The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion by Anglo-American immigrants as well as Hispanic Texans (known as Texians and Tejanos respectively) against the centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Although the uprising was part of a larger revolt that included other provinces opposed to the regime of President Miguel Barragán and General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government believed the United States had instigated the Texas insurrection with the goal of annexation. The Mexican Congress passed the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexican troops "will be deemed pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag". Only the province of Texas succeeded in breaking with Mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas. It was eventually annexed by the United States about a decade later.
The revolution began in October 1835, after a decade of political and cultural clashes between the Mexican government and the large and growing population of Anglo-American settlers in Texas. The Mexican government had become increasingly centralized, stripping Texas of its autonomy. The rights of its citizens had become further curtailed in turn, particularly regarding immigration from the United States, and the holding of slaves as property. Mexico had officially abolished slavery in 1829, but had made an exemption for Texas, however this exemption was not constitutionalized, which made many slave owners in Texas still feel unsatisfied. Although slavery is not mentioned explicitly in the Texas Declaration of Independence, the ownership of human beings in bondage as property was of great importance to many of the settlers. Texians and Tejanos disagreed on whether the ultimate goal was independence or a return to the Mexican Constitution of 1824. While delegates at the Consultation (provisional government) debated the war's motives, Texians and a flood of volunteers from the United States defeated the small garrisons of Mexican soldiers by mid-December 1835. The Consultation declined to declare independence and installed an interim government, whose infighting led to political paralysis and a dearth of effective governance in Texas. An ill-conceived proposal to invade Matamoros siphoned much-needed volunteers and provisions from the fledgling Texian Army. In March 1836, a second political convention declared independence and appointed leadership for the new Republic of Texas.
Determined to avenge Mexico's honor, Santa Anna vowed to personally retake Texas. His Army of Operations entered Texas in mid-February 1836 and found the Texians completely unprepared. Mexican general José de Urrea led a contingent of troops on the Goliad Campaign up the Texas coast, defeating all Texian troops in his path and executing most of those who surrendered. Santa Anna led a larger force to San Antonio de Béxar (or Béxar), where his troops defeated the Texian garrison in the Battle of the Alamo, killing almost all of the defenders.
A newly created Texian army under the command of Sam Houston was constantly on the move, while terrified civilians fled with the army, in a melee known as the Runaway Scrape. On March 31, Houston paused his men at Groce's Landing on the Brazos River, and for the next two weeks, the Texians received rigorous military training. Becoming complacent and underestimating the strength of his foes, Santa Anna further subdivided his troops. On April 21, Houston's army staged a surprise assault on Santa Anna and his vanguard force at the Battle of San Jacinto. The Mexican troops were quickly routed, and vengeful Texians executed many who tried to surrender. Santa Anna was taken hostage; in exchange for his life, he ordered the Mexican army to retreat south of the Rio Grande. The Texians forced Santa Anna to sign the Treaty of Velasco, which gave Texas its independence. However, Mexico refused to recognize the Republic of Texas, and intermittent conflicts between the two countries continued into the 1840s. The annexation of Texas as the 28th state of the United States in 1845 led directly to the Mexican–American War.
Background
After a failed attempt by France to colonize Texas in the late 17th century, Spain developed a plan to settle the region. On its southern edge, along the Medina and Nueces Rivers, Spanish Texas was bordered by the province of Coahuila. On the east, Texas bordered Louisiana. Following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the United States also claimed the land west of the Sabine River, all the way to the Rio Grande. From 1812 to 1813 anti-Spanish republicans and U.S. filibusters rebelled against the Spanish Empire in what is known today as the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition during the Mexican War of Independence. They won battles in the beginning and captured many Texas cities from the Spanish that led to a declaration of independence of the state of Texas as part of the Mexican Republic on April 17, 1813. The new Texas government and army met their doom in the Battle of Medina in August 1813, 20 miles south of San Antonio, where 1,300 of the 1,400 rebel army were killed in battle or executed shortly afterwards by royalist soldiers. It was the deadliest single battle in Texas history. 300 republican government officials in San Antonio were captured and executed by the Spanish royalists shortly after the battle. Antonio López de Santa Anna, future President of Mexico, fought in this battle as a royalist and followed his superiors' orders to take no prisoners. Another interesting note is two founding fathers of the Republic of Texas and future signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836, José Antonio Navarro and José Francisco Ruiz, took part in the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition. Although the United States officially renounced that claim as part of the Transcontinental Treaty with Spain in 1819, many Americans continued to believe that Texas should belong to their nation, and over the next decade the United States made several offers to purchase the region.
