1.
Texas Revolution
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The Texas Revolution began when colonists in the Mexican province of Texas rebelled against the increasingly centralized Mexican government. After a decade of political and cultural clashes between the Mexican government and the large population of American settlers in Texas, hostilities erupted in October 1835. Texians disagreed on whether the goal was independence or a return to the Mexican Constitution of 1824. While delegates at the Consultation debated the wars motives, Texians, 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 Texas army, in March 1836, a second political convention declared independence and appointed leadership for the new Republic of Texas. Determined to avenge Mexicos honor, President Antonio López de Santa Anna vowed to personally retake Texas and 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 force to San Antonio de Béxar. On March 31, Houston paused his men at Groces Landing on the Brazos River, becoming complacent and underestimating the strength of his foes, Santa Anna further subdivided his troops. On April 21, Houstons army staged an assault on Santa Anna. The Mexican troops were routed, and vengeful Texians executed many who tried to surrender. Santa Anna was taken hostage, in exchange for his life, 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, 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, on the east, Texas bordered Louisiana. Following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the United States also claimed the land west of the Sabine River, following the Mexican War of Independence, Texas became part of Mexico. Under the Constitution of 1824, which defined the country as a federal republic, Texas was granted only a single seat in the state legislature, which met in Saltillo, hundreds of miles away. Texas was very sparsely populated, with fewer than 3,500 residents, and only about 200 soldiers, in the hopes that an influx of settlers could control the Indian raids, 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
2.
San Antonio
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San Antonio, officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh-most populated city in the United States and the second-most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population of 1,409,019. It was the fastest growing of the top 10 largest cities in the United States from 2000 to 2010, the city straddles South Texas and Central Texas and is on the southwestern corner of an urban megaregion known as the Texas Triangle. San Antonio serves as the seat of Bexar County, recent annexations have extended the citys boundaries into Medina County and, though for only a very tiny area near the city of Garden Ridge, into Comal County. Due to its placement, the city has characteristics of other urban centers in which there are sparsely populated areas. San Antonio is the center of the San Antonio–New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area, growth along the Interstate 35 and Interstate 10 corridors to the north, west and east make it likely that the metropolitan area will continue to expand. San Antonio was named for Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is on June 13, the city contains five 18th-century Spanish frontier missions, including The Alamo and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, which were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2015. Other notable attractions include the River Walk, the Tower of the Americas, the Alamo Bowl, the city is home to the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and hosts the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, one of the largest such events in the country. The U. S. Kelly Air Force Base operated out of San Antonio until 2001, the remaining portions of the base were developed as Port San Antonio, an industrial/business park and aerospace complex. San Antonio is home to six Fortune 500 companies and the South Texas Medical Center, at the time of European encounter, Payaya Indians lived near the San Antonio River Valley in the San Pedro Springs area, calling the vicinity Yanaguana, meaning refreshing waters. In 1691, a group of Spanish Catholic explorers and missionaries came upon the river and Payaya settlement on June 13 and they named the place and river San Antonio in his honor. It was years before any Spanish settlement took place, father Antonio de Olivares visited the site in 1709, and he was determined to found a mission and civilian settlement there. He directed Martin de Alarcón, the governor of Coahuila and Texas, differences between Alarcón and Olivares resulted in delays, and construction did not start until 1718. The families who clustered around the presidio and mission formed the beginnings of Villa de Béjar, on May 1, the governor transferred ownership of the Mission San Antonio de Valero to Fray Antonio de Olivares. On May 5,1718 he commissioned the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar on the west side of the San Antonio River, one-fourth league from the mission. On February 14,1719, the Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo proposed to the king of Spain that 400 families be transported from the Canary Islands, Galicia, or Havana to populate the province of Texas. By June 1730,25 families had reached Cuba, and 10 families had sent to Veracruz before orders from Spain came to stop the re-settlement. Under the leadership of Juan Leal Goraz, the group marched overland from Veracruz to the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar, due to marriages along the way, the party now included 15 families, a total of 56 persons. They joined the community established in 1718
3.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
4.
Mexico
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Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States, to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea, and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
5.
Centralist Republic of Mexico
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The Centralist Republic of Mexico, officially the Mexican Republic was a unitary political regime established in Mexico on October 23,1835, after the repeal of the Constitution of 1824. Like Spanish moderados, the Mexican conservatives were inspired by the ideal of a centralized, the unitary regime was formally established on December 30,1836, with the enactment of the seven constitutional laws. The centralist Republic lasted for almost eleven years, on August 22,1846, acting President José Mariano Salas, issued the decree that restored the Constitution of 1824 and with this, the return to federalism. The Mexican Republic was governed by eleven presidents, none were to finish their term before the Republics dissolution. In 1835, the party established a Congress which was declared constitutional. On December 30,1836, the seven laws, which established the system of governmental. The constitutional laws of the Mexican Republic, better known as the seven laws were a series of laws of a nature which replaced the Constitution of 1824. The 15 articles of the first law granted citizenship to those who could read and had an income of 100 pesos, except for domestic workers. The second law allowed the President to close Congress and suppress the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, military officers were not allowed to assume this office. The 58 articles of the law established a bicameral Congress of Deputies and Senators. Deputies had four-year terms, Senators were elected for six years, the seventh law prohibited reverting to the pre-reform laws for six years. The seven laws were enacted by the interim President of Mexico, José Justo Corro, the revolt in Zacatecas was the first rebellion caused by attempts to centralize the Affairs of States. The rebellion began as a response to the order of the Government disintegrating bodies of militia, the rebellion was led by Governor Francisco García Salinas, who led an army of about four thousand men against the even federal Government. Antonio López de Santa Anna, President at the time, personally fought the revolt, the Governor García Salinas, was defeated in the battle of Zacatecas. As punishment to the rebelliousness of Zacatecas, Aguascalientes party was separated and declared on 23 May 1835 Federation territory, the Texan Revolution began in the battle of Gonzales on October 2,1835. The discontent of the American settlers began almost as soon as they settled in the State of Coahuila, as a result of the rebellion of 1827 Fredonia was decreed on April 6,1830 laws that increased the discontent of the colonists. In 1831, the Mexican authorities gave Gonzalez settlers a small cannon to protect themselves from frequent Comanche raids. Due to the order of the Government disintegrating bodies of militia, Colonel Domingo Ugartechea, Commander of Mexican troops in Texas, on 1 October, settlers voted to start a fight and refused to return the barrel
6.
Domingo Ugartechea
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Domingo de Ugartechea was a 19th-century Mexican Army officer for the Republic of Mexico. Domingo de Ugartechea served for José Joaquín de Arredondo in 1813, Ugartechea as well as Antonio López de Santa Anna were cadets during the suppression of the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition, and at the Battle of Medina. Although defeated by the Texans in the eleven-hour Battle of Velasco, although 200 men appeared on his rolls, only half that number were in active service. He also considered the Texans to be disrespectful toward the government and its leaders, writing in one letter, Nothing is heard, only last-minute concessions from political chief José Ángel Navarro prevented a clash between the militia and Ugartecheas soldiers. However, at the end of July Ugartechea expressed his opinion to his superior, Martín Perfecto de Cos, in this way Ugartechea both reflected and furthered the hardening of attitudes that brought about war. In dealing with the people of Texas, Ugartechea continued to issue reassurances about the potential for peace if his arrest orders were carried out, during the course of the summer the units under his command grew to nearly 500 men, including about 200 cavalry on active duty. In September, reports circulated that Ugartechea intended to execute these arrests himself, Ugartechea then urged peace but warned the Texans to surrender their arms or face a renewed advance from San Antonio. During the siege of Béxar, Stephen F. Austin conducted the Texan forces from the outskirts of the town, a unit of his cavalry engaged in reconnoitering around Cibolo Creek in mid-October. He then led a body of 275 infantry with two cannons from the town on the morning of October 28, precipitating the Battle of Concepción. Colonel Ugartechea commanded a unit of cavalry that slipped through the forces on November 12. On November 26 he guided a force of 454 conscripts and 173 veteran troops from Laredo to relieve the centralist army under Cos at Bexar. Their arrival on 8 December actually increased the burden of supply on the centralist army, Ugartechea returned to Laredo with Coss forces. He came back to Texas with the Mexican army in 1836 and he continued to support the centralist cause, helping defeat a federalist uprising at Saltillo, Coahuila, from his post in Monterrey, Nuevo León, in February 1839. He was killed in defense of Saltillo on May 24,1839, domingo de Ugartechea from the Handbook of Texas Online. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of the North Mexican States and Texas, paul D. Lack, The Texas Revolutionary Experience, A Political and Social History. Jeff Long, Duel of Eagles, The Mexican and U. S
7.
