This flag is popular with Texans, for obvious reasons. Santa Anna made too many mistakes to list here, but his troubles began in Gonzales, and Texans have had a strong distaste for dictators ever since.
Thirty-two men who stood their ground at Gonzales later died in the Battle at the Alamo.
The image shown at right is from a photograph by J. Williams and is a detail from the mural in the Gonzales Memorial Museum at Gonzales, Texas.
Below is text from Texas Day by Day, the online feature of the Handbook of Texas, a publication of the Texas State Historical Association.
If you are interested in Texas, this is the book to buy. All Texas 7th graders study Texas history, and if I were wealthy, I’d give each one of them the Handbook of Texas. I don’t know how many 7th graders that would be, but it’s a lot!
October 2,
Texas Revolution begins at Gonzales
On this day in 1835, fighting broke out at Gonzales between Mexican soldiers and Texas militiamen.
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 on September 27.
Though Castañeda attempted to avoid conflict, on the morning of October 2 his force clashed with local Texan militia led by John Henry Moore in the first battle of the Texas Revolution. The struggle for the "Come and Take It" cannon was only a brief skirmish that ended with the retreat of Castañeda and his force, but it also marked a clear break between the American colonists and the Mexican government.
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Links to related Handbook of Texas Online articles
GONZALES, BATTLE OF
- UGARTECHEA, DOMINGO DE
- MOORE, JOHN HENRY
- CASTANEDA, FRANCISCO DE
- GONZALES COME AND TAKE IT CANNON
- TEXAS REVOLUTION