Thread by @bonesoflasalle

The 7 French soldiers said a hundred more were coming and the Spanish fled east Texas to San Antonio. However, the Spanish governor gathered a large force and expelled the French from Texas without loss of life. A new, stronger, fortified base was established in the region.

With no French threat, the Spanish presence in Texas was reduced to 144 soldiers & most missions relocated to the San Antonio area where they were attacked by the Lipan Apaches and, after securing an uneasy peace with them, with their more aggressive enemies such as the Comanche

Spain’s 🇪🇸 minimal military defense fell to a small group of very rugged presidial cavalry known as soldados de cuera because of the leather sleeveless jackets they wore. They were expert Indian fighters, adapting to their tactics and circumstances.

In 1762 France ⚜️ surrendered her claim to Texas as part of the settlement of the French & Indian War. With no imperial neighbors nearby, most of the Spanish presence retracted to San Antonio, founded in 1718 and first populated by Canary Islanders. 🇪🇸

In 1779 Spain joined in the American Revolutionary War by declaring war on Britain. Don Bernardo de Galvez, who knew Texas well, ordered a roundup of Texas cattle to feed his army massing at New Orleans. The livestock gathered at Goliad 1779-82 for the first cattle drive in Texas

After making peace with the Comanche, they aided the Spanish in destroying or driving out of Texas the fierce Karankawas. In January 1790, the Comanche and Spanish wiped out the Lipan and Mescalero Apaches at Soledad Creek west of San Antonio. This largely stopped their raids. 🇪🇸

In 1808 King Fernando VII of Spain 🇪🇸 abdicated and Napoleone made his big brother King of Spain. This led to turmoil in the colonies as factions sought to take advantage of the war on the Iberian Peninsula. The first fires of the Mexican War for Independence 🇲🇽 broke out 🔥.

Mexican revolutionary Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara enlisted the help of an Irishman discharged from the USArmy named Augustus Magee. With an army of renegades, runaway slaves and mercenaries flying a green flag they invaded Texas in 1812 to seize the country from Spain 🇪🇸.

The revolutionaries just managed to capture Goliad, then, in 1813, fought a battle and captured San Antonio. At that point all the Spanish colonial officials were taken out, tied to trees and shot. This shocked the Americans who then all left and went back to Louisiana.

On August 18, 1813 Spanish control of Texas was restored when royalist General Joaquín de Arredondo defeated the Mexican republicans at the a Battle of Medina, taking no prisoners. It is the largest battle ever fought on Texas soil. ⭐️🇪🇸

In January 1821 the Spanish government gave Moses Austin a land grant in Texas. He had been a Spanish subject in Louisiana but died before he could begin the colonization of Texas. That would be left to his son who would do so under the newly independent government of Mexico 🇲🇽.

In 1819 the first Lone Star ⭐️ flag appeared in Texas with the filibustering expedition of Dr James Long. He captured Nacogdoches, proclaimed the Republic of Texas and then went on to seize Goliad from the Spanish. Most of his men later deserted though and he was seized and 👇🏻

sent to Mexico 🇲🇽 in 1822. He was appealing his case to newly independent Mexico’s first ruler, Iturbide, when he was murdered by a guard. A companion said the guard had been bribed by a Mexican revolutionary who had partnered with Long on the expedition. ☠️

Two of them who accompanied Dr Long on his doomed expedition were Jim Bowie and Ben Milam who would, likewise, go on to earn their own pages in Texas history but also come to a tragic end. ⭐️

In 1821 “the Father of Texas” Stephen F. Austin came to Texas to fulfill his father’s goal of colonization. However, while on route, Mexico became independent and his Spanish land grant was worthless. He went to Mexico and got the a Iturbide junta to approve it, but then he 👇🏻

was ousted and a new government required a new agreement. But, with the help of José Antonio Navarro, Austin became an empresario and brought the first 300 families from the USA to Texas in late 1825, establishing Austin’s colony. ⭐️

To own land in Texas, Mexican law made being Catholic mandatory. However, the only priest sent to the region of Austin’s Colony was Fr Michael Muldoon who was perfectly willing to baptize Protestants who he knew had no intention of practicing Catholicism. Freedom of religion guy.