Stephen F. Austin
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Stephen Fuller Austin was an American empresario born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. Known as the Father of Texas, and the founder of Texas, he led the second, in addition, he worked with the Mexican government to support emigration from the United States. He was also granted Mexican nationality when settling Texas, Stephen F. Austin was born in the mining region of southwestern Virginia in what is known as Austinville today, some 256 miles southwest of Richmond, Virginia. He was the child of Moses Austin and Mary Brown Austin. On June 8,1798, when Stephen was four years old, his family moved west to the region of present-day Potosi. His father Moses Austin received a sitio from the Spanish government for the site of Mine à Breton. His great-great-grandfather Anthony Austin in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, England, he and his wife Esther were original settlers of Suffield, after graduating, Austin began studying to be a lawyer, at age 21, he served in the legislature of the Missouri Territory. As a member of the legislature, he was influential in obtaining a charter for the struggling Bank of St. Louis. Left penniless after the Panic of 1819, Austin decided to move south to the new Arkansas Territory and he acquired property on the south bank of the Arkansas River, in the area that would later become Little Rock. After purchasing the property, he learned the area was being considered as the location for the new territorial capital and he made his home in Hempstead County, Arkansas. Two weeks before the first Arkansas territorial elections in 1820, Austin declared his candidacy for Congress and his late entrance meant his name did not appear on the ballot in two of the five counties, but he still placed second in the field of six candidates. He was later appointed as a judge for the First Circuit Court, over the next few months, Little Rock did become the territorial capital, but Austins claim to land in the area was contested, and the courts ruled against him. The Territorial Assembly reorganized the government and abolished Austins judgeship, Austin left the territory, moving to Louisiana. He reached New Orleans in November 1820, where he met and stayed with New Orleans lawyer and former Kentucky congressman Joseph H. Hawkins and made arrangement to study law. During Austins time in Arkansas, his father traveled to Spanish Texas, Moses Austin caught pneumonia soon after returning to Missouri. He left his empresario grant to his son Stephen, Austin boarded the steamer Beaver and departed to New Orleans to meet Spanish officials led by Erasmo Seguín. He was at Natchitoches, Louisiana, on June 31,1821 and this news has effected me very much, he was one of the most feeling and affectionate Fathers that ever lived. His faults I now say, and always have, were not of the heart, at the age of 24, Austin led his party to travel 300 miles in four weeks to San Antonio with the intent of reauthorizing his fathers grant, arriving on August 12
8.
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
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Thomas Jefferson Rusk was an early political and military leader of the Republic of Texas, serving as its first Secretary of War as well as a general at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was later a US politician and served as a Senator from Texas from 1846 until his suicide and he served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate in 1857. Rusk was born in Pendleton, South Carolina, to John Rusk, a stonemason, after being admitted to the bar in 1825, Rusk began his law practice in Clarkesville, Georgia. In 1827, he married Mary F. Cleveland, the daughter of general John Cleveland, Rusk became a business partner of his father-in-law after the marriage. He lived in the region of Georgia and made sizable mining investments. In 1834, however, the managers of the company in which he had invested embezzled all the funds, Rusk pursued them to Nacogdoches, but never recovered the money. Rusk decided to stay in Texas and became a citizen of Mexico in 1835, applied for a headright in David G. Burnets colony, after hearing Nacogdoches citizens denounce the despotism of Mexico, Rusk became involved in the independence movement. He organized volunteers from Nacogdoches and hastened to Gonzales, where his men joined Stephen F. Austins army in preventing the Mexicans from seizing their cannon and they proceeded to San Antonio, but Rusk left the army before the Siege of Bexar. The provisional government named him general of the army in the Nacogdoches District. The ad interim government, installed on March 17,1836, when informed that the Alamo had fallen and the Mexican army was moving eastward, Rusk helped President David Burnet to move the government to Harrisburg. After the Mexicans killed all James W. Fannins Texan army at Goliad, Rusk participated with bravery in the defeat of Santa Anna on April 21,1836, in the Battle of San Jacinto. From May to October 1836, he served as commander-in-chief of the Army of the Republic of Texas and he followed the Mexican troops westward as they retired from Texas to be certain of their retreat beyond the Rio Grande. Then he conducted a funeral for the troops killed at Goliad. In the first regularly elected administration, President Houston appointed Rusk secretary of war, at the insistence of friends, however, he represented Nacogdoches in the Second Congress of the Republic. He joined Milam Lodge No.40 in Nacogdoches in 1837 and was a member of the Grand Lodge of Texas. As chairman of the House Military Committee in 1837, he sponsored a bill that passed over Houstons veto. In the summer of 1838, he commanded the Nacogdoches militia, in October, when Mexican agents were discovered among the Kickapoo Indians, Rusk defeated those Indians and their Indian allies. He captured marauding Caddo Indians in November 1838 and risked an international incident when he invaded United States territory to them to the Indian agent in Shreveport
9.
Edward Burleson
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Edward Burleson was the third Vice President of the Republic of Texas. After Texas was annexed to the United States, he served in the State Senate, prior to his government service in Texas, he was a commander of Texian forces during the Texas Revolution. Before moving to Texas, he served in militias in Alabama, Missouri, and Tennessee, Burleson was the soldier that was given Santa Annas sword when he surrendered. Known as the Old Indian Fighter, Burleson was a veteran of the War of 1812 and had served in the Missouri, in October 1835 he was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Texas army and served under Stephen F. Austin in the opening stages of the Texas Revolution. During the Siege of Béxar, Burleson served as the second-in-command to Gen, in March, he was appointed a Colonel of Texas Regulars and led the First Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Runaway Scrape and at the Battle of San Jacinto. Burleson continued to serve in the Republic of Texas army after the war and was promoted brigadier general of Texas Regulars. He served as Vice-President of the Republic of Texas in President Sam Houstons second term from 1841 to 1844 and he was a Presidential candidate in the Texas Presidential election of 1844, but he was defeated by Anson Jones. Although he served under Sam Houston, the two despised each other, Burleson was also involved in the Mexican-American War, after Texas was annexed by the U. S. The location of his grave is in later became the Texas State Cemetery. Edward was the son of James B, Burleson, a company captain in the volunteer American army in the War of 1812 and later a participant in the Texas Revolution, as a Captain under his sons command. Edward learned of life in the field as an aide to his father, aaron Burleson, his grandfather, had fought as a minuteman in the Revolutionary War. Edward married Sarah Griffen Owen on 25 April 1816, in Madison County, Burleson County, Texas, was named after him. Edward Burleson from the Handbook of Texas Online Entry for Edward Burleson from the Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas published 1880, hosted by the Portal to Texas History. Sketch of Edward Burleson from A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to A. D.1879, Edward Burleson at Find a Grave
10.
Benjamin Milam
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Benjamin Rush Ben Milam was a leading figure in the Texas Revolution. Milam County, Texas was named in his honor, as were the Ben Milam Hotel in Houston, Milam Street in Houston, the town of Milam, Texas was also named in his honor. Milam was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, on October 20,1788 and he was the fifth of the six children of Moses Milam and his wife, Elizabeth Pattie Boyd. He enlisted as a private in the 8th Regiment of the Kentucky Militia and he served in the War of 1812. In 1818, after learning of the opportunities with the Indians of the upper Red River. While there, he met David G. Burnet, who at the time was living with the Indians in an attempt to get over his tuberculosis. In New Orleans in 1819, Milam met José Félix Trespalacios and James Long, Milam decided to join the pair in their efforts for Mexican independence. While Long traveled to La Bahía, Milam and Trespalacios traveled to Veracruz, both parties met a hostile reception, and Milam and Trespalcios were imprisoned. While in prison, Long was mysteriously shot and killed by a guard and this incident drove Milam and some of his friends to plot to kill Trespalcios, and when that plot was discovered, Milam was again imprisoned. Milam and his friends were sent to Mexico City, where they were held until the fall of 1822, commissioner of Observation to Mexico secured their freedom and, with the exception of Milam, all were returned to the United States on the sloop-of-war USS John Adams. By the spring of 1824, Milam had returned to Mexico, which was adopting the new 1824 Constitution of Mexico, Trespalacios and Milam reconciled, and he was granted Mexican citizenship and commissioned as a colonel in the Mexican Army. In 1825 Milam and Arthur G. Wavell, an English general in the Mexican Army, the two also obtained empresario grants in Texas. In 1829, Milam intended to organize a new mining company in partnership with David G. Burnet, but their efforts failed due to a lack of funds. In 1835, Milam went to Monclova, the capital of Coahuila y Texas to urge the new governor, Agustín Viesca, however, before Milam could leave the city, word arrived that Antonio López de Santa Anna had overthrown the representative government of Mexico and established a dictatorship. Governor Viesca fled with Milam, but both were captured and imprisoned at Monterrey, Milam eventually escaped, thanks to sympathetic jailers who gave him a horse and let him escape. By chance, he encountered a company of Texas soldiers commanded by George Collinsworth, Milam joined them, helping to capture Goliad on October 10. He wrote, I assisted Texas to gain her independence, I have endured heat and cold, hunger and thirst, I have borne losses and suffered persecutions, I have been a tenant of every prison between this and Mexico. But the events of this night have compensated me for all my losses and he then marched with them to join the main army in capturing San Antonio
11.
