on March 2, 1836, which would soon lead to the Goliad Campaign. At Goliad, Urrea's flying column captured Colonel James Fannin's force of about 400 men, and then executed them under Santa Anna's orders. General Urrea was never defeated in any engagement his forces conducted in Texas.

The Meeting of Two Armies

Runaway Scrape

Houston immediately understood that his small army was not prepared to fight Santa Anna out in the open. The Mexican cavalry, experienced and feared, was something the Texans could not easily defeat. Seeing that his only choice was to keep the army together enough to be able to fight on favorable grounds, Houston ordered a retreat towards the U.S. border. A scorched earth policy was implemented, denying much needed food for the Mexican army. Soon the rains made the roads impassable, and the cold season made the list of casualties grow, to both armies. Santa Anna's army, always on the heels of Houston, gave unrelenting chase. The Town of Gonzales could not be defended by the rebels, so it was put to the torch. The same fate awaited Austin's colony of San Felipe. Despair grew among the ranks of Houston's men, and much animosity was aimed towards him.

All that impeded the advance of Santa Anna's Army were the swollen rivers, filled to capacity by the rain. These gave Houston a chance to rest his army and drill it into something like a professional army.

Santa Anna Defeated

Events moved at a quick pace after Santa Anna decided to divide his own flying column, and race quickly towards Galveston, where members of the Provisional Government had fled to. Santa Anna hoped to capture the rebel leaders, and put an end to the war, which had proven costly, and prolonged. Santa Anna, as Dictator of Mexico, felt the need to return to Mexico City as soon as possible. Houston was informed of Santa Anna's unexpected move. Numbering, now, about 700, Santa Anna's column marched east from Harrisburg, Texas. Without Houston's consent, and tired of running away, the Texan army of 900, moved to meet the enemy. Houston could do nothing but follow.

On April 20, both armies met at the San Jacinto River. Separating them were trees and brushes, which the Texans used as cover. Santa Anna, elated at finally having the rebel army in front of him, waited for reinforcements, which were led by General Cos. On that same day, a skirmish was fought between the enemies, mostly cavalry, but nothing came of it.

To the dismay of the rebels, Cos arrived sooner than expected bringing 540 more troops, swelling Santa Anna's army to over 1,200 men. Angered by the loss of opportunity, and by Houston's indeciseveness, the rebel army demanded to make an attack. On April 21, early in the morning, the Texans surged forward, catching the Mexican army by surprise. Hours before the attack, Santa Anna had ordered his men to stand down, noting that the Texans would not attack his superior force. Also, his army had been streched to the limit of endurance by the ongoing forced marches. The Battle of San Jacinto proved to be the decisive battle that Santa Anna had coveted, but with the results he had not anticipated. His force was overwhelmed by those Texians pushing into the Mexican camp. An 18-minute-long battle ensued, but soon the defenses crumbled and a massacre ensued.

Santa Anna's entire force of men was killed or captured by Sam Houston's heavily outnumbered army of Texans; only nine Texans died. This decisive battle resulted in Texas' independence from Mexico.

Santa Anna was captured and brought before Houston, who had been wounded in the ankle. Santa Anna readily agreed, under a death threat, to order the Army of Operations, now under General Vicente Filisola's command, to end the campaign. Filisola, noting the state of his tired and hungry army, marched back to Mexico, but not without protests from Urrea. Only Santa Anna had been defeated, not the Army of Operations, and Urrea felt that the campaign should continue. Filisola disagreed.

Aftermath

With Santa Anna a prisoner, his captors forced him to sign the Treaty of Velasco on May 14. The treaty recognized Texas's independence and guaranteed Santa Anna's life. The initial plan was to send him back to Mexico to help smooth relations between the two states. His departure was delayed by a mob who wanted him dead. Declaring himself as the only person who could bring about peace, Santa Anna was shipped to Washington DC by the Texan government to meet President Jackson in order to guarantee independence of the new republic. But unknown to Santa Anna, the Mexican government deposed him in absentia, thus, he no longer had any authority to represent Mexico.

Texas became a republic after a long and bloody fight, but it was never recognized as such by Mexico. The war continued as a standoff.

Santa Anna would re-emerge as a hero during the Pastry War in 1838. He was re-elected President, and soon after, ordered an expedition led by General Adrian Woll into Texas, occupying San Antonio, but briefly. The border would be stained with blood for years to come as small clashes erupted between the two States.

The war with Texas would not truly come to an end until the Mexican-American War of 1846.

Sam Houston's victory at San Jacinto would send him to the presidency of Republic of Texas. Stephen F. Austin died in 1836, all but forgotten.

Historical context of the Revolution

At the same time Texas declared independence, other Mexican states also decided to secede from Mexico and form their own republics. The state of Yucatán formed the Republic of Yucatán and the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas joined together to form the Republic of the Rio Grande. Several other states also went into open rebellion, including San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Jalisco and Zacatecas. All were upset with Santa Anna abolishing the 1824 Constitution, disbanding Congress, and changing the structure of government from a federal structure to a centralized one. Texas, however, was the only territory to be successful in detaching itself from Mexico.

See also

References

  • Dingus, Anne, The Truth About Texas, Houston: Gulf Publishing Company (1995) ISBN 0-87719-282-0
  • Nofi, Albert A., The Alamo and The Texas War for Independence, Da Capo Press (1992) ISBN 0-306-81040-9
  • Hardin, Stephen L., Texian Iliad, Austin: University of Texas Press (1994) ISBN 0-292-73086-1
  • Lord, Walter, A Time to Stand,; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1961) ISBN 0-8032-7902-7
  • Davis, William C., Lone Star Rising: The Revolutionary Birth of the Texas Republic, Free Press (2004) ISBN 0-684-86510-6
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