http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1835
Here are some one liners...
And So It Begins. The Texas Revolution -- A synopsis on conditions in Tejas as the Revolution kicks off.
Come and Take It: The Battle of Gonzales -- The Mexican Army wants it's cannon back, but somehow the town of Gonzales can't seem to put a finger on it. And speaking of fingers...
The Siege of Béxar (San Antonio) -- General Cos is surrounded by the Texians but he hopes to hold out until help arrives.... Nope.
In Other News -- Mark Twain, Democracy in America and Colt patents the first revolver.
And So It Begins. The Texas Revolution
The Texians (not Texans as yet) haven't decided if they will fight for independence or a return to the Mexican Constitution of 1824. That was the Constitution to which many had sworn allegiance and hoped to see return. General Santa Anna has set himself up as dictator over a region extending from Panama to the borders of Oregon. For several years, the Texians have been in rebellion, but Tejas is the frontier and Santa Anna has his hands full closer to home. (He recently murdered 2,000 non-combatants AFTER he put down their revolution in central Mexico, so don't even THINK of messing with him!) He sends some poorly-equipped dragoons (that is, mounted infantry) and cavalry to Tejas to handle what he thinks will be a few skirmishes. In many ways he is correct. The Texians are mostly a volunteer army. They have taken no oaths, so they can leave as they please. They are their own captains and they think of it exactly that way. They also carry those Kentucky rifles that can shoot the eye out of the dove-of-peace at 200 yards. The Mexican Army is carrying those Brown Bess muskets with gunpowder that is "little better than pounded charcoal." At 60 yards, a hit might leave a nasty bruise. It's the grapeshot from cannon fire that is the threat to Texians. They have set up a provisional government called the Consultation, but winning the war seems more important right now. They can figure out the politics later. [1] [2] [3]Come and Take It: The Battle of Gonzales
In happier days, the Mexican government had bestowed a small cannon upon the town of Gonzales for defense against Indians. The people of Gonzalez have never shown a bit of disloyalty, and Empresario Green DeWitt has been a strong supporter of Mexico, but things turn sour after some Mexican soldiers take over the store of a local merchant and viciously beat the local militiaman, Jesse McCoy, who tries to straighten out the misunderstanding. Having a town with lingering bad feelings toward Mexican troops and armed with a cannon seems like a bad idea, so the commander at San Antonio sends a few soldiers to request (not demand) the cannon back. (Cannon? What cannon?) After a lot of fooling around the commander sends Lieutenant Castañeda with 100 soldiers to retrieve the cannon... without violence if at all possible. In the meantime, Gonzalez defenders call for help. Texian volunteers arrive to find a very reasonable Mexican force on the other side of the river. The Texian volunteers haven't come all this way just to sit around! Under the cover of darkness, they cross the river. Shots are fired. A Texian falls from his mount and gets up with a bloody nose. The Texians in Gonzalez raise a banner that reads "Come and Take It" with the image of a cannon on it. The Gonzalez cannon is fired once and the Mexican force withdraws with maybe one or two soldiers killed and without the cannon. As battles go, it is insignificant, but as a first strike for liberty, it is a bonanza. [4]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Those are the bare bones of it, but there are a lot of interesting side stories that go along with the battle. A doctor named Lancelot Smithers heard of the coming confrontation and rode across Texas to negotiate peace, but he was arrested by Lieutenant Castañeda. As it turned out, Smithers was needed for translating and after some back-and-forth it was clear that both sides favored the Constitution of 1824! But since the Mexican Army was under the orders of Santa Anna, the Texians would not capitulate. The cannon itself didn't come with cannonballs, so they collected as much scrap metal as they could find and stuffed it in the barrel. Could this possibly be an effective weapon? According to an episode of Mythbusters, yes it could, but only at shorter ranges. The Mexican Army withdrew because the Lieutenant's orders stipulated that he was not to use force to retrieve the cannon. [2] [5]
