In 1835, in the early days of both the United States and Mexico, what started as a small rebellion by the citizens of the Mexican province of Texas would eventually come to a head and devolve into a full-on armed conflict. Opinions on the revolt at the time varied, but at the end of the day, Texas succeeded in its uprising and established an independent Republic of Texas... or so they thought, but that's a story for another time.
Not much in the way of fiction is set in this time period, but you almost certianly know of at least one battle popular enough to have its own trope, and the works set here almost always include this battle, assuming that battle isn't the entire focus of the work itself! Think the likes of Sam Houston, Stephen Austin, Jim Bowie, William Travis, and of course, Davy Crockett, their larger-than-life personalities, and the patriotic fervor of another American Revolution. From Disney's Davy Crockett (1954) starring Fess Parker (the final episode of the short series, anyway), to John Wayne's The Alamo (1960), to Jerry Bruckheimer's The Alamo (2004), to even The Ballad of Davy Crockett in 2024, this conflict has certainly captured the imaginations of many moviegoers, particularly those in the Southern United States, and unsurprisingly, Texas.
In 1810, Mexico decided they, too, would revolt against their colonizers, the Kingdom of Spain. There were many reasons for this, such as the nearby Haitian Revolution succeeding and abolishing slavery, something "New Spain" was still dealing with, coupled with racism against natives, and a whole host of other issues. Mexico rose up and, over the course of 11 years, slowly but surely resisted Spanish rule, eventually casting them off entirely to become an independent nation in much the same way as their northern neighbor. And like their northern neighbor, after winning independence, Mexico then had to deal with the problem of controlling the territories she now governed, many of whom were starting to want independence of their own.
The Constitution of 1824 did not do a very good job of allocating power to the surrounding provinces, such as the combined province of "Coahuila y Tejas" having one seat in the legislature. After some grumbling, they were split in two, which tided them over for a little bit, but that was just one province. Several other provinces were also discontent with the state of things in the nascent Federal Republic of Mexico and were threatening to rebel, if not outright rebelling. Things eventually came to a head in 1829 when Mexico outlawed slavery, causing many provinces to take up arms. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna quelled several of these rebellions before deciding he could do a better job in charge and leading a revolt of his own that toppled the Federal Republic of Mexico and put the Centralist Republic of Mexico in its place, with himself as its president.
Now, in the background to all of this, Mexico is nearly bankrupt. Revolutions and conflicts are expensive, and so to try and get some desperately needed cash flowing in, they opened up the province of Texas to immigration and settlement. A number of southern American settlers, eager for land on which to build a homestead, flooded in and became citizens of this semi-autonomous province of Texas. However, since most of them were from the southern United States, many of them brought their slaves and prejudices with them, which caused severe bitterness and tension to arise between the people of the province and the United States, as well as the natives and people already living there with their new neighbors, and on top of that, tension between the Texians and their government to the south. They were also heavily Protestant in a region that was heavily Catholic, upping tension even further.
Mexico did not make it easier on themselves in 1832 when they closed immigration, upped taxes, and abolished slavery in the province, which infuriated the new residents of the region. Concerned about the possibility of revolt, they quickly agreed to concessions in 1833, but everything changed when Santa Anna took power in 1834. He upended the 1824 Constitution, and the feared revolt erupted anyway. Oaxaca and Zacatecas rebelled, though Texas took a little bit of time to decide. But eventually, with Santa Anna approaching, the decision was mostly made for them and the Texians began their revolution.
In the early 1830s, the small town of Gonzales had been given a cannon for its own defense against native raids. However, in 1835, a Mexican army soldier bludgeoned a town citizen, causing tensions between the soldiers and townsfolk. The Mexican Army didn't like the idea of a town leaning toward rebellion having its own cannon, so they came calling to retrieve it. Gonzales responded with the famous "Come And Take It" flag👁 Image
◊, and there was a small skirmish that saw two Mexicans killed and one Texian injured. The Mexican army fled, realizing this was not something a small garrison could pacify. Ultimately, the Gonzales engagement was practically inconsequential in terms of tactical and strategic importance, but it was the spark that the Texians seized upon.