Frank W. Johnson
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Francis White Frank Johnson was a co-commander of the Texian Army from December 1835 through February 1836, during the Texas Revolution. Johnson arrived in Texas in 1826 and worked as a surveyor for several empresarios, one of his first activities was to plot the new town of Harrisburg. Johnson unsuccessfully tried to prevent the Fredonian Rebellion and served as a delegate to the Convention of 1832, during the early part of the Texas Revolution, Johnson served as the adjutant and inspector general of the Texian Army. During the final assault of the siege of Bexar, Johnson led one of the two divisions which fought Mexican troops and was a member of the committee that negotiated the Mexican surrender, following the battle, Johnson became commander of the volunteers. In late December 1835, the Texas provisional government named him co-commander of an expedition to invade Mexico. By late January, the government had named several others as heads of the Texian Army, and there was confusion in the army. Johnson and his men were surprised at the Battle of San Patricio on February 27,1836, most of his men were killed, but Johnson escaped. During the next three decades, Johnson alternately lived in Texas or traveled the United States and he settled permanently near Austin, Texas in 1871 and spent the rest of his life researching Texas history. In 1914, thirty years after Johnsons death, historian Eugene C. Barker edited Johnsons manuscripts into a book, A History of Texas, francis White Johnson was born October 3,1799 near Leesburg, Virginia. In 1812, he moved with his parents Henson and Jane Johnson to Tennessee, although Johnson was trained as a surveyor, he returned down a job that would have sent him to what is now Alabama. Instead, he lived in places in Illinois and Missouri, supporting himself by teaching, serving as constable. He also briefly ran a store and then a lumber mill. A doctor advised him to find a more healthful environment, so he and his cousin, White, immigrated to Texas, then a part of Mexico. There, Johnson put his education to use. In 1826 he plotted the new town of Harrisburg and he quickly earned the trust of empresario Stephen F. Austin. When another empresario, Haden Edwards, showed signs of revolting against the Mexican government, Austin asked Johnson and they were unsuccessful, and Edwards soon launched the Fredonian Rebellion, which was quickly put down. By 1832, Johnson had become the surveyor-general of Austins colony, in late May, Johnson became one of the instigators of the first of the Anahuac Disturbances. He joined a group of citizens protesting military commander Juan Davis Bradburns arrest of William Barret Travis, the settlers were outraged that the arrests did not require a warrant, a statement of charges, or trial by jury
12.
Battle of Gonzales
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The Battle of Gonzales was the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution. It was fought near Gonzales, Texas, on October 2,1835, in 1831, Mexican authorities gave the settlers of Gonzales a small cannon to help protect them from frequent Comanche raids. Over the next four years, the situation in Mexico deteriorated. When the initial request was refused, Ugartechea sent 100 dragoons to retrieve the cannon, the soldiers neared Gonzales on September 29, but the colonists used a variety of excuses to keep them from the town, while secretly sending messengers to request assistance from nearby communities. Within two days, up to 140 Texians gathered in Gonzales, all determined not to give up the cannon, on October 1, settlers voted to initiate a fight. Mexican soldiers opened fire as Texians approached their camp in the hours of October 2. After several hours of firing, the Mexican soldiers withdrew. Although the skirmish had little significance, it marked a clear break between the colonists and the Mexican government and is considered to have been the start of the Texas Revolution. News of the spread throughout the United States, where it was often referred to as the Lexington of Texas. It may have buried and rediscovered in 1936, or it may have been seized by Mexican troops after the Battle of the Alamo. The Mexican Constitution of 1824 liberalized the countrys immigration policies, allowing foreigners to settle in regions such as Mexican Texas. In 1825, American Green DeWitt received permission to settle 400 families in Texas near the confluence of the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers. The DeWitt Colony quickly became a favorite raiding target of local Karankawa, Tonkawa, and Comanche tribes, the town was rebuilt the following year, after DeWitt negotiated peace treaties with the Karankawa and Tonkawa. The Comanche continued to stage raids of the settlement over the next few years. During the 1830s, the Mexican government wavered between federalist and centralist policies, as the pendulum swung sharply towards centralism in 1835, several Mexican states revolted. In June, a group of settlers in Texas used the political unrest as an excuse to rebel against customs duties. The federal government responded by sending troops to Texas. Some communities supported the rebellion for a variety of reasons, others, including Gonzales, declared their loyalty to Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Annas centralist government
13.
Battle of Goliad
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The Battle of Goliad was the second skirmish of the Texas Revolution. In the early-morning hours of October 9,1835, Texas settlers attacked the Mexican Army soldiers garrisoned at Presidio La Bahía, La Bahía lay halfway between the only other large garrison of Mexican soldiers and the then-important Texas port of Copano. In September, Texians began plotting to kidnap Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos, the plan was initially dismissed by the central committee coordinating the rebellion. However, within days of the Texian victory at the Battle of Gonzales, Captain George Collinsworth, the Texians soon learned that Cos and his men had already departed for San Antonio de Béxar but continued their march. The garrison at La Bahía was understaffed and could not mount a defense of the forts perimeter. Using axes borrowed from townspeople, Texians were able to chop through a door, after a 30-minute battle, the Mexican garrison, under Colonel Juan López Sandoval, surrendered. One Mexican soldier had killed and three others wounded, while only one Texian had been injured. The victory isolated Coss men in Béxar from the coast, forcing them to rely on an overland march to request or receive reinforcements or supplies. In 1835, Mexico operated two major garrisons within its Texas territory, the Alamo at San Antonio de Béxar and Presidio La Bahía near Goliad, Béxar was the political center of Texas, and Goliad laid halfway between it and the major Texas port of Copano. Military and civilian supplies and military personnel were sent by sea from the Mexican interior to Copano Bay. In early 1835, as the Mexican government transitioned from a federalist model to centralism, wary colonists in Texas began forming Committees of Correspondence, a central committee in San Felipe de Austin coordinated their activities. The Texians staged a revolt against customs duties in June. In July, Colonel Nicolas Condelle, led 200 men to reinforce Presidio La Bahía, the following month, a contingent of soldiers arrived in Béxar with Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea. Cos landed at Copano Bay on September 20 with approximately 500 soldiers, Cos briefly toured the port at Copano Bay and the small garrison at nearby Refugio and left small groups of soldiers to reinforce each of these locations. The main body of soldiers arrived in Goliad on October 2, as soon as Coss warships were spotted approaching Copano Bay, Refugio colonists sent messengers to San Felipe de Austin and Matagorda to inform the other settlements of Coss imminent arrival. Concerned that a lack of artillery would make the presidio at Goliad impossible to capture, colonists eagerly rushed to assist, and on October 2 the Battle of Gonzales officially opened the Texas Revolution. After learning of the Texian victory, Cos made haste for Béxar and he left with the bulk of his soldiers on October 5, but because he was unable to find adequate transportation most of his supplies remained at La Bahía. On October 6, members of the Texian militia in Matagorda convened at the home of Sylvanus Hatch, as their first order of business they elected George Collinsworth as their captain, Dr. William Carleton was then named first lieutenant and D. C
14.
Grass Fight
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The Grass Fight was a small battle during the Texas Revolution, fought between the Mexican Army and the Texan Army. The battle took place on November 26,1835, just south of San Antonio de Béxar in the Mexican region of Texas. The Texas Revolution had officially begun on October 2 and by the end of the month the Texans had initiated a siege of Béxar, bored with the inactivity, many of the Texan soldiers returned home, a smaller number of adventurers from the United States arrived to replace them. After the Texan Army rejected commander-in-chief Stephen F. Austins call to launch an assault on Béxar on November 22, the men elected Edward Burleson their new commander-in-chief. On November 26, Texan scout Deaf Smith brought news of a Mexican pack train, accompanied by 50–100 soldiers, the Texan camp was convinced that the pack train carried silver to pay the Mexican garrison and purchase supplies. Burleson ordered Colonel James Bowie to take 45–50 cavalry and intercept the train, on seeing the battle commence, Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos sent reinforcements from Bexar. The Texians repulsed several attacks by Mexican soldiers, who retreated to Bexar. When the Texians examined the abandoned pack train they discovered that, instead of silver, four Texans were injured, and historian Alwyn Barr states that three Mexican soldiers were killed, although Bowie and Burleson initially claimed the number was much higher. On October 2,1835, Texas colonists attacked a Mexican force at the Battle of Gonzales, after the battle ended, disgruntled colonists continued to assemble in Gonzales, eager to put a decisive end to Mexican control over the area. On October 11 the disorganized volunteers elected Stephen F. Austin, in late October the Texians initiated a siege of Béxar. At 10,00 a. m. on November 26, Texian scout Erastus Deaf Smith rode into camp to report that a train of mules and horses. For several days, the Texians had heard rumors that the Mexican Army was expecting a shipment of silver and gold to pay the troops, the Texians had been fighting without pay, and most wanted to charge from camp and loot the expected riches. Burleson calmed the crowd and then ordered Colonel James Bowie to take 35–40 mounted men to investigate, after Bowie recruited the armys 12 best marksmen for the expedition, there was little doubt that he intended to find a reason to attack. Burleson managed to stop the army from following by sending Colonel William Jack with 100 infantry to support Bowies men. About 1 mile from Béxar, Bowie and his men spotted the Mexican soldiers crossing a dry ravine and this was likely near the confluence of the Alazán, Apache, and San Pedro Creeks. Bowies men charged the Mexican party, scattering the mules, the mounted forces briefly exchanged fire, and then both sides dismounted and took cover in dry streambeds. The Mexican forces counterattacked but were repulsed, in Béxar, General Cos saw the battle begin and sent 50 infantry and 1 cannon to provide cover so the cavalry could retreat to town. The Texian infantry also heard the shots and rushed toward the battle
15.