Austin himself, though not particularly religious, was adamant about accepting all Mexican laws & avoiding religious troubles. He wrote constantly to the bishops in Mexico asking them to send priests to Texas as the lack of clergy was being filled by (illegal) Protestant pastors.

In late 1826, early 1827 the Fredonian Rebellion broke out in Nacogdoches led by Haden & Benjamin Edwards who declared Texas the “Republic of Fredonia”. 100 Mexican troops and over 200 Texas militia organized by Stephen F. Austin defeated this uprising against Mexico 🇲🇽.

In 1830 Mexican 🇲🇽 President Anastasio Bustamante banned slavery in Texas and (get this) outlawed all immigration from the United States🇺🇸. He established more military outposts to patrol the border and collect import duties, angering many of the locals.

In 1831 General Manuel de Mier y Terán made a major survey of Texas and in a report predicted trouble with the predominately Anglo population. Nothing was done due to political instability in Mexico and the gallant officer killed himself, distraught that Mexicans would not unite.

In 1832 Texas was rocked by the Anahuac Disturbances when the locals protested against the actions of the Mexican garrison commander (US-born) Colonel Juan Davis Bradburn. A new arrival, the young lawyer William Barret Travis championed the cause of the colonists.

Travis and other opponents of the government were arrested by Bradburn. Frank Johnson organized 200 Texas militia to liberate them but intervention by another Mexican officer secured the release of the prisoners and the Texas militia stood down. Tensions were clearly worsening.

In the ensuing years many Texans called for armed rebellion against Mexico. However, Stephen F. Austin always opposed this. He took the petitions of the Texans to Mexico but was immediately arrested without being charged. When finally released even he said war was the only way.

In general, the Texans wanted a return to the states’ rights constitution of 1824, which Santa Anna had torn up. He also sent his brother-in-law to occupy Texas with an army of convict soldiers. This made the Texans quite unwilling to being disarmed.

A troop of Mexican cavalry was sent to confiscate a small canon at Gonzales for defense against Indians. The Texans unfurled a flag that said “Come And Take It”. On October 2, 1835 the Mexicans tried, were repulsed & the first battle of the War for Texas Independence was over.⭐️

About a week later Texas hero Ben Milam led over 100 volunteers to storm presidio La Bahía at Goliad. The 50 Mexican troops were too few to defend the walls and the Texans hacked their way in and secured the Mexicans’ surrender with a minimum of casualties on both sides.

The Texian army formed and elected Stephen F. Austin as their commander. General Austin took his soldiers and advanced on San Antonio. At Mission Concepción an advance force of 90 Texans were attacked by 250 Mexicans. The Texans had good cover and their rifles won the days.

Austin besieged San Antonio, Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cós returned Austin’s request for his surrender unopened. Thomas J. Rusk arrived with reinforcements and he would take command for a time but 600 men against over 1,000 in fortified positions were long odds.

In late November 1835, as the siege of San Antonio de Bejar dragged on, Texian scout Deaf Smith reported a column of Mexican wagons & mules with military escort coming toward town. This had to be the payroll of General Martín Perfecto de Cós (seen here👇🏻) from Mexico! An attack..

was organized. Deaf Smith would conceal his men in some rocks & take out the infantry, Jim Bowie would immobilize the wagons. It was a hot fight but the Texians prevailed. But instead of pesos they found bags of fodder for the Mex cavalry. So this was called “the Grass Fight”😆.

During the siege of San Antonio, the two companies of New Orleans Greys arrived under captains Thomas H. Breece and Robert C. Morris. Smartly uniformed & well armed, they brought an 18pdr canon with them, the biggest gun in Texas during the war. ⭐️

As winter approached morale in the besieging Texas army had plummeted after so much inaction. General Edward Burleson had taken over command after Austin’s departure and he began to consider abandoning the siege and withdrawing to the colonies. However, not everyone agreed.

