Treaties of Velasco

On April 21, 1836, the forces of the Mexican army under General Santa Anna were handed a decisive defeat by the Texans at San Jacinto. Dressed as a common soldier, Santa Anna attempted to flee, but was taken prisoner the following day.

On May 14, Santa Anna signed two peace treaties with interim Texas president David G. Burnet. The public treaty consisted of ten articles; a second, secret treaty consisted of six additional articles. The secret agreement was to be carried out when the public treaty had been fulfilled.

The public treaty provided that hostilities would cease and that Santa Anna would withdraw his forces below the Rio Grande and not take up arms again against Texas. In addition, he also pledged to restore property that had been confiscated by the Mexicans. Both sides promised to exchange prisoners on an equal basis. The Texans would send Santa Anna back to Mexico and would not pursue the retreating Mexican troops.

In the secret agreement, the Texans agreed to release Santa Anna immediately in exchange for his pledge to use his influence to secure Mexican recognition of Texas independence. Santa Anna would not only withdraw all troops and not take up arms against Texas again, but would arrange for a favorable reception by the Mexican government of a Texas mission and a treaty of commerce. The Texas border would be the Rio Grande.

On May 26, General Vicente Filisola began withdrawing Mexican troops in fulfillment of the public treaty. However, the Texas army blocked Santa Anna's release by the Texas government. Moreover, the Mexican government refused to accept the treaties on the grounds that Santa Anna had signed them as a captive. Since the treaties had now been violated by both sides, they never took effect. Mexico was not to recognize Texas independence until the U.S.-Mexican War was settled by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.

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Runaway Scrape

The term Runaway Scrape was the name Texans applied to the flight from their homes when Antonio López de Santa Anna began his attempted conquest of Texas in February 1836. The first communities to be affected were those in the south central portions of Texas around San Patricio, Refugio, and San Antonio. The people began to leave that area as early as January 14, 1836, when the Mexicans were reported gathering on the Rio Grande. When Sam Houston arrived in Gonzales on March 11 and was informed of the fall of the Alamo, he decided upon retreat to the Colorado River and ordered all inhabitants to accompany him. Couriers were dispatched from Gonzales to carry the news of the fall of the Alamo, and when they received that news, people all over Texas began to leave everything and make their way to safety. Houston's retreat marked the beginning of the Runaway Scrape on a really large scale. Washington-on-the-Brazos was deserted by March 17, and about April 1 Richmond was evacuated, as were the settlements on both sides of the Brazos River. The further retreat of Houston toward the Sabine left all of the settlements between the Colorado and the Brazos unprotected, and the settlers in that area at once began making their way toward Louisiana or Galveston Island. The section of East Texas around Nacogdoches and San Augustine was abandoned a little prior to April 13. The flight was marked by lack of preparation and by panic caused by fear both of the Mexican Army and of the Indians. The people used any means of transportation or none at all. Added to the discomforts of travel were all kinds of diseases, intensified by cold, rain, and hunger. Many persons died and were buried where they fell. The flight continued until news came of the victory in the battle of San Jacinto. At first no credence was put in this news because so many false rumors had been circulated, but gradually the refugees began to reverse their steps and turn back toward home, many toward homes that no longer existed.

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• Lindy
• Will
• Eugene

Battle of San Jacinto

On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston and some 800 Texans defeated Santa Anna’s Mexican force of approximately 1,500 men at the Battle of San Jacinto, shouting “Remember the Alamo!” as they attacked. The victory ensured the success of Texan independence: In mid-May, Santa Anna, who had been taken prisoner during the battle, signed a peace treaty at Velasco, Texas, in which he recognized Texas’ independence in exchange for his freedom. However, the treaty was later abrogated and tensions built up along the Texas-Mexico border.

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Texas Declaration of Independence

The Texas Declaration of Independence was produced, literally, overnight. Its urgency was paramount, because while it was being prepared, the Alamo in San Antonio was under seige by Santa Anna's army of Mexico.

Immediately upon the assemblage of the Convention of 1836 on March 1, a committee of five of its delegates were appointed to draft the document. The committee, consisting of George C. Childress, Edward Conrad, James Gaines, Bailey Hardeman, and Collin McKinney, prepared the declaration in record time. It was briefly reviewed, then adopted by the delegates of the convention the following day.

As seen from the transcription below, the document parallels somewhat that of the United States, signed almost sixty years earlier. It contains statements on the function and responsibility of government, followed by a list of grievances. Finally, it concludes by declaring Texas a free and independent republic.