Realizing the significance of this, General Martin Cos took his army and began to hasten to the small town of San Antonio de Bexar to establish a defensible position until President Santa Anna could be informed and help pacify the region. The Texians saw an opportunity and attacked him several times near the town of Goliad to steal money and then later to take an unmanned fort. The Mexican garrisons fighting against them were unable to win against the rebels, severely hampering Cos' attempts at requesting supplies and reinforcements for his undermanned army and garrisons, but he was still able to eventually make it to San Antonio de Bexar. During this time, one James Bowie made a name for himself as a commander when he and Col. James Fannin held off a Mexican advance at the Mision Concepción.
While the Gulf Coast was being taken, Stephen Austin rode south to engage Cos directly and chase him out of the region. There was an attempt at negotiation that went nowhere, but eventually, the Texians laid siege to San Antonio de Bexar. For several weeks, they maintained their siege, battling low morale and low discipline as men left when times got tough, but volunteer reinforcements bolstered their ranks and morale. Eventually, realizing he couldn't outlast the Texians, Cos and his men retreated into a small mission in San Antonio de Bexar and formulated a counterattack while they waited for reinforcements. Cos' reinforcements eventually arrived, but they were raw recruits or convicts, which meant they wouldn't be useful, and on top of that, they were extremely poorly trained. Seeing no other option, Cos surrendered the mission to the rebels and was allowed to exit the city unharmed.
An interesting note about that little mission, by the way. It was named in Spanish after the cottonwood tree, and while its name was originally the Misión San Antonio de Valero, it has since become more well-known by its nickname, "the Alamo."
Thinking that chasing Cos out of the region meant that the uprising was over, many Texians returned home, leaving only standing army men and people who knew better. Out east in San Felipe, a number of men gathered and began to talk of a potential new nation, but they knew that the Mexican government had to be dealt with decisively, and while the battle of San Antonio was a start, it wasn't the finishing blow the revolution needed. A number of men considered an expedition south to the town of Matamoros, where a centralist garrison was stationed, both to inspire other provinces to rebel, and also simply to keep their men from getting bored with nothing to do. While this was all going on, infighting among the Council in the early part of 1836 saw several leaders leave or be sacked for one reason or another, including Sam Houston himself. James Neill was left as the highest ranking military officer left, and he took his men to Goliad, while Dr. James Grant embarked with 70 men on the Matamoros expedition. Grant led his men almost the full way there, but they were surprised and defeated by a Mexican army, ending this Matamoros expedition and reminding the Texians of the Mexican army's inherent superiority.
While all of this is happening, word finally reaches Santa Anna of the uprising, and he gathers a force of approximately 6,000 men, and they begin to march northward, aiming to put this nascent rebellion to bed.
In January of 1836, Sam Houston recognizes that the Texian rebels cannot hope to hold their own in San Antonio de Bexar. There is no proper fort, they do not have the men, they do not have the equipment, and the Mexican army is too powerful if they decide to attack with full force. So he tasked James Bowie and 30 men to head to San Antonio, take all of the artillery, and raze the fort to the ground to deny it to the Mexicans. Neill left Goliad to take command of the Alamo garrison, which numbered less than 100 men, but shortly after the arrival of Bowie, and later William Travis, he left San Antonio to try and gather reinforcements and supplies, leaving the two of them in charge with only around 150 men. Morale was bolstered when another group of volunteers joined up, including one Davy Crockett, bringing the total number of men to around 190.
The Mexican army, however, had been marching through the dead of winter to get there as soon as they could, and on February 23rd, they besieged the mission after the men retreated into its walls. The Mexican army attempted several attacks to take the fort, but they were rebuffed each time. Col. Neill was unable to get to the fort with his reinforcements and did not move to reinforce the mission, although several men made the trip on their own and bolstered the ranks.
Bowie fell extremely ill in this time and was eventually bedridden, leaving Travis in de facto sole command. He penned a letter asking anyone for help, but aside from those reinforcements, no one arrived. He even offered his men the opportunity to escape. Historically, several Texians survived the siege, though most of them were noncombatants, couriers, or had other duties they were called to. Juan Seguin had been sent to petition Houston for reinforcements, but Houston prevented him from returning to San Antonio de Bexar, much to Seguin's outrage. One man, Moses Rose, willingly took the offered chance to escape, but everyone else remained behind.
On the morning of March 6th, the Mexican army decided they had waited long enough, and after 13 days, they attacked the Alamo, killing every defender inside to a man. The Mexicans paid a heavy price to take the mission, losing three men to every one they killed, but while the siege was a tactical victory, it could be considered a pyrrhic victory at best, if not strategic defeat because the Mexican army had lost what they could not afford to lose: time.
