1. The Texas Revolution Essential Question:
How did Texas become independent of Mexico and establish itself as a sovereign nation?
Today we look at the most significant event in the history of Texas. It is the one event that distinguishes us from the other states in the United States of America. It is the birthplace of the enormous pride and legends that Texans are known for worldwide. Listen and take notes as we look at the 6 month period that made Texas an independent country. Our essential question is “How did Texas become independent of Mexico and establish itself as a sovereign nation?”

2. The Revolution begins!!!
By 1835 Santa Anna was in full control of Mexico and he was proving he was a dictator.
He disbanded the Mexican Congress and had a new constitution written to give all power to him
He put down a revolt in Mexico and was extremely harsh to the rebels.
Santa Anna had allowed Vice President Farias to enact all kinds of reforms that made a lot of the wealthy and powerful people in Mexico angry and dissatisfied with the way things were in Mexico. In 1834 he began to challenge his vice president and pledged to return power to the elite and the Catholic church. He gained wide spread support because many of the reforms were not creating a calm and peaceful society. So in 1834, Santa Anna began to change things. He first repealed laws that had exiled certain people and put the power in the states. He eventually dissolved the Mexican Congress, and formed a new Catholic and centralist government. He replaced the Constitution of 1824 with a new constitution that put all of the power in the central government, and since there was no congress, he and his advisors had all the power making Mexico a dictatorship in the way it operated. He was in full control of everything going on in Mexico. Many of the northern states were unhappy and revolted. The Mexican army was successful in putting down the initial revolts in Mexico. Santa Anna was vicious in his treatment of rebels, killing anyone who would take up arms against him and Mexico. The first few small rebellions were marked with the Mexican army slaughtering men and even some women giving Santa Anna a reputation for not tolerating any opposition to his rule.

3. In Texas
Santa Anna sent his brother in law, General Martin Perfecto de Cos to San Antonio de Bexar to watch over Texas and put down any rebellion.
When Santa Anna learned about the disturbances at Anahuac and Velasco, he sent his brother in law, General Martin Perfecto de Cos to Texas in July of He was put in charge of disarming any rebels in Texas and to make sure taxes and customs duties were collected. He set up command at San Antonio de Bexar with 300 soldiers. He arrested a few men and charged them with treason. He quickly became very unpopular with the Texians through out the state.
Martin Perfecto de Cos

4. Austin Returns
Two Texas lawyers secured Austin his release from prison in August of 1835.
During his time in prison he learned of Santa Anna’s action and spoke positively of Texian independence.
He convinced many in the peace party to call for a war for Independence.
Austin returned to Texas by way of New Orleans in August of He had essentially been absent from Texas for more than two years dealing with the Mexican government. He had heard about the everything that was going on and the treatment of Texas by the Mexican government as well as the other rebellions in northern provinces. Austin had changed his attitude towards war with Mexico. He now felt like negotiations with Mexico were pointless and talked with many men who had always wanted peace. He gave a notable speech in San Felipe on September 8th where he called for delegates to meet for a consultation and discuss Texas Independence. The consultation was scheduled to meet on October 3, 1835.

5. Mottos in center: "Where Liberty dwells there is my country.“
Stephen F. Austin’s design for a Texas Flag
Here you see a flag that Austin helped to create. There is the one star symbolizing Texas as a single state or country, as well as two mottos in the center of the flag. The first said “Where Liberty dwells, there is my country” while the other references George Washington saying Washington- In his example there is safety.”
Mottos in center: "Where Liberty dwells there is my country.“
"WASHINGTON-In his example there is safety"

6. Cos in San Antonio de Bexar
General Cos knew the Texians were becoming more and more rebellious.
He asked for more troops from Mexico and started fortifying military positions in San Antonio.
He also felt he needed to disarm the Texians.
He sent a small army patrol to the town of Gonzales to confiscate a small cannon there that was used for Indian defense.
The Texians were noticeably frustrated with Mexico and the military presence in Texas, especially General Cos in San Antonio de Bexar. Cos grew more and more concerned with the attitude of the Texans and requested additional troops be sent from Mexico City. Santa Anna had troops in various provinces putting down rebellions and so he commanded Cos to stand firm and deal with the Texians with the 300 soldiers he had. Knowing that no additional troops were coming, General Cos felt it was necessary to try to disarm the Texians. Small militias had begun to form all over the state in response to the military presence of General Cos and his men. In 1831, Mexican authorities had given the settlers of Gonzales a small cannon to help protect them from frequent Comanche raids. Over the next four years, the political situation in Mexico deteriorated, and in 1835 several states revolted. As the unrest spread, Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea, one of the Mexican Colonel’s, felt it unwise to leave the residents of Gonzales with a weapon and requested the people of Gonzales return the cannon. The settlers refused to give up the cannon and so 100 dragoons, or soldiers on horses, were sent to retrieve it. They were told to get the cannon but to avoid a conflict of any significance.

