The Battle of Gonzales

Lead Up to the Battle
The Texas Revolution began with a bang, but not much of a battle. In 1831, the Mexican army had loaned the townspeople of Gonzales a cannon to protect themselves against Native Americans. It wasn’t much, just a foot long signal cannon, but the townspeople came to think of it as their own, despite agreeing to give it back if ever the Mexican army asked for it. In 1835, Northern Mexico and the Yucatan revolted against President Santa Anna, who had suspended the 1824 Constitution and declared himself president for life. Colonel Ugartechea, stationed in San Antonio de Bexár (modern San Antonio, Texas), saw the whole situation and thought that he should retrieve the cannon, just in case the townspeople decided to join in the general revolt. In September of 1835, he sent a few men to request the return of the cannon. The alcalde refused and sent the men back empty handed. Ugartechea decided stronger measures were needed and, on September 27th, 100 dragoons left San Antonio de Bexár bound for Gonzales.

The Come and Take It flag. Some variations show the star and cannon as outlines. [source]

All Over But the Shooting
The townspeople of Gonzales had buried the cannon after they had sent Ugartechea’s men packing, but as word came of the approaching dragoons, they hurriedly dug it up and mounted it on a wooden carriage. The dragoons arrived near Gonzales on the 29th, but the townspeople sent 18 men to block the nearest river crossing. They told the soldiers that the alcalde was away and they would have to wait until he returned, so the soldiers made camp on the far side of the river. Meanwhile, the townspeople called for reinforcements and were able to gather about 150 men. John Henry Moore was elected commander of the hastily assembled militia. On October 1st, a Coushatta scout told the Mexican commander, Castañeda, that the men were gathering and he decided to move his men further up the river to try to find another place to cross. That night the Texans crossed the river and headed north to the Mexican camp. On the morning of October 2nd, they fired the cannon at the Mexican soldiers, who quickly retreated. Castañeda asked for a parley and the Texans, though initially suspicious, agreed. Moore explained that they were not loyal to Santa Anna’s dictatorship, but rather to the Constitution of 1824. Castañeda expressed his sympathies for their position but, despite the Texans’ offer for him to join them, said that he was honor-bound to carry out his orders. The commanders returned to their camps as the Texans hoisted a flag bearing a star and cannon on a white background with the words “Come and Take It” underneath. The Texans again fired on the Mexican troops and Castañeda quickly retreated, telling Ugartechea, “since the orders from your Lordship were for me to withdraw without compromising the honor of Mexican arms, I did so.” The Texas Revolution, not yet a war for independence, had begun.

The cannon in the Gonzales Memorial Museum, one contender for the Come and Take It cannon. By Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 3.0, [source]

The Come and Take It Cannon
The cannon that had sparked the revolution was taken on to Goliad, and then moved with the army on its march to San Antonio de Bexár, but its fate is uncertain. One report says that the cannon’s cart couldn’t keep up with the army on the march to San Antonio and it was abandoned, buried along the banks of a creek near Gonzales. In 1936 (conveniently, during the Texas Centennial), a cannon was unearth after a flood. The Smithsonian confirmed that the cannon had been buried for an extended time and was of a type of small swivel cannon that was common in 1836. That cannon is now in a museum in Gonzales. However, other historians claim that the cannon was taken to the Alamo and captured by the Mexican army after its fall. Then, it was melted down with the other cannons when the Mexican army retreated. Though it was only fired twice at the battle of Gonzales, and its location is uncertain, the Come and Take It Cannon will continue to loom large in the Texan imagination.

Martín and Patricia de León

Martín de León, c. 1920. [source]

Martín and Patricia
Martín de León was born to a wealthy family in what is now Tamaulipas  in 1765. Though his family usually educated their children in Europe, Martín decided not to go. Instead, he became a merchant and then joined the army. Because he was born in New Spain, he couldn’t rise above the rank of Captain. In 1795, he married Patricia de la Garza, the daughter of the Commandant of the Eastern Internal Provinces, a woman 10 years his junior. The couple settled in Tamaulipas and began ranching.