Following the Mexican War of Independence, Texas became part of Mexico. Under the Constitution of 1824, which defined the country as a federal republic, the provinces of Texas and Coahuila were combined to become the state Coahuila y Tejas. Texas was granted only a single seat in the state legislature, which met in Saltillo, hundreds of miles away. After months of grumbling by Tejanos (Mexican-born residents of Texas) outraged at the loss of their political autonomy, state officials agreed to make Texas a department of the new state, with a de facto capital in San Antonio de Béxar.
Texas was very sparsely settled, with fewer than 3,500 non-Native residents, and only about 200 soldiers, which made it extremely vulnerable to attacks by native tribes and American filibusters. In the hopes that an influx of settlers could control the Indigenous resistance, the bankrupt Mexican government liberalized immigration policies for the region. Finally able to settle legally in Texas, Anglos from the United States soon vastly outnumbered the Tejanos. Most of the immigrants came from the Southern United States, and included slave owners. Most brought with them significant prejudices against other races, attitudes often applied to the Tejanos. Mexico's official religion was Roman Catholicism, yet the majority of the immigrants were Protestants who distrusted Catholics.
Mexican authorities became increasingly concerned about the stability of the region. The colonies teetered at the brink of revolt in 1829, after Mexico abolished slavery. In response, President Anastasio Bustamante implemented the Laws of April 6, 1830, which, among other things, prohibited further immigration to Texas from the United States, increased taxes, and reiterated the ban on slavery. Settlers simply circumvented or ignored the laws. By 1834, an estimated 30,000 Anglos lived in Coahuila y Tejas, compared to only 7,800 Mexican-born residents. By the end of 1835, almost 5,000 enslaved Africans and African Americans lived in Texas, making up 13 percent of the non-Indian population.
In 1832, Antonio López de Santa Anna led a revolt to overthrow Bustamante. Texians, or English-speaking settlers, also took up arms. By mid-August, all Mexican troops had been expelled from east Texas. Buoyed by their success, Texians held two political conventions to persuade Mexican authorities to weaken the Laws of April 6, 1830. Bustamante was replaced by the liberal federalist Valentin Gomez Farias, who would attempt to reach a compromise with the Texians. In November 1833, the Mexican government attempted to address some of their concerns, repealing some sections of the law and granting the colonists further concessions, including increased representation in the state legislature. Stephen F. Austin, who had brought the first American settlers to Texas, wrote to a friend that "Every evil complained of has been remedied." Mexican authorities were quietly watchful, concerned that the colonists were maneuvering towards secession.
Santa Anna overthrew Gomez Farias in April 1834, and soon revealed himself to be a centralist, inaugurating the Centralist Republic of Mexico. In 1835, the 1824 Constitution was overturned; state legislatures were dismissed, militias disbanded. Federalists throughout Mexico were appalled. Citizens in the states of Oaxaca and Zacatecas took up arms. After Santa Anna's troops subdued the rebellion in Zacatecas in May, he gave his troops two days to pillage the city; over 2,000 noncombatants were killed. The governor of Coahuila y Tejas, Agustín Viesca, refused to dissolve the legislature, instead ordering that the session reconvene in Béxar, further from the influence of the Mexican army. Although prominent Tejano Juan Seguín raised a militia company to assist the governor, the Béxar ayuntamiento (city council) ordered him not to interfere, and Viesca was arrested before he reached Texas.
Public opinion in Texas was divided. Editorials in the United States began advocating complete independence for Texas. After several men staged a minor revolt against customs duties in Anahuac in June, local leaders began calling for a public meeting to determine whether a majority of settlers favored independence, a return to federalism, or the status quo. Although some leaders worried that Mexican officials would see this type of gathering as a step towards revolution, by the end of August most communities had agreed to send delegates to the Consultation, scheduled for October 15.