7. Battle of Gonzales
The citizens of Gonzales refused to give up the cannon.
About 140 Texians gathered around the small cannon and a flag inscribed “Come and Take It.”
The Texians attacked the Mexican soldiers and killed one.
The Mexicans then retreated back to San Antonio
A small group of soldiers initially arrived hoping to easily take the cannon but the settlers felt like they needed it for their defense. The soldiers left and returned to San Antonio but the settlers knew that they would return with reinforcements within a few days. When the force of 100 dragoons arrived on September 29th, they found the Guadalupe River too high to cross. On the other side of the river, they saw a group of 18 militia men who were later called the Old 18. The soldiers said that they had a message for the alcalde but the militia men informed them that he was unavailable and out of town for a few days. The soldiers set up camp on the east side of the river and decided to wait for his return. During the delay, the settlers sent word to the surrounding communities about what was going on in an effort to get more men to come and help defend them if necessary and made the famous Come and Take it Flag with a simple picture of the cannon and a Star. Stephen F. Austin heard about the incident and encouraged other militia men to join up but he wanted to make sure that the Texians were only to take defensive action. They were not to attack the Mexican army unless provoked. The Mexican officer, Francisco de Castaneda, got word on October 1st that the Texian militia had grown to 140 or so men, so he moved his men 7 miles up river in an effort to try and find another crossing point where he could cross the river without being noticed. They made camp there unaware that the Texians had crossed the river and were marching towards them. On October 2nd, the Texians attacked the Mexican soldiers. The Mexicans fell back and eventually asked for a parlay, or a discussion between enemies, with the Texian commander, John Henry Moore. During the discussion, Casteneda revealed that he was a supporter of the Constitution of 1824 but that as a soldier he could not join the Texians in their fight. Realizing that he was outnumbered and had largely lost the desire to fight, Castaneda and his men returned to San Antonio without the cannon. He felt as though he had avoided a fight since it was just a brief skirmish and only one soldier had been killed, but it marked a clear break between the American settlers and the Mexicans and the Texians viewed it as the beginning of the war for independence.

8. Here is a picture of the cannon that was being fought over in Gonzales
Here is a picture of the cannon that was being fought over in Gonzales. You should note that it is very small, but it represented something very important to the Texians.

9. “Army of the People”
Hundreds of Texians poured into Gonzales to take part in the fight but by the time they arrived the battle was over.
They organized themselves as the “Army of the People” and elected Stephen F. Austin to lead them with the goal of taking San Antonio de Bexar.
Hundreds of men who heard about what was going on in Gonzales arrived too late to participate in the skirmish. By the time it was over, close to 1,300 men had arrived ready to fight the Mexican army. They came together under the title of “Armyof the People” and chose Stephen F. Austin to be their leader. The men believed that they could easily march north to San Antonio, defeat the Mexican army and take the capital of Texas.

10. Battle for Concepcion
The Texians arrived in San Antonio with close to 900 Texian soldiers.
James Bowie, a Louisianan, defeated a patrol of Mexicans at a skirmish near the mission Concepcion.
Stephen F. Austin was not wanting to attack the Mexican army, but with the men there and looking for a fight, he felt it was better to try and lead them, than to leave them to do whatever they pleased. So around 900 Texians began to march towards San Antonio under Austin’s command. On October 27th, Austin commanded James Bowie and James Fannin (two men who would become Texas heroes) to take control of the mission Concepcion in order to give the Texians a well protected position from which to attack San Antonio. Bowie and Fannin took close to 100 men to attack the mission and gain control. They set up a camp just a little ways from the mission. General Cos found out about the small force and thought they would be easy to defeat, so he sent 275 and two cannons to attack them before dawn the next day. The cannon shots sailed over the Texians heads though and offered little cover for the Mexican infantry attack. The Texians showed excellent accuracy as they drove back three Mexican charges killing many of the Mexican soldiers in less than 30 minutes. The Mexican soldiers quickly retreated losing 55 men, 39 killed and 16 wounded. The Texians would also capture one of the cannons from the Mexican army
The Mexicans lost 55 men while the Texians only managed to lose one

11. The Siege of Bexar
After soldiers were defeated at Concepcion, the Texians soldiers laid siege to Cos and the city.
A siege is when an army surrounds a fortified place and waits to attack.
This siege would last 34 days with sporadic fighting.
After the victory at Concepcion, Stephen F. Austin wanted to attack the city of San Antonio, but most of his fellow officers felt like the city was too well fortified and that attacking the city without much warning would cause women and children to be killed in the crossfire. So instead of attacking the Mexican soldiers, the Texan army would lay siege to the city. A siege is when an army surrounds a fortified area and waits to attack. The goal is to not allow any food or supplies to get to the Mexican army in San Antonio and therefore make them less prepared to fight when the Texians eventually attack. The siege would last for 34 days with occasional skirmishes, or small battles, throughout the city and surrounding area.