Ranching and Resistance
In 1805, Martín took a trip north to several cities in Tejas and decided to move the family ranch up to the area north of present day Corpus Christi on the Aransas River. The cattle were branded with the de León brand, EJ for Espirtu de Jesus. The brand was registered in 1807, the first cattle brand in Texas. Martín quickly became interested in creating a colony in the area, but his repeated requests were denied by the Spanish government, which questioned his loyalty, with good reason, as it turned out. The De León family sided with the Republicans during the Mexican War for Independence. The family spent most of the war in San Antonio, but returned to their ranch in 1816, as hostilities on the frontier died down. In 1823, Martín purchased cattle in New Orleans and drove then to Texas, adding them to the 5,000 head of cattle the family already owned.

Empresario
Martín had not given up on his idea of establishing a colony in Texas. In 1824, he petitioned the provincial government for permission to settle 41 families on and found a town on the Guadalupe River. His contract was approved, and since he was a Mexican citizen, he had almost no restrictions and several benefits, including exempting his colonists from taxes and duties for seven years. Patricia contributed $9,800, as well as cows, mules and horses that she had inherited from her father. The De León family arrived at the town site late in 1824 along with a few other families, and the rest joined them the following spring. The town was called Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Jesús Victoria and the colony was named Guadalupe Victoria, after the first president of Mexico. Each family received a plot in town, a league – 4,228 acres- of grazing land and a labor – 177 acres – of arable land. While Martín set up the land, Patricia focused on the culture. She founded a school and a church, donating funds as well as furniture and other items. Though their house was rough, with dirt floors, Patricia brought beautiful furnishings from Mexico. The De León colony was the only predominantly Mexican colony in Texas, though it also included American and Irish families. Because the borders of the De León colony were undefined, they came into frequent conflict with surrounding colonies, especially the DeWitt colony. In 1829, Martín got permission to bring 150 more families and expand the colony, which brought more conflict with the DeWitt colony. However, in 1831, DeWitt’s grant expired and the De León colony was able to expand into the vacant land. By 1833, when Martín died in a Cholera epidemic, the colony had given out more than 100 titles, making the De León family the only empresarios in Texas other than Stephen F. Austin to fulfill their grant.

St. Mary’s Church in Victoria. Built on the De León homestead, donated by Patricia de León. [source]

Revolution and Heartache
Even without their patriarch, the De León family were ardent supporters of the Texas Revolution. Two son-in-laws served in the Texas army and much of the rest of the family contributed horses, mules, and supplies. Because of their support, the family was targeted by General Urrea when he occupied the area and two of Patricia’s sons, Fernando and Silvestre, were arrested. Despite their support, the time after the Texas Revolution was not an easy one for Tejanos. The youngest De León son was murdered by cattle rustlers and the family was forced to flee to Louisiana. They later moved to Tamaulipas, Patricia’s childhood home and Patricia sold some of the family’s land to help make ends meet. In 1844, Patricia returned to Victoria, only to find her fine furnishings spread among the newcomers. Despite the lack of welcome, Patricia spent the rest of her life in Victoria devoted to the community, particularly the church. When she died, Patricia donated her homestead to the Catholic Church. Today, St. Mary’s Church stands on the site. 

Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar

Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar [source]

Georgia
Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar was born in Georgia in 1798. He grew up on a cotton plantation and was a voracious reader. Though he was accepted to Princeton College, he chose not to attend. Instead he went into business, first as a merchant, then running a newspaper, but was unsuccessful at both. In 1823, he became secretary to Georgia Governor George Troup, his first foray into politics.

Tragedy
Lamar married Tabitha Jordan in 1826, but his wife’s health was poor and he soon resigned his post with Governor Troup to take care of her. Lamar reentered politics in 1829, running for state senator, but after his wife’s death in 1830, he declined to run for reelection. Instead, he turned to travel and writing, publishing some of his best known poems. After time had softened his grief, Lamar turned his attention to studying law and passed the bar in 1833. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1832 and 1834, but his brother’s suicide in 1834 set him wandering once again.

