Texan War of Independence
| date | October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836 |
|---|---|
| place | Texas |
| output | Victory of the Republic of Texas and independence from Mexico |
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Gonzales - Goliad - Lipantitlán - Concepción - Grass Fight - Béxar - San Patricio - Agua Dulce - Alamo - Sisal - Refugio - Coleto - Goliad Massacre - Matamoros - San Jacinto - Brazos River - Galveston
The Texan War of Independence (also Texan Revolution ) lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836, was a conflict between Mexico and part of Texas (Tejas) of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas and ended with the independence of Texas and the Treaty of Velasco .
The enmity between the Mexican government and the American settlers in Texas , called Texans, began with the Seven Laws (Siete Leyes) of 1835 when Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón abolished the 1824 Constitution and replaced by the new anti-federalist constitution of 1835. Soon there was unrest all over Mexico. The war in Texas began on October 2, 1835 with the Battle of Gonzales . The early Texas successes in La Bahía and San Antonio were followed a few months later by heavy defeats in the same places. Soon after, a Texas fort was overrun and nearly all of the defenders lost their lives in the Battle of the Alamo .
The war ended with the 18-minute battle of San Jacinto (about 30 km east of what is now Old Town Houston ), in which US General Sam Houston led the Texan army to victory. Antonio López de Santa Anna , the general of the Mexican army , was captured shortly after the battle. The war ended with the establishment of the Republic of Texas , which was never recognized by the Mexican government. Texas became a US state in 1845. It was not until the Mexican-American War that the “Texas question” was resolved for the USA.
background
The panic of 1819 drove the United States into a major depression . An American businessman of Spanish descent, Moses Austin , lost his manufacturing business during this time. After staying in Texas, he devised a plan to bring American settlers to the region, which would help Spain develop the area and help himself to a successful career. In 1820 he applied for a Spanish concession for the settlement of 300 families in Texas. His son, Stephen F. Austin , helped him financially secure this business in the United States. At the end of the year Moses Austin received the concession from Spain but died in June 1821. Stephen F. Austin inherited the concession and made an agreement with Governor Martinez that a settler would have 259 hectares for himself, 129 hectares for his wife, 65 hectares for each Child and 32 ha for each slave received. Because of the economic problems in the United States, Austin in New Orleans had no problem finding the 300 families.
Mexican independence and the colonization of Texas
Austin's settlement plans were drawn up during a political turmoil in Mexico. The declaration of independence from Spain in 1810 by the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla caused an eleven year war. The fortunes of war seemed to lie on the Spanish side until 1821 Spanish generals, particularly Agustín de Iturbide and Santa Anna, switched fronts in favor of the Mexican rebellion. This resulted in a Mexican victory, and the Mexican War of Independence ended in 1821.
In December 1821, Austin's settlers reached the planned settlement area around San Felipe . To Austin's disappointment, the government of now independent Mexico refused to recognize the original Spanish concession. Austin made multiple trips to Mexico City for three years before the concession was recognized by the new government. During this time Austin learned Spanish and became a close friend of the Mexican revolutionary José Antonio Navarro . In the years to come, they worked together to bring more settlers to Texas. According to the terms of the concession, every new settler had to convert to Roman Catholicism , meet high moral standards, become a Mexican citizen and change their name to a Spanish equivalent. Each settler got over 16 km² of land. The English-speaking settlers were called Texans , while Spanish-speaking residents and new settlers were called Tejanos . The colony flourished and after three years had a population of 18,000. Navarro itself owned more than 100 km² of land in 1830.
Origin of Texas
In 1822 Agustín de Iturbide was crowned emperor of the newly formed Mexican Empire and in 1823 recognized Austin's agreement. Under his Iguala plan , slavery was officially abolished for the first time, but it continued throughout the country. Iturbide's government soon became unstable, and in the same year Guadalupe Victoria and Antonio López de Santa Anna carried out the Casa Mata plan . This demanded the abolition of the empire and the formation of a republic. Iturbide abdicated, went into forced exile, but returned and was executed the following year . Austin had to negotiate his concession with the new government and was successful. He bought his success with the admission that the settlers first had to offer their goods in Mexico before they offered them on other markets.