12. Siege of San Antonio
The siege dragged on and on and soon Texian soldiers started going back to their farms.
But the army held and attacked anything that went into the city including a Mexican mule train carrying grass to feed animals in the city that became known as the Grass Fight.
Texian and Mexican forces would skirmish from time to time as Texians would run across Mexican soldiers looking for supplies or trying to find reinforcements. But the siege was very monotonous and boring. As the weather grew colder, some of the Texians would choose to leave due to lack of interest or to get more supplies themselves. But those were typically offset by others who would arrive ready to fight. All in all, the morale was low for the Texians. Stephen F. Austin was eventually relieved of duty as the commander of the army so that he could serve as a diplomat to the U.S. A diplomat is a person who represents a country to another country. Stephen F. Austin was sent to the U.S. to try and get them to support the Texians in the battle for independence. Edward Burleson was elected to serve as the new leader of the Texian army. Erasmus “Deaf” Smith reported that there was a group of Mexican cavalry approaching and the rumors were that they were carrying a supply of silver to pay the Mexican soldiers in San Antonio. So Burleson ordered a group of Texians to attack them and cut them off from their mission. The two groups fought near Alazan Creek outside of town. When it was all over, there were four wounded Texians, while the Mexicans reported 3 dead and 14 wounded. Then Texians brought the 40 captured mules and oxen only to find that they did not have any silver, but instead, they were carrying grass, hay and other feed for the horses. This became known as the Grass Fight.

13. “Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?”
Finally a 47 yr old Texian named Ben Milam told the his soldiers he was tired of waiting and proclaimed
“Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?”
Morale continued to decline in the Texian camp. The men had come to fight the Mexican army, not sit and wait. Many of the Texian officers were afraid of an all out attack on the city and the potential loss of lives. Some of them felt like they should retreat to Goliad and Presidio La Bahia, but most of the men refused that thought. ON December 1, a Mexican officer was captured and he spoke of the low morale of the Mexican army in San Antonio. They were tired and did not want to fight. So Ben Milam, went to the men and said, “Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?” About 300 men eagerly volunteered to take the fight to the Mexicans in San Antonio.

14. Three hundred men led by Ben Milam and stormed the city on Dec the 5th 1836
Fighting was fierce and Milam was killed, but the Texians won.
Cos surrendered and promised to never oppose the Constitution of 1824 again.
The Texians thought the war was over…
On December 5th, Just before Ben Milam and his men attacked the town, James C. Neill bombarded the Alamo, a Mexican stronghold, with cannon fire in an attempt to distract the Mexican Army. IT worked and Milam and his men were able to attack and sieze control of houses and building north of the main plaza where the Mexican army was stationed. During the night and the next day, Texans dug trenches to connect the houses and buildings that they controlled to form a stronghold within the city. 600 Mexican reinforcements arrived on the 8th but most of them were not well trained soldiers and were not ready for battle. The Texans were attacking from all sides and slowly moving Cos’ men back. Cos attempted to gather his men in one main area, so he commanded them all to the Alamo. But many of the reinforcements who were ill prepared to fight simply ran away and left the city in fear. Cos realized that his army was no match for the Texans and so on December 9th, he surrendered to Burleson. The Texans were not prepared to hold a large group of prisoners, so instead, Burleson seized all of the Mexicans weapons and equipment and allowed Cos to return back to Mexico on foot. Cos promised to never fight again in Texas and to support the Constitution of He would break both of those promises. The Texians had lost 35 men in the siege while the Mexican army had lost over 150 men. The Texians felt like they had won their independence and that the war was over. Many of them went back to their farms leaving San Antonio defended mainly by the Americans who had come from Louisiana to help fight.
Ben Milam

15. The Consultation of 1835
During the siege, delegates from across the state met in San Felipe to hold a conference.
The Consultation voted 33 to 15 NOT to declare independence but instead declared they fought for the Constitution of 1824 and to set up a provisional government.
They also elected Sam Houston as General of the Texian Army.
They also selected Henry Smith as provisional governor and to meet again on March 1st, 1836 to decide on the independence question.
While the siege was going on in San Antonio, there was a consultation going on in San Felipe. 31 delegates from all over texas met to discuss the situation with Mexico. Stephen F. Austin was not there because of his role with the army in San Antonio, so his influence was weaken by his absence. With many of the War party members off fighting, the peace party members were able to convince the delegates to not declare independence. They declared that they fought for a mexico that would be ruled by the Constitution of They chose to set up a provisional government that would begin to negotiate with mexico on how to return to the Constitution of They setup an official army and elected Sam Houston as the General, but they did not impose the will of the official army over the volunteer troops who had been fighting and electing their own officers. This act meant that Sam Houston had no real authority over anyone that he did not personally recruit, leaving him with no real power. They selected Henry Smith as the provisional governor of Texas, set up a General Council of men to make decisions, and pledged to meet again on March 1, 1836 in order to readdress the question of independence.

16. January 1836 Most Texians thought the war was over.
They at least thought they would be safe until the summer.
Most of the Texians in the “Army of the People” went back to their homes.
Most Texians thought the war was over. The Mexican army had been sent back to Mexico and with the winter coming they thought if they returned it would not be until the summer at the earliest. Many of the army returned to take care of their farms and homesteads leaving most of the cities un protected.