Texas
Lamar followed James Fannin, Jr., an old friend, to Texas in 1835. Lamar threw himself wholeheartedly into the Texas Revolution, writing poems supporting the cause. He had to return to Georgia to settle his affairs, but quickly returned in 1836 after the news of the Alamo and the massacre at Goliad to join the Texas army. On April 20, 1836, he was involved in a skirmish with the Mexican Army where he distinguished himself and was promoted to Colonel and given command of the cavalry. After the Battle of San Jacinto, Lamar was a vocal supporter of executing Santa Anna. He was briefly put in command of the entire Texas Army, but the men did not accept him and he quickly retired. Lamar ran for President in the first election for the Republic of Texas, but lost to Houston and became his Vice President. In 1838, with Houston ineligible and the other two candidates having committed suicide, Lamar won the Presidency almost unanimously.

President
Lamar succeeded Sam Houston as President of the Republic of Texas in 1838. Houston reportedly gave a three hour “Farewell Address,” after which Lamar was indisposed and his aide read his inaugural remarks. Lamar was a bit of a mixed bag as a president. He moved the capital to its present location in Austin (largely to get it out of Houston), and set aside land to fund higher education in Texas, what would become UT and A&M. However, he was also determined to drive the Cherokee and Comanche out of Texas, believing they needed to be exterminated to allow for white settlement. This led to several battles and massacres. Lamar also drastically drove up Texas’s debt, up to $7 million, one of the factors leading to Texas’s eventual annexation by the US. Houston was reelected in 1943, and attempted to undo much of what Lamar had done, including moving the capital back to Houston, which led to the very short Archives War. The same year, Lamar’s daughter, back in Georgia, died at only 16.

Post Presidency
Lamar retired for while to his plantation in Richmond, where he began writing poetry again. Lamar passionately defended slavery and eventually advocated for Texas’s annexation to the US because he thought it would preserve slavery in the US. He served in the US army during the Mexican-American War and as a state legislator for the first few years of Texas statehood. He remarried in 1851 to Henrietta Maffitt, and the couple had a daughter shortly thereafter. In 1857, Lamar published a poetry collection and, later that year, President Polk appointed Lamar as ambassador to Nicaragua, then simultaneously to Costa Rica. Lamar served in Managua for almost two years, before returning to Texas due to his failing health. He died in December of 1859.

William Physick Zuber

Last Surviving Veteran of the Army of San Jacinto

William Physick Zuber by Jerkins, 1910. Photograph by me.

Fighting for Independence
William Zuber immigrated to Texas with his family in 1830. When the Texas Revolution broke out in 1835, he joined up, despite being only 15 years old. Zuber, as the youngest person at the battle, was detailed to the rear guard during the Battle of San Jacinto. His service earned him a land grant of 640 acres, which he settled on in Grimes County. He married Louisa Liles and the couple had six children. Zuber continued to serve in the army off and on, including fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Despite being self-educated, Zuber taught at rural schools for many years.

Leaving a Legacy
Later in his life, he began writing and publishing on Texas history. He did biographical sketches of fellow veterans of the Battle of San Jacinto and profiles of battles of the Texas Revolution. Zuber was a charter member of the Texas State Historical Association and his writings appeared in their publications. He wrote several pieces of memoir which were later collected and published under the title My Eighty Years in Texas. Zuber moved to Austin in 1906 and began a job as a guide for the Senate. He would tell visitors stories of his life and of the many famous Texans he had known. He is honored with a portrait in the Senate Chamber and is considered the Texas State Capitol’s first tour guide. Zuber died in 1913, the last surviving veteran of the Army of San Jacinto.

Susanna Dickinson

Messenger of the Alamo

Portrait of Susanna Dickinson (1814-1883), McArdle Collection, Texas State Library and Archives, [source]

Coming to Texas
Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson was born in Tennessee around 1814 and married to Almaron Dickinson when she was just 15. She came with him to Texas and they settled along the San Marcos River in what is now Caldwell County in 1831. When the Texas Revolution broke out, Almaron Dickinson went to fight for the Texans and wound up in San Antonio in the fall of 1835, where Susanna and their 2 year old daughter, Angelina, joined him.