Those are the bare bones of it, but there are a lot of interesting side stories that go along with the battle. A doctor named Lancelot Smithers heard of the coming confrontation and rode across Texas to negotiate peace, but he was arrested by Lieutenant Castañeda. As it turned out, Smithers was needed for translating and after some back-and-forth it was clear that both sides favored the Constitution of 1824! But since the Mexican Army was under the orders of Santa Anna, the Texians would not capitulate. The cannon itself didn't come with cannonballs, so they collected as much scrap metal as they could find and stuffed it in the barrel. Could this possibly be an effective weapon? According to an episode of Mythbusters, yes it could, but only at shorter ranges. The Mexican Army withdrew because the Lieutenant's orders stipulated that he was not to use force to retrieve the cannon. [2] [5]
The Siege of Béxar (San Antonio)
Well... General Cós has landed a Mexican force at the Bay of Copano which is north of what will one day be called Corpus Christi. It will serve as the beginning of his logistics train, and as plans go, it's not too bad, but when he hears of the Battle of Gonzalez, he moves quickly to the fortifications at Béxar (BAY-har, which sounds like "BEAR" with two syllables). It is present day San Antonio. He leaves a small force to guard his rear... too small, as it turns out. The Texians neatly cut off the General's supply route. He is royally... uh... without a means of support. Empresario Stephen F. Austin leads a force from Gonzalez to meet the General at San Antonio and sends Jim Bowie (the guy with the knife) to scout ahead and return. Bowie is a heck of a guy in a fight, but after the death of his wife, he has become a bit of a drunk and barroom brawler. He stops at Mission Concepción for the night, ignoring Austin's orders to return. In the morning, Bowie's scouting party is greeted with an overwhelming military force. With their backs against the river, they are trapped. For some reason, the Mexican forces come straight in. In a battle between roughly equivalent weapons, it might have worked, but the infantry cannot get close enough before those Kentucky rifles pick them off. The cannon fire is doing nothing but knocking the nuts off the trees. The Texians casually pick them up and pop them into their mouths. In 30 minutes it is all over. General Cós has learned his lesson. He will stay behind the fortifications and wait out Austin's makeshift army. The Siege of Béxar has begun. [6] [7]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
The Siege of Béxar revealed all the problems with a volunteer army. Time and again Austin wanted to attack the fortifications, but he was overruled by his officers. They had lost confidence in Austin, so he was replaced by Edward Burleson, his second in command. At first, Burleson did no better. The Texians were short on everything except rum. Jim Bowie caught out a Mexican supply patrol, but it turned out they were only carrying grass. If the General was willing to risk his men on a mission to collect grass, it meant the siege was working! It was now or never. On December 5th, the Texians attacked. They pushed the Mexican forces back to the Alamo and there the Texians pounded Cós with artillery fire. 175 Mexican soldiers rode off with Cós chasing them on foot, begging them to stay. On December 9th Cós ordered a flag of truce. The terms of surrender were that soldiers who lived in Béxar could stay. All others would leave with minimum weaponry for protection and a pledge to Almighty God to uphold the Constitution of 1824. Other than the Battle of San Jacinto, this is the most significant win for the soon-to-be Republic of Texas. [8]
The Siege of Béxar revealed all the problems with a volunteer army. Time and again Austin wanted to attack the fortifications, but he was overruled by his officers. They had lost confidence in Austin, so he was replaced by Edward Burleson, his second in command. At first, Burleson did no better. The Texians were short on everything except rum. Jim Bowie caught out a Mexican supply patrol, but it turned out they were only carrying grass. If the General was willing to risk his men on a mission to collect grass, it meant the siege was working! It was now or never. On December 5th, the Texians attacked. They pushed the Mexican forces back to the Alamo and there the Texians pounded Cós with artillery fire. 175 Mexican soldiers rode off with Cós chasing them on foot, begging them to stay. On December 9th Cós ordered a flag of truce. The terms of surrender were that soldiers who lived in Béxar could stay. All others would leave with minimum weaponry for protection and a pledge to Almighty God to uphold the Constitution of 1824. Other than the Battle of San Jacinto, this is the most significant win for the soon-to-be Republic of Texas. [8]
In Other News
- Democracy in America, volume 1 is published. A French aristocrat seeks to understand how America works: "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." [11]
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