Mexico became a republic under the Constitution of 1824 and Texas was formed with Coahuila to form the state of Coahuila y Tejas . The boundaries of the Texan part of this state differed considerably from those of today. The southern border was formed by the Nueces River (today Corpus Christi is located there ). To the south of it was the state of Tamaulipas . Texas's western border ended approximately 200 miles west of San Antonio, where the state of Chihuahua began. A strip of land 300 km wide lay between Tamaulipas and Chihuahua, 160 km southwest across the Rio Grande to connect Texas and Coahuila. Mexico abolished slavery for the third time under the 1824 Constitution, although it remained in effect throughout the nation. Austin received three more concessions from the government of the newly formed Mexican Republic to settle 900 more families under the new Mexican Empresario system in 1825, 1827 and 1828 . As an empresario (Spanish: agent, entrepreneur), Austin had the duty to both bring qualified families and manage their affairs. There were many other empresarios such as Lorenzo de Zavala , Haden Edwards and Ben Milam . In the meantime, however, other Americans came into the country in addition to the accepted colonists.
The way to the revolution
Fredonian Rebellion
In 1826, Empresario Haden Edwards quarreled with several leaders and settlers over land and political matters, including attempts to expropriate landowners with land rights over a century old. This ended with Edwards being stripped of his office and suffering heavy financial losses. He organized a small uprising in Nacogdoches and declared the area an independent Republic of Fredonia . Lieutenant Colonel Mateo Ahumada was sent to Texas. Austin called the Texas militia and joined Ahumada's force. Together they marched to Nacogdoches. Edwards and his followers immediately fled Texas without firing a shot.
Mexico's attention is growing
In 1827, US President John Quincy Adams offered Mexico $ 1 million to buy Texas, which was rejected. Two years later, in 1829, President Andrew Jackson tried again with an offer of five million US dollars, which Mexico refused again. In the same year, Spain tried to recapture its former colony. Santa Anna quickly defeated the Spanish invading army at Tampico and was hailed as a national hero. In 1830, Mexico was alarmed by the number of immigrants. Following the recent Fredonian Rebellion and the United States' apparent hunger for Texas, concerns arose as to who was immigrating to the state. Mexico passed the April 6th law . This canceled planned or incomplete settlements that had been given to different empresarios in various concessions. The decree allowed taxes to be collected, increased the military presence in Texas, and ended immigration to Texas. Austin managed to have the law withdrawn after three years, but military action had since been taken to enforce it, leading to an uprising in Anahuac . This was the first of the Anahuac incidents .
Texan disillusionment
The Texans felt growing disappointment with the Mexican government. Many of the Mexican soldiers stationed in Texas were convicted criminals who had been given a choice between prison or military service. Many Texans were also unhappy with the location of the state's capital, which alternated periodically between Saltillo and Monclova , both in southern Coahuila , half a mile away; they wanted Texas to become a separate Mexican state from Coahuila and have its own capital. They believed that having a capital closer to home would counteract corruption and facilitate many government affairs.
Some citizens missed rights they had in the United States. For example, Mexico did not protect religious freedom , instead it required that the colonists convert to the Roman Catholic Church . Many were also dissatisfied with the agreement Stephen Austin entered into with the Mexican government, which required that the settlers' products first be offered in Mexico and then in other markets. There was a high demand for cotton in Europe and many wanted to grow cotton for the high profits. But Mexico required the settlers to produce corn, grain, and beef, and told each settler what to grow. Unlike in the southern US, where slavery was legal, the status of slaves in Mexico was unclear. Although Mexico had abolished slavery, the government was very tolerant of slavery, but not of the slave trade. While all of this created a lot of friction, it was not enough to stir the settlers into revolt.
Santa Anna
A number of Mexican presidents were killed between 1829 and 1832. In any case, Santa Anna had a hand in it. The Mexican Republic was split into two camps: the Conservatives, who advocated a centralized monarchy, and the Liberals, who advocated a constitutional federal government. In the presidential election of 1833, Santa Anna ran as a Liberal and won. Immediately afterwards he retired to his hacienda and let Vice President Valentín Gómez Farías rule the country. The government embarked on drastic liberal reforms that annoyed the conservatives. Returning from his hacienda, Santa Anna gave up government policy and forced Gomez Farías and many of his followers to flee Mexico for the United States. Santa Anna declared that Mexico was not ripe for democracy , publicly became a conservative Catholic centralist, and called himself a dictator .