As early as April 1835, military commanders in Texas began requesting reinforcements, fearing the citizens would revolt. Mexico was ill-prepared for a large civil war, but continued unrest in Texas posed a significant danger to the power of Santa Anna and of Mexico. If the people of Coahuila also took up arms, Mexico faced losing a large portion of its territory. Without the northeastern province to act as a buffer, it was likely that United States influence would spread, and the Mexican territories of Nuevo Mexico and Alta California would be at risk of future American encroachment. Santa Anna had no wish to tangle with the United States, and he knew that the unrest needed to be subdued before the United States could be convinced to become involved. In early September, Santa Anna ordered his brother-in-law, General Martín Perfecto de Cos, to lead 500 soldiers to Texas to quell any potential rebellion. Cos and his men landed at the port of Copano on September 20. Austin called on all municipalities to raise militias to defend themselves.
Texian offensive: October–December 1835
Gonzales
In the early 1830s, the army loaned the citizens of Gonzales a small cannon for protection against Indian raids. After a Mexican soldier bludgeoned a Gonzales resident on September 10, 1835, tensions rose even further, and Mexican authorities felt it unwise to leave the settlers with a weapon. Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea, commander of all Mexican military forces in Texas, sent a small detachment of troops to retrieve the cannon. After settlers escorted the group from town without the cannon, Ugartechea sent 100 dragoons with Lieutenant Francisco de Castañeda to demand compliance, with orders to avoid force if possible.
Many of the settlers believed Mexican authorities were manufacturing an excuse to attack the town and eliminate the militia. Texians stalled Castañeda's attempts to negotiate the cannon's return for several days as they waited for reinforcements from other colonies. In the early hours of October 2, approximately 140 Texian volunteers attacked Castañeda's force. After a brief skirmish, Castañeda requested a meeting with Texian leader John Henry Moore. Castañeda revealed that he shared their federalist leanings, but that he was honor-bound to follow orders. As Moore returned to camp, the Texians raised a homemade white banner with an image of the cannon painted in black in the center, over the words "Come and Take It". Realizing that he was outnumbered and outgunned, Castañeda led his troops back to Béxar. In this first battle of the revolution, two Mexican soldiers were killed, and one Texian was injured when he fell off his horse. Although the event was, as characterized by historian William C. Davis, "an inconsequential skirmish in which one side did not try to fight", Texians soon declared it a victory over Mexican troops. News of the skirmish spread throughout the United States, encouraging many adventurers to come to Texas to join the fight.
Volunteers continued to arrive in Gonzales. On October 11, the troops unanimously elected Austin, who had no official military experience, the leader of the group he had dubbed the Army of the People. From the beginning, the volunteer army proved to have little discipline. Austin's first official order was to remind his men that they were expected to obey their commanding officers. Buoyed by their victory, the Texians were determined to drive the Mexican army out of Texas, and they began preparing to march to Béxar.
Gulf Coast campaign
After learning that Texian troops had attacked Castañeda at Gonzales, Cos made haste for Béxar. Unaware of his departure, on October 6, Texians in Matagorda marched on Presidio La Bahía in Goliad to kidnap him and steal the $50,000 that was rumored to accompany him. On October 10, approximately 125 volunteers, including 30 Tejanos, stormed the presidio. The Mexican garrison surrendered after a thirty-minute battle. One or two Texians were wounded and three Mexican soldiers were killed with seven more wounded.
The Texians established themselves in the presidio, under the command of Captain Philip Dimmitt, who immediately sent all the local Tejano volunteers to join Austin on the march to Béxar. At the end of the month, Dimmitt sent a group of men under Ira Westover to engage the Mexican garrison at Fort Lipantitlán, near San Patricio. Late on November 3, the Texians took the undermanned fort without firing a shot. After dismantling the fort, they prepared to return to Goliad. The remainder of the Mexican garrison, which had been out on patrol, approached. The Mexican troops were accompanied by 15–20 loyal centralists from San Patricio, including all members of the ayuntamiento. After a thirty-minute skirmish, the Mexican soldiers and Texian centralists retreated. With their departure, the Texian army controlled the Gulf Coast, forcing Mexican commanders to send all communication with the Mexican interior overland. The slower land journey left Cos unable to quickly request or receive reinforcements or supplies.