Battle of San Patricio
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The Battle of San Patricio was fought on February 27,1836 between Mexican troops and rebellious immigrants to the Mexican province of Texas, known as Texians. The battle marked the start of the Goliad Campaign, the Mexican offensive to retake the Texas Gulf Coast and it took place in and around San Patricio. By the end of 1835, all Mexican troops had driven from Texas. Frank W. Johnson, the commander of the army in Texas. After spending several weeks gathering horses for the Matamoros Expedition, in late February Johnson, Johnson assigned some of his troops to a ranch 4 miles outside town to guard the horses, while the rest of his men garrisoned in three different locations in town. Unbeknownst to the Texians, on February 18, Mexican General José de Urrea led a contingent of troops from Matamoros into Texas. Their goal was to neutralize the Texian soldiers gathered along the coast, Urreas men easily followed the trail left by Johnsons herd of horses. Mexican soldiers surprised the sleeping Texians in San Patricio in the hours of February 27. After a fifteen-minute battle, all but six Texians had been killed or imprisoned, one Mexican soldier was killed and four injured. Under President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government began to shift away from a federalist model to a centralized government. His increasingly dictatorial policies, including the revocation of the Constitution of 1824 in early 1835, the Mexican army quickly put down revolts in the Mexican interior, including a brutal suppression of militias in Oaxaca and Zacatecas. Unrest continued in the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas, the area that bordered the United States, known as Texas, was populated primarily by English-speaking settlers, known as Texians. In October, the Texians took up arms in what known as the Texas Revolution. The following month, Texians declared themselves part of an independent from Coahuila. By the end of the year, all Mexican troops had expelled from Texas. Leading federalists in Mexico advocated a plan to attack centralist troops in Matamoros, members of the General Council, the interim Texas governing body, were enamored with the idea of a Matamoros Expedition. They hoped it would inspire other federalist states to revolt and keep the bored Texian troops from deserting the army, most importantly, it would move the war zone outside Texas. Determined to quash the rebellion, Santa Anna began assembling a force to restore order
16.
Battle of Agua Dulce
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The Battle of Agua Dulce Creek was a skirmish during the Texas Revolution between Mexican troops and rebellious immigrants to the Mexican province of Texas, known as Texians. As part of the Goliad Campaign to retake the Texas Gulf Coast, the skirmish began approximately 26 miles south of San Patricio, in territory belonging to the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. When Mexico transitioned to a government in 1835, supporters of federalism took up arms. Colonists in Texas, primarily immigrants from the United States, revolted in October 1835, unknown to the Texians, on February 18, Mexican General José de Urrea led a large contingent of troops from Matamoros into Texas to neutralize the rebels gathered along the coast. His troops easily defeated Johnsons small force on February 26, several days later, informants revealed Grants location, and on the morning of March 2, Urrea sent 150 troops to ambush the rebels. After a brief battle, the body of the Texian. Grant and two escaped the battle and were pursued for 7 miles. Grant was killed, as were 11 men under his command, six Texians were taken prisoner, contrary to Santa Annas orders, Urrea did not execute them, but instead sent them to a jail in Matamoros. An additional six Texians escaped, five of them died in the Goliad massacre. Under President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government began to shift away from a federalist model to a centralized government. His increasingly dictatorial policies, including the revocation of the Constitution of 1824 in early 1835, the Mexican Army quickly put down revolts throughout the countrys interior, including a brutal suppression of militias in Oaxaca and Zacatecas. Unrest continued in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas, the area that bordered the United States, known as Texas, was populated primarily by English-speaking settlers, known as Texians. In October, the Texians took up arms in what known as the Texas Revolution. The following month, Texians declared themselves part of a Mexican state independent from Coahuila, by the end of the year, all Mexican troops had been expelled from Texas. Leading federalists in Mexico advocated a plan to attack centralist troops in Matamoros, members of the General Council, the interim Texas governing body, were enamored with the idea of a Matamoros Expedition. They hoped it would inspire other federalist states to revolt and keep the bored Texian troops from deserting the army, most importantly, it would move the war zone outside Texas. Historian Stuart Reid posits that Grant was a British secret agent, britain did not welcome the idea of an independent Texas, and the invasion of Matamoros was a way to tie Texas more tightly to Mexico. Determined to quash the rebellion, Santa Anna began assembling a force to restore order
17.
Battle of the Alamo
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The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar, Santa Annas cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians—both Texas settlers and adventurers from the United States—to join the Texian Army. Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21,1836, several months previously, Texians had driven all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas. About 100 Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo, the Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas, for the next 10 days, the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies. In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo, after repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian soldiers withdrew into interior buildings, Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape. Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered, if so, most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texians died, while most historians of the Alamo agree that around 600 Mexicans were killed or wounded. Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat, within Mexico, the battle has often been overshadowed by events from the Mexican–American War of 1846–48. In 19th-century Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became known as a battle rather than a former mission. The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the part of the 20th century. The Alamo is now the most popular tourist site in Texas, the Alamo has been the subject of numerous non-fiction works beginning in 1843. Under President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government began to shift away from a federalist model, the increasingly dictatorial policies, including the revocation of the Constitution of 1824 in early 1835, incited many federalists to revolt. The border region of Mexican Texas was largely populated by immigrants from the United States and these people were accustomed to a federalist government and to extensive individual rights, and they were quite vocal in their displeasure at Mexicos shift towards centralism. In October, Texians engaged Mexican troops in the first official battle of the Texas Revolution, determined to quell the rebellion, Santa Anna began assembling a large force, the Army of Operations in Texas, to restore order. Most of his soldiers were raw recruits, and a number had been forcibly conscripted. The Texians systematically defeated the Mexican troops already stationed in Texas, the last group of Mexican soldiers in the region—commanded by Santa Annas brother-in-law, General Martín Perfecto de Cos—surrendered on December 9 following the siege of Béxar
18.
Battle of Refugio
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The Battle of Refugio was fought from March 12–15,1836, near Refugio, Texas. Mexican General José Urrea and 1,500 Centralista soldiers fought against Amon B. King and his 28 American volunteers and Lieutenant Colonel William Ward, the battle, a part of the Goliad Campaign of the Texas Revolution, resulted in a Mexican victory and splintered Texan resistance. Under President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government began to shift away from a federalist model to a centralized government. His increasingly dictatorial policies, including the revocation of the Constitution of 1824 in early 1835, the Mexican army quickly put down revolts in the Mexican interior, including a brutal suppression of militias in Oaxaca and Zacatecas. Unrest continued in the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas, the area that bordered the United States, known as Texas, was populated primarily by English-speaking settlers, known as Texians. In October, the Texians took up arms in what known as the Texas Revolution. The following month, Texians declared themselves part of an independent from Coahuila. By the end of the year, all Mexican troops had expelled from Texas. Determined to quash the rebellion, Santa Anna began assembling a force to restore order. In the early century, captured pirates were executed immediately. The resolution thus gave the Mexican Army permission to take no prisoners in the war against the Texians, Santa Anna personally led the bulk of his troops inland to San Antonio de Béxar and ordered General José de Urrea to lead 550 troops along the Atascocita Road toward Goliad. Urreas efforts to quell the rebellion along the Texas Gulf Coast have become known as the Goliad Campaign, Colonel James Fannin and his men had improved the fortifications at the old Presidio La Bahía and renamed it Fort Defiance. On March 7, Lewis Ayers brought Fannin news from Refugio, the week before, the Victoriana Guardes, a group of Tejano who supported centralism, had ransacked the town. After destroying much property, the Guardes, under the command of Carlos de la Garza, Fannin agreed to send troops to evacuate the settlers as soon as wagons were available to assist with the transport. Three days later, the armys wagons returned from Port Lavaca with supplies for the garrison, as soon as they were unloaded, Fannin called for volunteers to go to Refugio. On March 11, Captain Amon B. King led 28 men and they arrived that evening and camped for the night at Mission Nuestra Senora del Refugio, where some of the Anglo families had taken refuge. The following morning, King led his troops to the ranch of Esteban Lopez, King arrested six Tejanos he had heard were ransacking abandoned homes. After he learned that other Tejanos were plundering homes about 8 miles south and they rode into an ambush staged by a group of de la Garzas men and Karankawa Indians
19.
Battle of Coleto
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Simultaneously, Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led a larger force into the Texian interior, where on March 6 his troops won the Battle of the Alamo. After learning of the Alamos defeat, Texian general Sam Houston ordered Fannin to retreat from Goliad, on March 19, Fannin led his men on a leisurely retreat from Goliad. Mexican troops surrounded the Texians later in the day, before Fannin could reach the shelter of a grove of timber at Coleto Creek, Texians formed a square in the middle of the prairie and attempted to defend their position. Although Mexican troops launched three attacks against the square, they could not penetrate the Texian position. As night fell, Mexican sharpshooters were able to wound and kill more Texians, with little water to give to the wounded or to cool their artillery, the Texians felt they were unable to withstand further fighting. On the morning of March 20, the Texians surrendered, Urrea attempted to secure honorable terms for his Texian prisoners. However, Santa Anna had received authorization from the Mexican Congress to treat all captured Texian troops as pirates rather than prisoners-of-war, against Urreas pleadings, all of the Texians were sentenced to death. A few Texians escaped the Goliad Massacre on March 27, colonel James Fannin was the commander of the Texian troops at Fort Defiance in late 1835 and early 1836. After the Alamo fell to Santa Annas forces the Texians received orders from General Sam Houston to fall back to Victoria, Fannin therefore abandoned the fort but proceeded without adequate supplies and without haste on his retreat. By 09,00 on March 19 they began their retreat from Goliad, carts loaded with heavy equipment were being pulled by hungry and tired oxen. Urrea did not realize the Texians had left until 11,00, shackelford would state that Fannin argued that the Mexican army against them was poor, and that Urrea would not follow them. In an effort to catch Fannins troops Urrea left his artillery and he began his pursuit with, according to Mexican sources,80 cavalrymen and 360 infantrymen. Mexican mounted scouts determined the location of the Texians, and reported the size of the force, as a result, he ordered 100 of his soldiers to go back to Goliad to help secure Presidio La Bahía. He also ordered the artillery he left in Goliad to be brought to him, hortons 30 cavalrymen were serving as advance guards, and were positioned to cover all sides of the Texian force. The rear guard was not alert, and did not detect the Mexican cavalry that was approaching the Texians, shortly after they resumed their march another Texian cart broke down, and its cargo had to be transferred to another one, delaying the retreat again. Shortly after, Fannin had sent Horton to scout the Coleto Creek timber that was in sight, as the Texians tried to get to high ground 400 to 500 yards away from the position they were in when the cavalry overtook them, the ammunition cart broke. The Texian soldiers formed a square against the Mexicans, the high grass of the prairie meant the Texian view of the Mexicans was impaired. Each Texian soldier received three to four muskets, the square was three ranks deep
20.