At the Alamo
When the fighting resumed in February 1836, the Dickinsons moved into the Alamo. When the Alamo fell, Susanna became a widow. Santa Anna interviewed all the women and had Susanna identify all the important Texan men. He then sent her and her daughter to the Texan army with a letter from himself, warning the Texans to surrender, and with the famous “Victory or Death” letter from William Travis. Susanna provided one of the few eyewitness accounts of the Alamo siege and stood as witness for the heirs of those killed at the Alamo.

The Susanna Dickinson Museum, By Daderot – Own work, CC0, [source]

After the War
Susanna had a rough life after the war. She was hounded for the rest of her life to tell the story of the Alamo over and over. She married again, first to John Williams, who she divorced because he beat her, then to Francis Herring, who died of alcoholism, then to Peter Bellows, who divorced her on grounds of infidelity. In 1856, Susanna and 21 year old Angelina sold the land awarded to them for Almaron Dickinson’s service. Finally, in 1857, at 43, Susanna married Joseph Hannig, a prosperous cabinet maker and the couple moved to Austin. Susanna would remain with Hannig until her death in 1883. Hannig buried her in Oakwood Cemetery where he would join her in 1890, despite having remarried. Their house in Austin is now the Susanna Dickinson Museum.

Samuel Whiting

Rising Tensions
Samuel Whiting was born in Connecticut, but moved to Mexican Tejas in 1825. As tensions mounted between the Texians and the Mexican government, he was involved in several gatherings where the Texians expressed their displeasure with Mexico. When war broke out in late 1836, the new provisional Texas government realized that they needed a navy. They passed a bill authorizing the purchase of several schooners, but that would take a while.

List of Officers Bearing Commissions of Letters of Marque and Reprisal, November 3, 1836, TSLAC, [source]

A Navy Out of Thin Air
With no Navy, the not-quite Republic of Texas issued Letters of Marque, or Commissions to private captains who wished to harass Mexican ships in the Gulf of Mexico. Samuel Whiting was granted six Letters of Marque to take to New Orleans and find willing Captains to give them to. He would eventually enlist the San Felipe, the William Robbins, the Terrible, the Thomas Toby, the Flash, and the Ocean. However, with little opportunity for prizes in fighting the Mexican navy, this effort was not as successful as the Texians had hoped.

Printing and Politics
After the Texas Revolution, Samuel Whiting became the public printer for the Republic of Texas, meaning that he was the official printer for things like the Journals of Congress. He also started a newspaper, the National Intelligencer, which ran from 1838 to 1839 and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Houston. When the capitol moved to Austin, so did Whiting, publishing the first edition of his new paper, the Austin City Gazette in October of 1839. Whiting supported Houston politically until the Archives War, when Whiting began publicly criticizing Houston. Things became difficult for Whiting in Texas after that and he left the country in late 1842. He moved to New York where he would run a series of businesses, including an insurance company and a tailor’s shop until his death in 1863.

The Massacre at Goliad

Presidio la Bahia, better known as Goliad. By Chuckter, CC BY-SA 4.0, [source]

Defeat
The Alamo had fallen and the new commander of the Texas army, Sam Houston, was consolidating his forces. He ordered the men stationed in Goliad under Colonel Fannin to retreat to join the main force at Gonzalez. Fannin delayed. He knew the Mexican army, under General Urrea, was in the area, but he had sent a number of his men to evacuate civilians in Refugio, and decided to wait for their return. Unbeknownst to Fannin, the men were captured by Urrea and many were killed, captured, or executed. On March 19th, the two forces engaged in the Battle of Coleto. At first, the Texans held their own, but the Mexicans were heavily reinforced and the Texans surrendered on March 20th. They were marched back to the Presidio La Bahia, their former fort, which had now become their prison.

Massacre
The Texans thought they would be released back to the United States in a few weeks, but it was not to be. Though General Urrea fought to get clemency for the men, the Mexican Congress had declared that any foreigners who took up arms against Mexico would be treated as pirates and executed. Urrea wrote to Santa Anna asking for the men to be treated as prisoners of war. He was ordered to execute them instead. Perhaps suspecting that Urrea was unwilling to carry out the order, Santa Anna also sent a letter to the “Officer Commanding the Post of Goliad,” José Nicolás de la Portilla, who Urrea had left in charge. Despite a conflicting order from Urrea, on March 27th, Portilla ordered the Texans marched out in three groups in different directions. The men were then shot at point blank range and survivors were hunted down and killed. Another 40 or so men unable to march were killed within the Presidio, including Colonel Fannin after he had seen the deaths of his men. Between 400 and 450 men were killed in the massacre.