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Siege of Goliad

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, a fort near the Mexican Texas settlement of Goliad. La Bahía lay halfway between the only other large garrison of Mexican soldiers (at Presidio San Antonio de Bexar) and the then-important Texas port of Copano.

In September, Texians began plotting to kidnap Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos, who was en route to Goliad to attempt to quell the unrest in Texas. 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 and members of the Texian militia in Matagorda began marching towards Goliad. 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 an effective defense of the fort's perimeter. Using axes borrowed from townspeople, Texians were able to chop through a door and enter the complex before the bulk of the soldiers were aware of their presence. After a 30-minute battle, the Mexican garrison, under Colonel Juan López Sandoval, surrendered. One Mexican soldier had been killed and three others wounded, while only one Texian had been injured. The majority of the Mexican soldiers were instructed to leave Texas, and the Texians confiscated $10,000 worth of provisions and several cannons, which they soon transported to the Texian Army for use in the Siege of Béxar. The victory isolated Cos's men in Béxar from the coast, forcing them to rely on a long overland march to request or receive reinforcements or supplies.

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Siege of Bexar

In December of 1835, San Antonio de Bexar was under the control of Mexican General Perfecto de Cos with about 1200 soldiers from Mexico. For almost two months, Texas volunteers had camped near the town in a virtual standoff with Cos. The stalemate ended, however, when one of the Texas leaders, Ben Milam, returned from a brief absence to find that the Texans were about to withdraw to Goliad. Voicing strong opposition to the retreat, Milam appealed to the Texans with his now-famous words, "Who will will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?" Some 300 volunteers responded. Starting before daybreak on December 5, the Texans, led by Milam and Frank W. Johnson, began their siege. Against heavy odds in both men and artillery, the Texans skirmished for the next two days. On December 7, Milam was shot and killed. The death of their leader seemed to inspire the Texans as they engaged in house-to-house combat that continued for two more days. At daybreak on December 9, after four days of fighting, Cos signalled a Mexican truce. In exchange for the parole and return of Cos and his men to Mexico, the Texans gained all of the public property, guns and ammunition in San Antonio. During the siege, the Texans lost only four men killed (including Milam) and fifteen wounded. They gained, however, one of the most important strongholds in Texas. Within a few months, the Mexicans would return to retake the town during the bloody Siege and Battle of the Alamo.

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• Declan Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Battle of Gonzales

The volunteer spirit that has now characterized the military forces of Texas for more than one hundred fifty years was first called upon during this crisis. It was against a determined group of men that Santa Anna sent his dictator-controlled army. It was at Gonzales that the motto--"Come and Take It"--was born.

When Santa Anna sent a Mexican commander to take a cannon from Gonzales, the Texans rallied forces from the Guadeloupe, the Colorado and the Brazos for aid, then told the Mexican commander to "Come and Take It." The latter retreated six miles, and the Texans, tired of waiting for an attack charged the Mexicans on October 2, 1835, and the Mexicans retreated in full flight.

It was immediately after the Battle of Gonzales that the First Army of Texas Volunteers was organized with Stephen F. Austin in command. This same army marched to San Antonio and gained a victory over General Cos, who had previously defeated Colonel Benjamin R. Milam. Thus began the campaign of 1835 which resulted in the securing of independence for Texas. With the birth of Texas was also recorded the birth of what is now the Texas National Guard. The storming of the Bexar and the enforced retreat of Cos took place in December.

Men who were found ready and willing to fight for their homes and the right to peace and security and independence formed the first militia forces of Texas. Not only Texans but men from the United States who had come to love freedom and democracy rallied to the cause. To the many companies formed in the Lone Star State were added those that came from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and other sections of the United States. It was in these hastily formed but spirited organizations that the Texas National Guard was born.

Typical of the units that faced Santa Anna were the New Orleans Greys organized in front of the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans in October, 1835. Two companies, aggregating well over 100 men and both calling themselves the New Orleans Greys, left the city within two days of each other.

It was such help as these companies gave that encouraged the Texans in their fight for independence. The New Orleans Greys covered themselves with glory in the storming of San Antonio, as 33 of them were in the Alamo when it fell and others were among Fannin's men at the Battle of Coleto. It was under the banner of "God and Liberty" that the New Orleans Greys joined the Texans. It was this principle they also upheld at the Battle of San Jacinto.

As Texas had no regular army, since its independence had just been declared, the armed might that beat back the Mexicans and established the Republic of Texas was strictly of the militia character--volunteers who left their homes in order that they might have protected homes to which to return.

Their gallantry in defeat as well as in victory serves as one of the highest traditions which the present Texas National Guard has to uphold. Their choice of glorious death instead of ignoble defeat and surrender is an inspiration for those who don the uniform.

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