On March 2nd, Texas declared its independence from Mexico, and over the next several days, they prepared a Constitution and a provisional government to handle matters of state during and after the conclusion of the war, assuming they were victorious. Sam Houston found himself once again in command of the entire army, and then with all matters attended to and with its new president David G. Burnett, the new government fled to Harrisburg.
While this was happening, Fannin's men in Goliad were being chased down by a different Spanish force, one that defeated him several times in several days, then General Urrea laid siege to the town of Goliad and starved them out. After days of holding out, they ran out of food and supplies, and surrendered. Accounts differ on how, with the Mexican accounts saying they surrendered in discretion while the American accounts believe they were promised to be treated as prisoners of war, but after each of Fannin's groups was captured or defeated, they were all massacred on March 27th.
The massacre of Goliad and the bravery of the defenders of the Alamo would become a rallying cry for the Texian defenders and would galvanize them to redouble their efforts.
Santa Anna began to chase what was left of the Texian defenders around southeastern Texas, with Houston gathering men and supplies from towns, while burning what they could not take with them to deny the Mexicans. For two months, Santa Anna chased Houston around Texas, sensing victory was imminent. But in late April, he made a fatal error that would cost him the conflict.
Santa Anna had learned about the provisional government hiding out in Harrisburg, and so he split his men so that he could continue to chase Houston while his other men could capture the rebel leaders, bringing an end to the war. General Martin Cos actually came within line of sight of President David G. Burnett, but opted not to gun him down because he and the rebel government were fleeing to Galveston Island on rowboats with their families aboard, and he reasoned that with the rebel leadership trapped there, once Houston was dealt with, they could come back and round them up.
By good fortune, around this time, Houston's men captured a Mexican courier and learned of the split, and Houston realized there would be no better opportunity to force an engagement, so after baiting a chase for several months, Houston finally turned around and went to Santa Anna. Juan Seguin, furious at being kept from being allowed to participate in the siege of the Alamo, pushed to allow his men, all of Mexican heritage, to participate in this battle, which he was allowed as long as they wore pieces of cardboard or playing cards in their hats to distinguish them as friendlies.
On April 19th, Houston and his men attacked Santa Anna's army in a marsh near San Jacinto, but they were repelled. The attack almost ended catastrophically for Houston due to a rogue Texian infantry charge that was nearly overwhelmed, but ultimately narrowly fought off. Nevertheless, Houston and Santa Anna knew Houston held the stronger position. Santa Anna hurriedly called back his troops that were going after the provisional government, but Houston had his men burn bridges across the nearby river to prevent them from escaping and to delay reinforcements. It would be a winner-take-all engagement.
In the middle of the night between April 20th and 21st, General Cos arrived with his men to reinforce Santa Anna's position, having double-timed it through the night. Santa Anna's men were awake constructing rudimentary barricades, fearing an imminent attack. However, no attack came. The men waited through the night and well into the morning, before the call was given to stand down and rest.
Houston, meanwhile, was rallying his men, and shortly after the call to stand down was given, he and his men were slowly advancing toward the crest of a small hill that hid them from sight. Once they crested the hill, they opened with a bombardment from the two cannons they had taken from Gonzales, nicknamed the Twin Sisters, and then all hell broke loose.
Galvanized by Goliad and the Alamo, the Texian defenders charged the Mexican army in a craze, tactics thrown by the wayside. The Mexican army, exhausted from their overnight wait and caught unawares, were soundly routed within 20 minutes. But while the battle was over, the slaughter lasted for several hours afterward as the men hunted down Santa Anna and obliterated his army.
Eventually, Santa Anna was found, having attempted to flee the battle and his identity was confirmed beyond all doubt when he was found to be wearing expensive undergarments. Santa Anna was forced to surrender, and for the next several weeks, he negotiated with the provisional government.
Several treaties were signed, creating a much broader Texian province that looks much closer to what would be recognized today than to the province it was at the time, all troops north and east of the Rio Grande were removed, and the province would be allowed full autonomy and the right to self-govern. However, Mexico did not recognize Texas' independence, bringing the Texas Revolution to an end.
For ten years, the Republic of Texas would exist unrecognized but unhindered by the Mexican authorities, but as more and more Americans immigrated and became landowners, calls to be admitted to the union grew and grew. Eventually, on December 29th, 1845, Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state.
Needless to say, the Mexican government were not pleased with this, but that's a story for another time.