Monument to those massacred at Goliad. By P6150, CC BY-SA 3.0, [source]

Survivors
28 men played dead and were later able to escape to the main Texan army. About another 20 were spared to work as orderlies, interpreters, and skilled labor thanks to the pleas of the “Angel of Goliad,” Francita Alavez.

The massacre cemented the ideas of Mexican cruelty in the minds of the Anglo-Texans and the people of the United States. More volunteers would come from the US to help fight what they saw as Mexican tyranny and perfidy. When the Texas army entered the Battle of San Jacinto a month later they would shout “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!”

Adina de Zavala

Adina De Zavala, c. 1910, photo courtesy of the Center for American History at the University of North Texas. [source]

Early Life
Adina De Zavala was the granddaughter of Lorenzo de Zavala, the writer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the first Texas Constitution. Adina de Zavala grew up in Galveston and graduated from the Sam Houston Normal Institute in Huntsville in 1881. She traveled to Missouri to study music before returning to Texas to teach. She eventually settled near her family, which had moved to San Antonio.

Preserving the Alamo
Around 1889, she began meeting with other women in San Antonio to talk about Texas history and particularly about Texas heroes. Being in San Antonio, the Alamo was very present in their discussions. The State of Texas had bought the chapel of the Alamo in 1883, but much of the rest of the mission had slowly been destroyed. One of the few remaining structures was the long barracks and, in 1892, Zavala got a promise from the owners, a wholesale and grocery business, that her group would have the first right to buy the property if it went up for sale. Zavala’s group later joined with the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and, in 1903, Clara Driscoll, an heiress and member of the DRT bought the property. 

The Hugo & Schmelzter Mercantile, c. 1895. Much of what is visible was added by the mercantile, but it covered the two story long barracks structure, the second floor of which was subsequently removed by the DRT. [source]

Division
Quickly, it became apparent that Zavala’s group and Driscoll’s group had very different ideas about what to do with the structure. Zavala thought it should be preserved as it was while Driscoll (mistakenly) thought it was a later addition that should be torn down so as not to distract from the “real” Alamo. The battle wound up in the courts and they sided with Driscoll. The second floor of the structure was destroyed, but Zavala fought hard to save what she could, even barricading herself in the structure for three days in protest. Time would eventually vindicate Zavala and the long barracks are now interpreted as the scene of some of the heaviest fighting at the Alamo.

Later Work
When Zavala split from the DRT, many went with her, forming the Texas Historical and Landmarks Association, which worked to get historical markers put up all over Texas. She helped to save the Spanish Governor’s Palace, convincing the city of San Antonio to buy the property, as well as numerous other important historical structures. She was appointed to the committee planning the Texas Centennial celebrations and a founding member of the Texas State Historical Association, which continues to study and publish on Texas history. Zavala died in 1955 and laid in state in the Alamo chapel. In 1994, she was honored with her own historical marker in the Alamo plaza.

The Travis Letter

On the second day of the siege of the Alamo, February 24th, 1836, Travis sent out a call for volunteers. Albert Martin escaped through the siege with the letter. No volunteers would make it through the Mexican siege, but the letter would be reprinted in newspapers across Texas and the United States, bringing hundreds of volunteers to fight for Texas.

Fall of the Alamo by Theodore Gentilz, c. 1840-1845. [source]

Commandancy of the The Alamo

Bejar, Feby. 24th. 1836

To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World-

Fellow Citizens & compatriots-

I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna – I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man – The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken – I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls – I shall never surrender or retreat.  Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch – The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days.  If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country – Victory or Death.

William Barret Travis.

Lt. Col.comdt.

P. S.  The Lord is on our side – When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn – We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves.

Travis