Although alienated by Santa Anna's repentance, Austin and the settlers supported Santa Anna and now wanted to capitalize on it. Austin therefore traveled to Mexico City with a petition calling for a separation from Coahuila, a better legal system, and the withdrawal of the April 6th Act that caused the first Anuhuac Incident and the Velasco Incidents (1832). All requests were met, except for the state of Texas of its own. Annoyed that he had not achieved the Texas and Coahuila split, he wrote a nasty letter to a friend who appeared to support the rebellion. Mexican officials intercepted the letter and Austin spent 18 months in jail for sedition.
The number of immigrants to Texas increased dramatically. Santa Anna believed that immigration to Texas was part of a plan by the American government to take over the region. Due to problems with the Mexican government, Santa Anna dissolved state legislatures in 1834, disarmed their militias and abolished the 1824 constitution. He imprisoned some cotton plantation owners who refused to grow the required amounts of agricultural produce. These actions sparked outrage across Mexico. The country was divided into centralists, who supported the Santa Anna dictatorship, and federalists, who wanted to restore the 1824 constitution. Santa Anna ordered all non-licensed settlers to leave Texas.
Beginning of the revolution
Many states in Mexico, particularly Yucatán , Zacatecas, and Coahuila, revolted over Santa Anna's actions. For two years Santa Anna suppressed the revolts. The revolt in the Mexican state of Zacatecas was brutally suppressed in May 1835. As a reward, Santa Anna allowed his soldiers to pillage and rape in the capital Zacatecas for two days . Thousands of civilians were killed. Santa Anna also plundered the rich silver mines at Fresnillo and, as a further punishment from Zacatecas, partitioned off an independent agricultural territory, Aguascalientes . Then he ordered General Martin Perfecto de Cos to invade Texas and put an end to the unrest there.
Revolution in Texas
The incidents between locals and the Mexican occupation forces at Anahuac and Velasco caused minor confrontations between the Texan militia and Mexican troops in 1835. At the end of June, a second Anahuac incident drove the Mexican troops out . Angry Santa Anna sent more troops to Texas and began preparations for the submission of Texas. The Texans as a whole were relatively loyal to the Constitution of Mexico until August, despite their disgust at the events in Austin, the horrific events in Zacatecas, the calls for the disarmament of the militias, the order to expel all illegal immigrants and especially the dissolution of the constitution of 1824. In August, the steadily growing number of Mexican troops and the relentless desire to bring radical Texan leaders to justice, weakened the peacemakers and leaned against Mexico and increased support for those who were willing to fight for an independent Texas.
On September 20, the Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos landed at Copano with a raid party of 300 soldiers with the goal of Goliad, San Antonio and San Felipe de Austin. Austin was released in July and arrived in Texas in August. He saw no alternative to the revolution.
Texan victories
Consistent with Santa Anna's national call to disarm the militias, Colonel Domingo Ugartechea , stationed in San Antonio, requested the Texans return a cannon stationed in Gonzales. The Texans refused. Ugartechea sent Lieutenant Francisco Castañeda and 100 dragoons to retrieve them. When he reached the flooded Guadalupe River at Gonzales, there were only 18 Texans there to offer resistance. Unable to cross the river, Castañeda waited and the Texans buried the cannon and called for volunteers. Two members of the militia answered the call. Colonel John Henry Moore was elected leader of the 18 rebels and 2 militias, dug up the cannon and two cart wheels. A Coushatta Indian entered Castañeda's camp and informed him that the Texans had 140 men.
On October 2, 1835 at three in the morning, the Texans sneaked up on Castañeda's dragoons and shot at the camp. There were no dead and only one injured Texan who fell from his horse. The next morning negotiations took place and the Texans asked Castañeda to join their revolt. Despite sympathy for the Texan affair, he was shocked by the offer and broke off the negotiations. He chose not to attack and led his dragoons back to San Antonio. So began the war. As with Gonzales, since the Mexican garrisons were not prepared for war, most early fighting ended in the Texans' favor.
Next, the Texans besieged Bexar. When General Austin gave his volunteer army the tedious task of waiting for the Mexican army to starve, many of the volunteers simply ran away. In November 1835, the Texan army shrank from 800 to 600 men, and officers began arguing about strategy , wondering why they were fighting Mexicans. Several officers gave up, including Jim Bowie . The siege of Bexar , which began on October 12, 1835, showed the poor leadership qualities of the Texan "army". Austin had been appointed commander of all Texas forces, but his talents were not in the military. The siege ended on December 11 with the capture of General Cos and his starving army, despite Austin's leadership. The Mexican prisoners were sent back to Mexico after promising not to fight again.