Battle of San Jacinto
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The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21,1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Annas Mexican army in a fight that lasted just 18 minutes, Santa Anna, the President of Mexico, was captured and surrendered the following day and held as a prisoner of war. Three weeks later, he signed the treaty that dictated that the Mexican army leave the region. These treaties did not specifically recognize Texas as a sovereign nation, Sam Houston became a national celebrity, and the Texans rallying cries from events of the war, Remember the Alamo. and Remember Goliad. became etched into Texan history and legend. General Antonio López de Santa Anna was a proponent of governmental federalism when he helped oust Mexican president Anastasio Bustamante in December 1832. Upon his election as president in April 1833, Santa Anna switched his political ideology, while in Mexico City awaiting a meeting with Santa Anna, Texian empresario Stephen F. Austin wrote to the Béxar ayuntamiento urging a break-away state. In response, the Mexican government kept him imprisoned for most of 1834, Colonel Juan Almonte was appointed Director of Colonization in Texas, ostensibly to ease relations with the colonists and mitigate their anxieties about Austins imprisonment. He delivered promises of self-governance, and conveyed regrets that the Mexican congress deemed it impossible for Texas to be a separate state. In consolidating his power base, Santa Anna installed General Martín Perfecto de Cos as the military authority over Texas in 1835. Cos established headquarters in San Antonio on October 9, triggering what became known as the Siege of Béxar, after two months of trying to repel the Texian forces, Cos raised a white flag on December 9, and signed surrender terms two days later. The surrender of Cos effectively removed the occupying Mexican army from Texas, many believed the war was over, and volunteers began returning home. In compliance with orders from Santa Anna, Mexicos Minister of War José María Tornel issued his December 30 Circular No,5, often referred to as the Tornel Decree, aimed at dealing with United States intervention in the uprising in Texas. It declared that foreigners who entered Mexico for the purpose of joining the rebellion were to be treated as pirates, to be put to death if captured. In adding since they are not subjects of any nation at war with the republic nor do they militate under any recognized flag, the Mexican Army of Operations numbered 6,019 soldiers and was spread out over 300 miles on its march to Béxar. General Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma was put in command of the Vanguard of the Advance that crossed into Texas. Santa Anna and his aide-de-camp Almonte forded the Rio Grande at Guerrero, Coahuila on February 16,1836, Béxar was captured on February 23 and when the assault commenced, attempts at negotiation for surrender were initiated from inside the fortress. Travis sent Albert Martin to request a meeting with Almonte, who replied that he did not have the authority to speak for Santa Anna. Bowie dispatched Green B. Jameson with a letter, translated into Spanish by Juan Seguín, requesting a meeting with Santa Anna, Santa Anna did, however, extend an offer of amnesty to Tejanos inside the fortress
21.
Gonzales, Texas
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Gonzales is a city in Gonzales County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,237 at the 2010 census, Gonzales is one of the earliest Anglo-American settlements in Texas, the first west of the Colorado River. It was established by Empresario Green DeWitt as the capital of his colony in August 1825, DeWitt named the community for Rafael Gonzáles, governor of Coahuila y Tejas. Informally, the community was known as the DeWitt Colony, the original settlement was abandoned in 1826 after two Indian attacks. It was rebuilt nearby in 1827, the town remains today as it was originally surveyed. Gonzales is referred to as the Lexington of Texas because it was the site of the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution, in 1831, the Mexican government had granted Green DeWitts request for a small cannon for protection against Indian attacks. At the outbreak of disputes between the Anglo settlers and the Mexican authorities in 1835, a contingent of more than 100 Mexican soldiers was sent from San Antonio to retrieve the cannon. When the soldiers arrived, there were only 18 men in Gonzales, but they refused to return the cannon, Texians under the command of John Henry Moore confronted them. Sarah DeWitt and her daughter sewed a flag bearing the likeness of the cannon and the words Come and Take It, the Texians successfully resisted the Mexican troops in what became known as the Battle of Gonzales. Gonzales later contributed 32 men from the Gonzales Ranging Company to the defense of the Alamo and it was the only city to send aid to the Alamo, and all 32 men lost their lives defending the site. It was to Gonzales that Susanna Dickinson, widow of one of the Alamo defenders, and Joe, travis, fled with news of the Alamo massacre. General Sam Houston was there organizing the Texas forces and he anticipated the town would be the next target of General Antonio López de Santa Annas Mexican army. Gathering the Texians at Peach Creek east of town, under the Sam Houston Oak, Houston ordered Gonzales burned and he began a retreat toward the U. S. border. The widows and orphans of Gonzales and their neighbors were forced to flee, the town was derelict immediately after the Texas Revolution, but was eventually rebuilt on the original site in the early 1840s. By 1850, the town had a population of 300, the population rose to 1,703 by time of the 1860 census,2,900 by the mid-1880s, and 4,297 in 1900. Part of the growth of the late 19th century can be attributed to the arrival of immigrants, among them Jews, many of whom became peddlers. Gonzales is located in central Gonzales County at 29°30′32″N 97°26′52″W, on the northeast side of the Guadalupe River, U. S. Route 183 passes through the west side of the city, leading south 32 miles to Cuero and northwest 18 miles to Luling. U. S. Route 90 Alternate passes through the side of the city, leading east 18 miles to Shiner
22.
Texian Army
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The Texian Army, also known as the Army of the People, was a military organization consisting of volunteer and regular soldiers who fought against the Mexican army during the Texas Revolution. Approximately 3,700 men joined the army between October 2,1835, during the Battle of Gonzales through the end of the war on April 21,1836, after gaining independence the Texian Army would be officially known as the Army of the Republic of Texas. In 1846, after the annexation of Texas by the United States, Sam Houston became the new commander in chief of the new Texas army. The structure of the Texian Army was relatively fluid, originally, it was composed entirely of volunteers or militia, who came and went at will. To become an officer, a man must simply have had money or charisma to convince others to serve under him. In the first half of the Texas Revolution, many of the units, among the units the volunteers populated were the Kentucky Mustangs, Alabama Red Rovers, Tennessee Mounted Volunteers, Mobile Greys, and New Orleans Greys. By the end of the war, the army had grown to three distinct divisions. Members of the army enlisted for two years and were subject to army discipline and the armys chain of command. A squad of permanent volunteers enlisted for the duration of the war and this group was permitted to elect its own officers, outside the oversight of the army commander-in-chief. Most of the men who joined the permanent volunteers had settled in Texas before the war had begun, the last unit was the volunteer auxiliary corps, comprising primarily recent arrivals from the United States who officially enlisted for a six-month term. On November 24,1835, the Texas provisional government authorized the creation of ranging companies of rifleman, robert Three-legged Willie Williamson was asked to raise three of these companies with 56 men each. Rangers were to be paid $1.25 per day, when Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, the former Spanish province of Texas became part of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. For the first time, the government of Texas encouraged immigrants from the United States to settle its lands, by 1834, an estimated 30,000 English speakers lived in Texas, compared to only 7,800 of Spanish heritage. The bankrupt Mexican government was unable to offer Texas much military support, many of the settlements had created small militias to protect themselves against raids by Indian tribes. Under President Antonio López de Santa Anna the government of Mexico began to drift towards a more centralist form, in 1835 Santa Anna revoked the Constitution of 1824 and began reigning as a dictator. In various parts of the country federalists revolted, when the Mexican troops, under Lieutenant Francisco de Castañeda reached Gonzales, the head of the local militia, Captain Albert Martin, convinced the troops to wait for several days. Martin then sent messengers to other English-speaking settlements, asking for reinforcements to protect the cannon. Within several days militias from Fayette County and Columbus arrived, in Gonzales, the forces combined to form a single force
23.
Mexican Texas
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Tejas, in English history books usually referred to as Mexican Texas, was a province of Mexico between 1821 and 1836. Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821 in its war of independence, initially, Mexican Texas operated very similarly to Spanish Texas. However, the 1824 Constitution of Mexico set up a federal structure, the settler population was overwhelmingly outnumbered by the indigenous tribes. To increase settler numbers, Mexico enacted the General Colonization Law in 1824, the first empresarial grant had been made under Spanish control to Stephen F. Austin, whose settlers, known as the Old Three Hundred, settled along the Brazos River in 1822. The grant was ratified by the Mexican government. Twenty-three other empresarios brought settlers to the state, the majority from the United States of America, while others came from Mexico, after concerns over attitudes of US citizens in Tejas, the Law of April 6,1830 outlawed further immigration of US citizens to Texas. Several new presidios were established in the region to monitor immigration, angry colonists held a convention in 1832 to demand that US citizens be allowed to immigrate. A convention the following year proposed that Texas become a separate Mexican state, the first violent incident occurred on June 26,1832, at the battle of Velasco. On March 2,1836, Texians declared their independence from Mexico, the Texas Revolution ended on April 21,1836, when Santa Anna was taken prisoner following the Battle of San Jacinto. Although Texas then governed itself as the Republic of Texas, Mexico refused to recognize its independence, in 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain after the brutal and destructive Mexican War for Independence. Its territory included much of the former New Spain, including Spanish Texas, the victorious rebels issued a provisional constitution, the Plan de Iguala. This plan reaffirmed many of the ideals of the Spanish Constitution of 1812, initially, there was disagreement over whether Mexico should be a federal republic or a constitutional monarchy. The first monarch, Agustin I, abdicated in March 1823, in July, a new national provisional government named Luciano Garcia as the political chief of Texas. On November 27,1823, the people of Mexico elected congressional representatives, Texas was represented in congress by Erasmo Seguin. A new Mexican constitution was adopted on October 4,1824, making the country a republic with nineteen states. The constitution was modelled on the constitution of the United States of America, but the Mexican constitution made Roman Catholicism the official, because it was sparsely populated, Texas was combined with Coahuila to create the state of Coahuila y Tejas. The Congress did allow Texas the option of forming its own state as soon as it feels capable of doing so, the capital of Texas moved from San Antonio to Monclova and then to Saltillo. Along with the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León, Coahuila y Tejas was under a military organization
24.