Texas living legend Ben Milam decided he would lead an attack himself if no one else would. He scratched a line in the dirt with his long rifle and shouted, “Who will come with old Ben Milam into Béxar?”. Hundreds of Texans volunteered on the spot and a formal assault began.

The Texan attack would focus on seizing the military plaza and would be made in two attacking columns, one led by Col. Ben Milam, the other by Col. Frank Johnson with General Burleson commanding a reserve force in case things went bad. It began on December 5, 1835. ⭐️ 🇲🇽

It did not take long for tragedy to strike. While Ben Milam was standing in the courtyard of the Veramendi Palace, he was shot dead by a Mexican cazador armed with a British Baker rifle perched in a cottonwood tree by the river. However, this only enraged the Texans.

Ben Milam ⭐️ 1788-1835☠️

The battle for San Antonio went on, street to street and house to house. As the Texans neared the plaza, Cos began withdrawing into the Alamo but his desire for a counterattack was met with defiance and desertions by his men. He concluded he had no choice but surrender.🇲🇽🏳️

On December 11, 1835 the Mexican army in Texas of Gen. Martin Perfecto de Cos formally surrendered to Gen. Edward Burelson’s Texans. The Mexicans were paroled back to Mexico after taking an oath not to fight again against the Constitution of 1824. They began the march home.

On November 4, 1835 Capt. Ira Westover led 65 Texans to attack Ft Lipantitlán, defended by 90 Mexican troops. The attack was a success, luck played a large part, & the Texans captured valuable canon. This opened the way for an offensive south against a Matamoros.

Scottish-born James Grant was the primary advocate for the Matamoros Expedition. After taking control of Texas, Grant wanted the Texans to invade the northern Mexican city of Matamoros. Sam Houston tried to dissuade the volunteers from going but Grant & Frank Johnson went south.

Unknown to the Texans, Santa Anna 🇲🇽 had reacted quickly and was even then executing a rapid winter march on Texas with an army of roughly 7,000; the bulk under his own command heading for Béxar and 2000 headed for Goliad under General José Urrea. Grant was headed for disaster.

Texas was in a state of near anarchy at this point. Provisional Governor Henry Smith was deposed but refused to give up power to newly appointed Gov. James Robinson, both later superseded by provisional President David G. Burnet. Who was in charge? Both. Neither. It was a mess.⭐️

This political chaos was mirrored with the military where different authorities appointed different commanders so that Frank Johnson, James W. Fannin & Sam Houston all claimed to be commander-in-Chief at the same time. Houston had no soldiers & could only persuade, not order.⭐️

There were not much more than a hundred men left at San Antonio after the Mexican army was expelled. Under the joint command of Col. Jim Bowie & LtCol. William B. Travis, they set to work fortifying the ruins of an unfinished Spanish mission known as the Alamo.

On February 23, 1836 the advance units of Santa Anna’s army began to arrive in San Antonio. The Texians withdrew into the Alamo & dramatically rejected a demand for their surrender. The Mexicans raised a red flag to indicate they would take no prisoners in the coming fight.

The Alamo had 2 co-commanders & a nominal 3rd. Regular army Lt.Col William Barret Travis moved to Texas from Alabama in 1831. A key figure in the Anahuac Disturbances he held the highest rank but wasn’t as popular as Bowie. He was effectively the sole commander during the siege.

Colonel of volunteers James Bowie moved to Texas from Louisiana in 1830 & married into the Mexican aristocracy (his home was Veramendi Palace). A popular, hard fighting local hero, known for the huge knife he invented , he fell ill during the siege & was bedridden for much of it.

“Colonel” David Crockett of Tennessee was already a legendary frontiersman & politician when he came to Texas in 1836 after opposing Jackson’s Indian Removal Act. Though only a “high private” he had huge prestige & was assigned the weakest area of the Alamo to defend.

On February 27, 1836 the Mexican troops of General Jose Urea advancing up the coast, surprised a detachment of the Matamoros Expedition led by Frank Johnson. The Colonel & 6 others escaped, the rest were killed or captured.