The early success of the Texans was largely due to their good hunting rifles, which had a greater range and accuracy than the muskets of the Mexican infantry.
The remainder of the Texan army, poorly led and with no mutual motivation, advanced into Matamoros in the hope of taking the city. The Matamoros expedition as well as the Tampico expedition under José Antonio Mexía were attempts to bring the war to Mexico. These independent missions failed, depriving Texas of its supplies and men, and bringing bad luck only for the months to come.
Provisional government
The deliberations in Gonzales led, after heated debates, to the formation of a provisional government. No separation from Mexico, only resistance against the centralists was decided. Henry Smith was elected governor and Sam Houston was named commander of the Texas regular army, which had never existed before. Austin's army was made up of volunteers, so Houston had to form a regular army first. Since there was more land than money available, regulars, as opposed to volunteers, should be given land. On November 24, 1835, Austin resigned as a general. Elections were held and Austin's successor was Colonel Edward Burleson .
Santa Anna's offensive
Advance North
After the successes of the rebels at Bexar and in the Battle of Goliad , Santa Anna decided to launch a counter-offensive. General Cos briefed Santa Anna on the situation in Texas, and the general marched north with an army of 6,000 men. The army rallied in San Luis Potosí and soon marched through the deserts of Mexico in one of the worst winters. The losses were high - hundreds of soldiers did not survive the hard march. Even so, Santa Anna reached Texas months earlier than expected. With the capture of Bexar, the political and military center of Texas, Santa Anna had achieved its first goal.
Alamo
The next destination was the Alamo , an old mission and fortress near San Antonio, where 183 to 189 men had barricaded themselves under the command of William Barret Travis and Jim Bowie . Reinforced by the sick and wounded who had fled the siege of Bexar, a total of around 250 men were in the Alamo. The Battle of Alamo ended after a thirteen-day siege on March 6th, after all fighters had died. Santa Anna's losses were estimated to be 600-1000 men. Militarily, the Alamo could never be held against the overwhelming Mexican force. Seen in this light, the defense of the mission was of no use to the Texan rebels, but the defenders were soon celebrated as heroes and by their example rekindled the Texan will to resist. The most important result during the time of the siege was the Texan declaration of independence on March 2nd.
Now Santa Anna divided his army. His goal was to force victory over the Texas army now led by General Sam Houston in a decisive battle.
Goliad and Urrea's victories
General José Urrea marched from Matamoros along the coast to Texas to prevent foreign aid by sea and to enable the Mexican Navy to land urgently needed supplies. Urrea's army fought the Battle of Agua Dulce on March 2, 1836 , which led to the Goliad campaign . General Urrea was not defeated in any battle in Texas.
At Goliad, Urrea trapped Colonel James Fannin's forces - about 350 men - after heavy losses of his own . The next day, March 20th, Fannin surrendered. About 342 of the captured Texans were executed a week later, on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, on direct orders from Santa Anna, commonly known as the Goliad Massacre .
The meeting of the two armies
Retreat of the Texans
Houston knew that his small army was not prepared to beat Santa Anna in the open. The skilled and feared Mexican cavalry was difficult for the Texans to defeat. He therefore withdrew towards the American border, accompanied by fleeing settlers. He pursued a scorched earth policy to remove much needed food from the Mexican army . Soon the rain made the roads impassable and both armies suffered losses from the cold weather.
Santa Anna's army was always on the heels of Houston. The city of Gonzales could not be defended by the rebels and was therefore set on fire, as was Austin's colony of San Felipe. Despair spread among Houston's men. Only the swollen rivers stopped Santa Anna's advance, which gave Houston a rest.
