TEXAS TIMES
BY. Juan Santana
Arrival of General cos in Texas
1800–1854) was a 19th-century Mexican general. He was married to Lucinda López de Santa Anna, sister of Antonio López de Santa Anna. Cós was born in Vera Cruz in the year 1800, the son of an attorney. He attained the rank of General in the Mexican Army and took part in the campaign against the rebellious state of Coahuila y Texas in the 1835–36 Texas War of Independence from which the Republic of Texas arose.On April 21, 1836, Cos arrived with over five hundred reinforcements for Santa Anna shortly before the Battle of San Jacinto. He was taken prisoner on April 24, after his battalion was smashed and routed by a combined attack by Texas volunteers under Colonels Sidney Sherman and Edward Burleson.
Battle of Gonzales
When Domingo de Ugartechea, military commander in Texas, received word that the American colonists of Gonzales refused to surrender a small cannon that had been given that settlement in 1831 as a defense against the Indians, he dispatched Francisco de Castañeda and 100 dragoons to retrieve it. Ugartechea realized that, given the tensions between the Texans and Antonio López de Santa Anna's Centralist government, the slightest provocation might ignite hostilities. He therefore instructed Castañeda to use force if necessary but to avoid open conflict if possible. The company rode out of San Antonio de Béxar on September 27, 1835.When Castañeda's troops reached the Guadalupe River opposite Gonzales on September 29 they found their path blocked by high water and eighteen militiamen (later called the Old Eighteen). Castañeda announced that he carried a dispatch for alcaldeAndrew Ponton but was informed that he was out of town and that the Mexican dragoons would have to wait on the west side of the river until he returned. Unable to proceed, Castañeda pitched camp 300 yards from the ford.
The Grass Fight
The Grass Fight, on November 26, 1835, became the last engagement in the siege of San Antonio before the final Texan assault on the town (see BEXAR, SIEGE OF). In November Col. Domingo de Ugartechea had left San Antonio with a cavalry escort to guide reinforcements to the garrison commanded by Gen. Martín Perfecto de Cos. After the departure of Stephen F. Austin to represent Texas in the United States, the Texan army elected as commander Col. Edward Burleson, who continued to harass Cos while scouting for the return of Ugartechea.On November 26 Erastus (Deaf) Smithqv rode into the Texas camp in mid-morning with information that Mexican cavalry with pack animals were approaching San Antonio. Texas soldiers wondered if the column might be carrying pay for the Mexican army. Burleson ordered James Bowie and forty cavalry to delay the Mexicans' progress. A hundred Texas infantry under William H. Jack followed Bowie to seize the supply train. The two cavalry forces of about equal size began to skirmish west of town and soon fought on foot from ravines near Alazan Creek. Cos sent about fifty infantry with an artillery piece to help oppose the Texan attack. The Texas infantry broke out of a crossfire from the two Mexican units and pushed them back. Mexican troops counterattacked four times until Texas reinforcements under James Swisher caused them to pull back into the town. Texas losses included four wounded, while Mexican losses numbered three dead and fourteen wounded, mostly among the cavalry. When the Texans brought in forty captured pack animals they discovered their prizes carried only grass to feed army animals.
Battle of San Antonio
Battle of the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas. The myth and legend of the Alamo is the creation story of Texas, central to the Texas legend itself, and it is a legend which continues growing, capturing the imagination of people around the world. The entire siege lasted 13 days.
Convention of 1836
The Convention of 1836 wrote the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Republic of Texas, organized the ad interim government, and named Sam Houston commander in chief of the military forces of the republic. The call for the convention to meet at Washington-on-the-Brazos was issued by the General Council of theprovisional government over the veto of Governor Henry Smith in December 1835, and the delegates were elected on February 1, 1836. The convention met on March 1, 1836, in near-freezing weather in an unfinished building belonging to Noah T. Byarsand Peter M. Mercer, his business partner. The building was rented for use of the convention by a group of Washington business men who, incidentally, never got around to paying the rent. Forty-four delegates were assembled on the first day of the convention. Fifty-nine delegates finally attended its sessions. Andrew Briscoe did not arrive until March 11. Twelve of the members were natives of Virginia, ten of North Carolina, nine of Tennessee, six of Kentucky, four of Georgia, three of South Carolina, three of Pennsylvania, three of Mexico (including two born in Texas), two of New York, and one each of Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Canada. Only ten of the delegates were in Texas as early as January 1830; two of them arrived in 1836. Sam Houston, Robert Potter, Richard Ellis, Samuel P. Carson, Martin Parmer, and Lorenzo de Zavala had all had political experience in Mexico or the United States in state or national government, several in both. James Collinsworth presided as temporary chairman, and Willis A. Faris was secretary pro tem. After the examination of credentials of the members, the permanent officers were elected; Richard Ellis was president and Herbert Simms Kimble was secretary. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on March 2, and members began signing it on March 3. The convention then proceeded to the writing of the constitution and election of ad interim government officials. With the report of the approach of the Mexican army, the convention adjourned in haste in the early morning hours of March 17.