Federalism
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Federalism is the mixed or compound mode of government, combining a general government with regional governments in a single political system. It can thus be defined as a form of government in there is a division of powers between two levels of government of equal status. Leading examples of the federation or federal state include the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, some also today characterize the European Union as the pioneering example of federalism in a multi-state setting, in a concept termed the federal union of states. The terms federalism and confederalism both have a root in the Latin word foedus, meaning treaty, pact or covenant and their common meaning until the late eighteenth century was a simple league or inter-governmental relationship among sovereign states based upon a treaty. It was in this sense that James Madison in Federalist 39 had referred to the new United States as neither a national nor a federal Constitution, thus, this article relates to the modern usage of the word federalism. Modern federalism is a based upon democratic rules and institutions in which the power to govern is shared between national and provincial/state governments. The term federalist describes several political beliefs around the world depending on context, however, in some countries, those skeptical of federal prescriptions believe that increased regional autonomy is likely to lead to secession or dissolution of the nation. In Syria, federalization proposals have failed in part because Syrians fear that these borders could turn out to be the same as the ones that the parties have currently carved out. Federations such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia collapsed as soon as it was possible to put the model to the test, cultural-historical theories, which hold that federal institutions are more likely to be adopted in societies with culturally or ethnically fragmented populations. Infrastructural power theories, which hold that federalism is likely to emerge when the subunits of a potential federation already have highly developed infrastructures. In Europe, Federalist is sometimes used to describe those who favor a federal government. Most European federalists want this development to continue within the European Union, European federalism originated in post-war Europe, one of the more important initiatives was Winston Churchills speech in Zürich in 1946. In the United States, federalism originally referred to belief in a central government. Constitution was being drafted, the Federalist Party supported a central government. This is very different from the usage of federalism in Europe. The distinction stems from the fact that federalism is situated in the middle of the spectrum between a confederacy and a unitary state. Constitution was written as a reaction to the Articles of Confederation, in contrast, Europe has a greater history of unitary states than North America, thus European federalism argues for a weaker central government, relative to a unitary state. The modern American usage of the word is closer to the European sense
25.
Alwyn Barr
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Chester Alwyn Barr, Jr. is an American historian who specializes in African American studies, the American South, the American Civil War, and Reconstruction. He is a professor emeritus and former chairman of the department at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Barr was the child of Chester A. Barr, Sr. a native of Austin. Barr received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and he joined the Texas Tech faculty in 1969. Barrs primary research focus on the history of the Civil War, Reconstruction, the American South and his publications include Polignacs Texas Brigade, a study of Prince Polignac and the Texan soldiers who fought in 1864 in the Battle of Mansfield in northwestern Louisiana. A monument to the Texan soldiers was dedicated at the site on the centennial of the Civil War battle in April 1964 and his first major monograph came out in 1971, Reconstruction to Reform, Texas Politics, 1876-1906. Next came the first edition of Black Texans, A History of African-Americans in Texas, 1528-1971 that he later updated with a new preface, new chapter on 1970-1995, and new index. Another Barr work is The African Texans, which describes the experience of blacks and slaves prior to the Civil War. In 1981 Barr and Robert A. Calvert, late historian at Texas A&M University, co-edited Black Leaders, in 2000 Barr wrote the introduction to Black Cowboys of Texas ed. Sara R. Massey. In addition to his previously mentioned research interests, Barr has also done research in military history. He has secured multiple awards for his teaching, research, in 1992-1993 academic year, he served as the president of the Texas State Historical Association. In 2001, Barr received the Outstanding Researcher Award from the Texas Tech College of Arts, in 2005, he obtained the Faculty Distinguished Leadership Award from the Texas Tech Association of Parents. In 2011, Barr was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters, thirty-three doctoral students at Texas Tech completed their studies under Barr, and eleven of their dissertations were revised and published as books. He has been a consultant for the National Park Service, National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities Texas, among Barrs colleagues at Texas Tech were Paul H. Carlson, Allan J. Kuethe, Dan Flores, and Ernest Wallace. In 2012, Barr wrote the foreword to the book Where the West Begins, Debating Texas Identity, the book is a new interpretation of the areas west of the 100th meridian which encompass West Texas. Barr and his wife, the former Nancy Dement, reside in Lubbock and their daughters are Juliana Barr and Alicia Barr
26.
Goliad, Texas
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Goliad is a city in Goliad County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 1,908 at the 2010 census, founded on the San Antonio River, it is the county seat of Goliad County. It is part of the Victoria, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, in 1747, the Spanish government sent José de Escandón to inspect the northern frontier of its North American colonies, including Spanish Texas. Both the presidio and the mission which it protected, Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, Escandón proposed that 25 Mexican families be relocated near the presidio to form a civilian settlement, but he was unable to find enough willing settlers. With the conclusion of the Seven Years War in 1763, France ceded Louisiana, rubi recommended that several presidios be closed, but that La Bahia be kept and rebuilt in stone. La Bahia was soon the only Spanish fortress for the entire Gulf Coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Mississippi River, the presidio was at the crossroads of several major trade and military routes. It quickly became one of the three most important areas in Texas, alongside Béxar and Nacogdoches, a civil settlement, then known as La Bahia, soon developed near the presidio. By 1804, the settlement had one of two schools in Texas. In early August 1812, during the Mexican War of Independence, Mexican revolutionary Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara and his recruits, called the Republican Army of the North, in November the invaders captured Presidio La Bahia. For the next four months, Texas governor Manuel María de Salcedo laid siege to the fort, unable to win a decisive victory, Salcedo lifted the siege on February 19,1813, and turned toward San Antonio de Bexar. The rebels controlled the presidio until July or August 1813, when José Joaquín de Arredondo led royalist troops in retaking all of Texas, henry Perry, a member of the Republican Army of the North, led forces back to Texas in 1817 and attempted to recapture La Bahia. The Mexicans reinforced the presidio with soldiers from San Antonio, the area was invaded again in 1821. The United States and Spain had signed the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819, on October 4, the Long Expedition captured La Bahia. Four days later, Colonel Ignacio Pérez arrived with troops from Bexar, by the end of 1821, Mexico had achieved its independence from Spain, and Texas became part of the newly created country. On October 9,1835, in the days of the Texas Revolution. The Mexican garrison quickly surrendered, leaving the Texans in control of the fort, the first declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas was signed here on December 20,1835. Texans held the area until March 1836, when their garrison under Colonel James Fannin was defeated at the nearby Battle of Coleto, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, then President of Mexico, ordered that all survivors were to be executed. The famous Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza was born in Goliad in 1829 and he commanded the forces resisting the French Army in the Battle of Puebla, now celebrated as Cinco de Mayo on May 5,1862
27.
Empresario
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An empresario was a person who had been granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for new settlers. The word is Spanish for entrepreneur, in the late 18th century, Spain stopped allocating new lands in much of Spanish Texas, stunting the growth of the province. The policy was reversed in 1820, when Spanish law allowed colonists of any religion to settle in Texas, only one man, Moses Austin, was granted an empresarial contract under Spanish law. But Moses Austin died before he could begin his colony, at this time, about 3500 colonists lived in Texas, mostly congregated at San Antonio and La Bahia. The Mexican government continued the immigration policies, even as the government debated a new colonization law, Stephen F. Austin, son of Moses Austin, was given permission to take over his fathers colonization contract. The first group of colonists, known as the Old Three Hundred, arrived in 1822 and settled along the Brazos River, immigration was approved on a wider basis in 1824 when the General Colonization Law of 1824 was passed. This law enabled all heads of household who were citizens of or immigrants to Mexico to be eligible to claim land, after the law passed, the state government of Coahuila y Tejas was inundated with requests to allow foreign speculators to establish colonies within the state. There was no shortage of willing to come to Texas. The United States was still struggling with the aftermath of the Panic of 1819, most successful empresarios recruited primarily in the United States. Only two of the groups who attempted to recruit in Europe built lasting colonies, Refugio and San Patricio and these colonies were successful in part because the empresarios spoke Spanish, were Catholic and generally familiar with Mexican ways, and allowed local Mexican families to join their colonies. Unlike its predecessor, the Mexican law required immigrants to practice Catholicism, settlers were supposed to own property or have a craft or useful profession, and all people wishing to live in Texas were expected to report to the nearest Mexican authority for permission to settle. The rules were widely disregarded and many families became squatters, under the new laws, people who did not already possess property in Texas could claim one square league of irrigable land, with an additional league available to those who owned cattle. Empresarios and individuals with families were exempt from the limit. Irish Pioneers in Mexican and Revolutionary Texas, Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University,92, College Station, TX, Texas A&M University Press, ISBN 978-1-58544-189-1 de la Teja, Jesus F. Minor Empresario Contracts for the Colonization of Texas, 1825-1834, II, maps, Texas Land Grants and Political Divisions, 1821–1836, from the Atlas of Texas,1976 T. G. Bradfords Map of Texas,1835
28.