Santa Anna beaten
- see also main article: Battle of San Jacinto
Santa Anna decided to send part of his army to Galveston , where leaders of the Provisional Government had fled. Santa Anna hoped to capture the rebel leaders and end the costly and protracted war. As the dictator of Mexico, Santa Anna wanted to return to Mexico City as soon as possible . Houston knew of Santa Anna's unexpected move. Santa Anna marched east to Harrisburg with over 700 men . Without Houston's consent, tired of running away, the Texan army of 900 men sought battle. Houston could only follow. On April 20 , the two armies met at the San Jacinto River . Hilly terrain with tall grass, which the Texans used as cover, separated them. Santa Anna, excited to have the rebel army at last, was waiting for General Cos to join him. To the disappointment of the rebels, Cos arrived earlier than expected with 540 men. Annoyed that the indecisive Houston missed the opportunity, the rebel army called for the attack. On the afternoon of April 21, the invading Texans surprised the Mexican army. Santa Anna was convinced that the rebels would not attack his 1200 strong superior force, and let his army, exhausted by the forced marches, rest. His force was overwhelmed by the Texans in 18 minutes. Santa Anna's people had died or had been captured. The Texans only lost 9 men. This decisive battle led to Texas’s independence from Mexico.
Santa Anna had been captured and agreed to end the campaign. General Vicente Filisola led his tired and hungry army back to Mexico, despite protests from Urrea. Only Santa Anna had been defeated, not the entire army. Urrea said the campaign should continue, but Filisola did not agree.
consequences
Santa Anna signed the Velasco contract on May 14th . The treaty recognized Texas' independence and guaranteed Santa Anna's life. Santa Anna was brought to Washington, DC by the Texas government to meet President Jackson and guarantee the independence of the new republic. But without his knowledge, Santa Anna had been deposed in absentia by the Mexican government and was no longer authorized to represent Mexico.
Texas became a republic after a long and bloody struggle, but was never recognized by Mexico. The war continued without major incidents. Santa Anna rose as a hero in the Cake War of 1838 and was re-elected as president. The war didn't end until the Mexican-American War of 1846.
Sam Houston's victory at San Jacinto earned him the Presidency of the Republic of Texas. He later became a US Senator and Governor of Texas. Stephen F. Austin was named Secretary of State after losing the presidential election of 1836, but died shortly thereafter. Sam Houston hailed Austin as the "Father of Texas".
Historical environment of the revolution
By the time Texas declared its independence, other Mexican states were also choosing to secede from Mexico and form their own republics. The state of Yucatán formed the Republic of Yucatán , which was recognized by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and was able to hold its own for a few years until the Caste War . The states of Coahuila , Nuevo León and Tamaulipas merged to form the Republic of Rio Grande . Several other states rebelled, including San Luis Potosí , Querétaro , Durango , Guanajuato , Michoacán , Jalisco and Zacatecas. Everyone was enraged by Santa Anna's abolition of the 1824 Constitution, the dissolution of Congress, and the transition from a federal to a centralized government structure. However, only Texas was able to successfully separate from Mexico.
literature
- Hermann Ehrenberg :Journeys and fates of a German in Texas. 258 pages, Leipzig 1845.
- Hermann Ehrenberg : Adventures of a German boy in Texas' revolution - English version of the aforementioned book
Movies
swell
- Sam W. Haynes, Gerald D. Saxon (Eds.): Contested Empire: Rethinking the Texas Revolution. Texas A&M University Press, College Station 2015, ISBN 978-1-62349-309-7 .
- Davis, William C., Lone Star Rising: The Revolutionary Birth of the Texas Republic, Free Press (2004) ISBN 0-684-86510-6 .
- Dingus, Anne, The Truth About Texas, Houston: Gulf Publishing Company (1995) ISBN 0-87719-282-0 .
- Hardin, Stephen L., Texian Iliad, Austin: University of Texas Press (1994) ISBN 0-292-73086-1 .
- Nofi, Albert A., The Alamo and The Texas War for Independence, Da Capo Press (1992) ISBN 0-306-81040-9 .
- Lord, Walter, A Time to Stand ,; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1961) ISBN 0-8032-7902-7 .
Web links
- Hermann Ehrenberg : Journeys and fates of a German in Texas (digitized version of the book that appeared in Leipzig in 1845); Ehrenberg had participated in the war as a volunteer for Texas.
- Texas Revolution (English)
- History of the revolution in Texas, particularly of the war of 1835 & '36; together with the latest geographical, topographical, and statistical accounts of the country, from the most authentic sources. (English)
- Military maps of the Texas Revolution (English)
- Evacuation of Texas: translation of the representation addressed to the supreme government / by Vicente Filisola, in defense of his honor, and explanation of his operations as commander-in-chief of the army against Texas. (English)