On March 2 the other column of the Matamoros Expedition led by James Grant was also intercepted by Urrea’s army at the Battle of Agua Dulce Creek. Grant tried to escape to warn Fannin at Goliad of Urrea’s approach but he was killed in action & his command wiped out. 🇲🇽

Meanwhile, at the Alamo, calls for help by Travis went unanswered save for the “immortal” 32 from Gonzales who slipped through the Mexican lines to join the besieged mission. But this still meant less than 200 Texans facing a professional army of nearly 5,000. ⭐️

Many have since speculated how the 32 men reached the Alamo. Did Santa Anna position his forces poorly, enabling them to slip through a gap? Perhaps the Mexican commander had allowed them in, wishing to catch as many “Anglos” in the Alamo as possible to be wiped out? Who can say?

Travis sent his trusted lieutenant, James Butler Bonham, to seek help from Colonel Fannin at Goliad who had the only other sizeable body of troops in the region. He sent other appeals to Houston & the Texas government but they had practically no help to send.

On March 2, 1836 the provisional government at Washington-on-the-Brazos issued the formal Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Texas. This was no longer a war of rebellion for the rights of 1824 but a war for independence from Mexico. ⭐️

The next day Lt James Butler Bonham returned to the Alamo with the news that no help from Fannin was coming. It quickly became very clear that the Alamo defenders could expect no aid and had no hope of winning against the thousands of Mexican troops besieging them. ⭐️

According to one account, Travis gathered all the defenders together, drew a line in the sand & asked for volunteers to stay with him & fight to the death against the Mexican army. All but one crossed the line. The one man who didn’t was the source of this story. ⭐️

Santa Anna laid out his plan of attack on the Alamo on March 4. His troops would attack from all four sides with the assault columns led by Gen. Martín Perfecto de Còs, Col. Francisco Duque, Col. José María Romero & Col. Juan Morales. Sesma’s cavalry would prevent any escape.🇲🇽

In the predawn darkness of March 6, 1836 Santa Anna🇲🇽 launched his assault on the Alamo. Their approach was stealthy but finally the Texans were alerted by the cheers of the Mexican soldiers. The Texans opened a devastating fire into the massed ranks of Mexican troops.

Colonel Travis was one of the first to fall, shot in the head by an undercharged Mexican musket. The supposed weak spot of the Alamo, defended by Crockett, proved anything but and the Mexican troops were driven toward the north wall. It was there that the Alamo was breached.

Breaching the perimeter was no easy task for the Mexican army. Casualties were heavy. Colonel Francisco Duque was wounded & trampled by his own men but shouting them forward the whole time. Colonel Juan Morales seized the big 18pdr, turning it on the Texans..

The surviving Texans from the perimeter wall fell back to the Long Barracks where a vicious struggle ensued as the Mexicans methodically blasted open the doors with captured canon & subdued each room in hand-to-hand fighting, bayonets and Bowie knives.

Jim Bowie was killed in his sickbed. Soldados tossed his body on their bayonets like a bale of hay. Bowie had a slave named Sam who may have survived but there’s no evidence either way. There’s also a story of a slave named Betty who cooked for Bowie who survived the attack.

The Alamo chapel was the last part of the stronghold to be taken. The civilians, women & children, were sheltered there as it was the most protected area. Jim Bonham was stationer there, Davy Crockett’s position was just outside. The big 18pdr was used to blast open the doors.

When the Mexican army eliminated the last resistance in the Alamo, Santa Anna proved as good as his word. No one was spared, no prisoners were taken. However, most non-combatants were spared, none of the women were harmed. Santa Anna has his victory albeit a costly one. 🇲🇽

Susanna Dickinson was the most prominent Alamo survivor. Santa Anna gave her transportation to the Anglo settlements with the idea that she would tell of his crushing victory & thus spread fear & demoralization among the Texian ranks. ⭐️

The fate of Davy Crockett has lately been revised. Susanna Dickinson testified that Crockett died in battle at his post. But a Mexican battalion officer later wrote that Crockett was captured & executed after the battle by Santa Anna’s staff.