Brazoria, Texas
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Brazoria is a city in the U. S. state of Texas, in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Brazoria County. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the city population was 3,019, Brazoria is located southwest of the center of Brazoria County at 29°2′50″N 95°34′3″W. The northeast edge of the community, known as Old Brazoria, is located along the Brazos River, Texas State Highway 36 runs through the center of the city, leading southeast 16 miles to Freeport and northwest 41 miles to Rosenberg. According to the United States Census Bureau, Brazoria has an area of 2.6 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,787 people,1,063 households, the population density was 1,489.4 people per square mile. There were 1,166 housing units at a density of 623.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 81. 95% White,10. 30% African American,0. 57% Native American,0. 68% Asian,5. 38% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 11. 37% of the population. 26. 4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10. 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.18. In the city, the population was out with 29. 3% under the age of 18,8. 8% from 18 to 24,29. 6% from 25 to 44,20. 6% from 45 to 64. The median age was 33 years, for every 100 females there were 101.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.3 males, the median income for a household in the city was $36,058, and the median income for a family was $41,563. Males had an income of $35,000 versus $21,543 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,666, about 10. 8% of families and 13. 3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15. 6% of those under age 18 and 19. 3% of those age 65 or over. The city is served by the Columbia-Brazoria Independent School District, two public elementary schools serve Brazoria—Barrow Elementary, which is located in the city limits, and Wild Peach Elementary, which is located outside the city limits. West Brazos Junior High School is also located in Brazoria and serves all high school students in the Columbia-Brazoria Independent School District. Students continue on to Columbia High School, Columbia High School is located the city of West Columbia. The Brazoria Library is a part of the Brazoria County Library System, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Clemens Unit in an unincorporated area near Brazoria. Brazoria is served by West Brazos EMS which is operated by Sweeny Community Hospital, although there is not a hospital within the city limits, Sweeny Community, Brazosport Regional, Matagorda Regional, and UTMB Angleton-Danbury are all within a driving distance
29.
Nacogdoches, Texas
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Not to be confused with Natchitoches, Louisiana. Nacogdoches is a city situated in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas. The 2010 U. S. Census recorded the population to be 32,996. Nacogdoches is a city of the smaller Natchitoches, Louisiana. Nacogdoches is the home of Stephen F. Austin State University, local promotional literature from the Nacogdoches Convention & Visitors Bureau describes Nacogdoches as “the oldest town in Texas. ”Evidence of settlement at the same site dates back to 10,000 years ago. It is near or on the site of Nevantin, the village of the Nacogdoche tribe of Caddo Indians. Nacogdoches remained a Caddo Indian settlement until the early 19th century, in 1716 when Spain established a mission there, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches. That was the first European construction in the area, the “town” of Nacogdoches got started after the French had vacated the region, and Spanish officials decided that maintaining the mission was too costly. In 1772 they ordered all settlers in the area to move to San Antonio, some were eager to escape the wilderness, but others had to be forced from their homes by soldiers. It was one of the original European settlements in the region, colonel Antonio Gil YBarbo, a prominent Spanish trader, emerged as the leader of the settlers, and in the spring of 1779, he led a group back to Nacogdoches. Later that summer, Nacogdoches received designation from Spain as a pueblo, or town, YBarbo, as lieutenant governor of the new town, established the rules and laws for local government. He laid out streets with the intersecting El Camino Real and La Calle del Norte/North Street as the central point, on the main thoroughfare, he built a stone house for use in his trading business. The house, or Old Stone Fort as it is known today, the city has been under more flags than the state of Texas, claiming nine flags. In addition to the Six Flags of Texas, it flew under the flags of the Magee-Gutierrez Republic, the Long Republic. People from the United States began moving to settle in Nacogdoches in 1820, however, the first newspaper published was in Spanish. An edition of the newspaper is preserved and shown at the local Museum, in 1832, the battle of Nacogdoches brought many local settlers together, as they united in their stand to support a federalist form of government. Their successful venture drove the Mexican military from east Texas, Thomas Jefferson Rusk was one of the most prominent early Nacogdoches Anglo settlers. A veteran of the Texas Revolution, hero of San Jacinto and he was president of the Texas Statehood Commission and served as one of the first two Texas U. S
30.
Cibolo Creek
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The creek serves as a tributary of the San Antonio River and forms the easternmost boundary of its watershed. The stream is used for recreational and political purposes, serving as the eastern boundary of Bexar County, Texas. Cibolo Creek rises in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Boerne in Kendall County, every second, approximately 30 cubic feet of water pass through on its southeastern journey to the San Antonio River. It has been judged as a scenic and picturesque stream, especially in the reaches, as steady flows travel through deep canyons. Just ahead of its entry into Boerne, the stream is dammed to form Boerne City Lake, in Boerne, the creek flows through the center of town before reaching the Cibolo Nature Center, noted for its shores lined with bald cypress trees. East of the center, the Cibolo Canyonlands begin, which features even deeper canyons. Part of this area is protected by the University of Texas at San Antonio for environmental research purposes, further downstream, the creek passes through Fair Oaks Ranch and Bulverde. The steady flow begins to dissipate in certain areas as it approaches Camp Bullis in northern San Antonio, such dry patches continue as it heads east, forming the boundary between Bexar and Comal Counties. Steady flows pick up on the boundary between Bexar and Guadalupe Counties, passing through Randolph Air Force Base, at its lower reaches, the terrain grows flatter and less rocky, supporting oak, mesquite and juniper. The drainage basin of Cibolo Creek is located in the reaches of the Cretaceous Glen Rose Formation along the southeastern edge of the Edwards Plateau. An exchange occurs between the stream and these numerous underground springs that serve as a recharge for the Edwards-Trinity aquifer system and this system provides drinking water for millions of people in the surrounding area. Near the recharge zone, distributaries of the creek have carved deep canyons in the landscape of the Texas Hill Country, the Cibolo Nature Center claims 1,300 acres of the watershed, to protect the water quality from the hazards of rapid development and population growth. Prior to European settlement, Cibolo Creek was referred to as Xoloton by the Coahuiltecan Indians, the Tonkawa called it Bata Coniquiyoqui, as noted by Father Damian Massanet, who referred to the creek as Santa Crecencia in 1691. Records suggest a camp was set up on the creek, identified as Arroyo del Leon, explorer Domingo Terán de los Ríos named the creek San Ygnacio de Loyola in 1691 during an expedition and Domingo Ramón referred to it as San Xavier in 1716. The first known use of the term Cibolo came from Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo who identified the stream as Río Cibolo, or Cibolo River, Cibolo is a Spanish and Native American term for American bison, which used to inhabit the area. The Native Americans are believed to have used the steeply banked bluffs along the creek as hunting grounds, however, the fort near Cestohowa was destroyed without a trace in 1782. and eventually the Spanish lost the creek and Texas following the Mexican Revolution. During the Texas Revolution, the creek was the site of two separate skirmishes, first, in October 1835, at the beginning of the war, Captain Ben Milam was dispatched by Stephen F. Austin to survey the unfamiliar territory toward Cibolo Creek. Milam set up camp and soon discovered the tracks of a Mexican force of about a hundred cavalrymen, Austin sent additional scouts, and one group was confronted by about ten advancing Mexican patrols
31.
Salado Creek
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Salado Creek is a waterway in San Antonio that runs from northern Bexar County for about 38 miles to the San Antonio River near Buena Vista. In 1992, a well was plugged in Fort Sam Houston that had used for irrigation for farmers. The well had maintained the ecosystem of the creek since a decline in the number of springs that had fed it, in 1995, plans to revitalize the creek began. Groups such as the Salado Creek Foundation began work to restore the significance of the creek as a link of Northern Bexar County to the missions in the South. The creek was affected by the Floods of 1998 causing property damage, in March 2001, the San Antonio Water Systems Salado Creek WRC began using recycled water to help the creek flow regularly for the first time in almost ten years. The Creek was given its name in 1716 by Spanish explorer Domingo Ramón and it has been the site of two battles in Texas History including the 1813 Battle of Rosillo and the 1842 Battle of Salado Creek following the Texas Revolution. The Spanish Royal Army of Texas, under Governor Manuel María de Salcedo, in March 1813, the Spanish army, numbering 950 to 1,500, had planned an ambush on the republicans as they marched and searched for food along the creek banks. After the battle, the Spanish army retreated to San Antonio, signed a truce with Kemper on April 1, on April 3, Salcedo, Herrera, and twelve prisoners of war were executed by the a vengeful Mexican soldier, near the site of the battle. On April 6,1813, the first Declaration of Independence and Constitution for Texas were drafted and Gutiérrez was named President, the new republic was destroyed four months later, at the fateful Battle of Medina. A later Battle of Salado Creek was fought between the volunteers of the Texas Republic and the Mexican forces of Brig, general and French Mexican soldier Adrián Woll. General Ráfael Vásquezs incursion into San Antonio in March 1842, the volunteers prepared for battle but believed that peace was on the horizon after the release of prisoners from the failed Texan Santa Fe Expedition. Because of this a potential attack was called off by President Sam Houston, however, on September 11,1842, Brig. Gen. Adrián Woll entered San Antonio with 1,000 regular infantry and 500 irregular cavalry. After this, about 200 volunteers from Gonzales, Seguin, the men took advantage of their good position on the bank and killed 60 Mexicans, losing only one of their own. Simultaneously, Capt. Nicholas Mosby Dawson was traveling from La Grange with his 53-man company of volunteers to meet up with Caldwell, cut off from the larger body of their men and surrounded, they surrendered after a brief skirmish, which resulted in the Dawson Massacre. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife bluegill, Rio Grande cichlids, Alligator gar, list of rivers of Texas Salado Creek at The Edwards Aquifer Website
32.
Alamo Mission in San Antonio
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The Alamo Mission in San Antonio is commonly called The Alamo and was originally known as Misión San Antonio de Valero. It was founded in the 18th century as a Roman Catholic mission and fortress compound and it was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836, and is now a museum in the Alamo Plaza Historic District. The compound was one of the early Spanish missions in Texas, the mission was secularized in 1793 and then abandoned. Ten years later, it became a housing the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras military unit. During the Texas Revolution, Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos surrendered the fort to the Texian Army in December 1835, a relatively small number of Texian soldiers then occupied the compound for several months. They were wiped out at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6,1836, when the Mexican army retreated from Texas several months later, they tore down many of the Alamo walls and burned some of the buildings. For the next five years, the Alamo was periodically used to garrison soldiers, in 1849, several years after Texas was annexed to the United States, the U. S. Army began renting the facility for use as a quartermasters depot. The U. S. Army abandoned the mission in 1876 after nearby Fort Sam Houston was established, the Alamo chapel was sold to the state of Texas, which conducted occasional tours but made no effort to restore it. The remaining buildings were sold to a company which operated them as a wholesale grocery store. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas formed in 1895 and began trying to preserve the Alamo, Adina Emilia De Zavala and Clara Driscoll successfully convinced the state legislature in 1905 to purchase the remaining buildings and to name the DRT as the permanent custodian of the site. Over the next century, periodic attempts were made to control of the Alamo from the DRT. In early 2015, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush officially removed control of the Alamo to the Texas General Land Office, the Alamo and the four missions in the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites on July 5,2015. In 1716, the Spanish government established several Roman Catholic missions in East Texas, the isolation of the missions—the nearest Spanish settlement, San Juan Bautista, Coahuila was over 400 miles away—made it difficult to keep them adequately provisioned. To assist the missionaries, the new governor of Spanish Texas, Martín de Alarcón, in April 1718, Alarcón led an expedition to found a new community in Texas. On May 1, the group erected a temporary mud, brush, one mile north of the mission, Alarcón built a presidio, the Presidio San Antonio de Bexar. Close by, he founded the first civilian community in Texas, within a year, the mission moved to the western bank of the river, where it was less likely to flood. Over the next years, a chain of missions were established nearby. In 1724, after remants of a Gulf Coast hurricane destroyed the structures at Mission San Antonio de Valero
33.
James Bowie
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James Jim Bowie was a 19th-century American pioneer, who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of him as a fighter and frontiersman, both real and fictitious, have him a legendary figure in Texas history and a folk hero of American culture. Born in Kentucky, Bowie spent most of his life in Louisiana, where he was raised and his rise to fame began in 1827 on reports of the Sandbar Fight. What began as a duel between two men deteriorated into a melée in which Bowie, having been shot and stabbed, killed the sheriff of Rapides Parish with a large knife. This, and other stories of Bowies prowess with a knife, Bowies reputation was cemented by his role in the Texas Revolution. After moving to Texas in 1830, Bowie became a Mexican citizen and married Ursula Veramendi and his fame in Texas grew following his failed expedition to find the lost San Saba mine, during which his small party repelled an attack by a large Indian raiding party. At the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, Bowie joined the Texas militia, leading forces at the Battle of Concepción, in January 1836, he arrived at the Alamo, where he commanded the volunteer forces until an illness left him bedridden. Bowie died with the other Alamo defenders on March 6, according to his older brother John, James Bowie was born in Logan County, Kentucky, on March 10,1796. Historian Raymond Thorp gave his date as April 10. Bowies surname was pronounced to rhyme with the French Louis, Bowie was the ninth of ten children born to Elve Ap-Catesby Jones and John Bowie. His father had been wounded fighting in the American Revolution. The Bowies moved frequently, first settling in Georgia, before moving to Kentucky, at the time of Bowies birth, his father owned eight slaves, eleven head of cattle, seven horses, and one stud horse. The following year the family acquired 200 acres along the Red River and they sold that property in 1800 and relocated to Missouri, before moving to Spanish Louisiana in 1802, where they settled on Bushley Bayou in Rapides Parish. The family moved again in 1809, settling on Bayou Teche in Louisiana before finding a permanent home in Opelousas in 1812, the Bowie children were raised on the frontier and even as small children were expected to help clear the land and plant crops. All the children learned to read and write in English, but James and his elder brother Rezin could also read, write, the children learned to survive on the frontier and how to fish and run a farm and plantation. James Bowie became proficient with pistol, rifle, and knife, when he was a boy, one of his Indian friends even taught him to rope alligators. In response to Andrew Jacksons plea for volunteers to fight the British in the War of 1812, James, the Bowie brothers arrived in New Orleans too late to participate in the fighting. After mustering out of the militia, Bowie settled in Rapides Parish, in June 1819, he joined the Long expedition, an effort to liberate Texas from Spanish rule
34.
Victoria, Texas
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Victoria is the largest city and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The population was 62,592 as of the 2010 census, the three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 as of the 2000 census. Victoria is located 30 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, the city is a regional hub for a seven-county area known as the Golden Crescent, and serves a retail trade area of over 250,000 people. Victoria is known as The Crossroads because of its location within a two-hour drive of Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio, Victoria is named for General Guadalupe Victoria, who became the first president of independent Mexico. Victoria is the city of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Texas. The city of Guadalupe Victoria was founded in 1824 by Martín De León, a Mexican empresario, in honor of Guadalupe Victoria, Victoria was initially part of De Leóns Colony, which had been founded that same year. By 1834, the town had a population of approximately 300, during the Texas Revolution, Guadalupe Victoria contributed soldiers and supplies to pro-revolutionary forces. However, after James Fannin was defeated by the Mexican army at the Battle of Coleto, after Santa Ana was defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto, the towns Mexican residents were driven out by Anglo settlers, who renamed it Victoria. In 1840, a Comanche raid on nearby Linnville killed many residents of the town, a cholera outbreak occurred in 1846. During the mid-19th century, the city developed a population of European immigrants. By the turn of the 20th century, Victoria was experiencing population growth thanks to its position as a regional trade center. The University of Houston–Victoria was founded in 1971, Victoria is located on the coastal plains of Texas about 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and 20 miles from the nearest bay waters. It lies along and just to the east of the Guadalupe River, the topography is mostly flat to slightly rolling with an average elevation of 95 feet. Vegetation in better-drained areas consists primarily of grasses with post oaks and other small timber. Moist sites can grow tall forests dominated by elm and pecan, Victoria is classified as humid subtropical. June through August is very hot and humid with temperatures regularly exceeding 90 °F. The record high temperature of 111 °F. was recorded in September 2000, spring and autumn are generally mild to warm with lower humidity. Winters are mild with cold spells
35.
James W. Fannin
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James Walker Fannin, Jr. was a 19th-century U. S. military figure in the Texas Army and leader during the Texas Revolution of 1835–36. He was memorialized in several names, including a military training camp. Different sources give his year of birth as either 1804 or 1805 and he was born in Georgia to Isham Fannin, a veteran of the War of 1812. His mothers last name was Walker, although she was not married to his father, it was the Walker family who raised him. His ancestors, who spelled the family name Fanning, lived in America during the Revolutionary War, ishams father James W. Fannin dropped the g from the family name and settled in Georgia. Fannin enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point on July 1,1819 and he resigned November 20,1821, from the school. Their daughter, Missouri Pinckney, was born on July 17,1829, a second daughter, Minerva, nicknamed Eliza, was born mentally ill in 1832. While living in Columbus, Georgia, he enlisted in the militia, in Muscogee County, he was a member of the Temperance Society and served for a short time as a judge. By 1832, Fannin was involved in the business of transporting slaves from Cuba, in 1834, Fannin settled his family at Velasco, in colonial Tejas, where he owned a plantation and was a managing partner in a slave-trading syndicate. By 1835, Fannin was involved in the growing Anglo-American resistance to the Mexican government in Texas and he wrote letters seeking financial assistance and volunteers to help Texas. By September, Fannin was a volunteer in the Texas Army. He took part in the Battle of Gonzales on October 2, Fannin later worked with James Bowie, First Battalion, First Division, under Austins orders to secure supplies and determine the conditions in and around Gonzales and San Antonio de Bexar. Under the command of Bowie, Fannin fought in the Battle of Concepción on October 28,1835, in November 1835, Austin ordered Fannin and William B. Travis and about 150 men to cut off any Mexican supply party, on November 13, Houston offered Fannin the post of Inspector General to the regular army. Fannin wrote back requesting an appointment of Brigadier General and a post of danger. On November 22,1835, Fannin was honorably discharged from the army by Austin. He also went home to spend time with his family, sam Houston, supported by Governor Henry Smith, commissioned Fannin as a Colonel in the regular army on December 7,1835. By January 7,1836, the government had appointed Fannin military agent, to answer only to the council
Mexico
