by Barry Harrin
It was in this time of world conflict and historical change that an expedition was organized and not so secretly supported by the United States to seize control of Texas from Spain. The Gutiérrez-Magee expedition known as the Republican Army of the North was led by Jose Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara and Augustus William Magee.40
One of the colorful personalities in the Republican Army of the North was Captain Josiah Taylor. He was one of several captains commanding the American units. He was born in Virginia in 1791. He got married in Georgia. He then left his wife and two young children temporarily to find adventure and treasure in Spanish Texas.
He and his men had good horses and were proven marksmen. In at least two of the battles with the Spanish Royalists, Captain Taylor’s unit would be in the center of the line bearing the brunt of the attacks.
On August 7, 1812 they invaded Spanish Texas from the neutral territory of Louisiana proudly waving an “Emerald Green Flag” which was their war banner. The expedition quickly captured Nacogdoches, Trinidad de Salcedo and La Bahía (Goliad) where Magee died. After the capture of San Antonio, a Declaration of Independence for the first Republic of Texas was proclaimed on April 6, 1813. Unfortunately … this independence was very short lived.
In response to the declaration of independence, a Spanish Royalist Army of more than 1,800 men was organized under commandant-General Arredondo. They marched in early August from Laredo toward San Antonio to put down the rebellion.
Toledo became the new commander of the Republican forces after deposing Gutierrez. The Republicans with a force of former royalists, Tejanos, Anglos and Indians set out to meet the Spanish army south of the San Antonio, to spare the city the destruction of war.
On August 18th the Republican rebels fell into a trap and were ambushed in a dense oak forest 20 miles south of San Antonio between the Atascosa and Medina Rivers. Under a blazing hot Texas sun, the Republicans began their battle already tired, thirsty, hungry and debilitated by the high humidity.
The intense battle involved artillery, cavalry, infantry and lasting four-hours before the Republicans broke ranks and ran. The battleground flowed with the blood of the Republicans. The vast majority of them not killed on the battlefield were captured and executed during the retreat.
The few survivors, such as Captain Josiah Taylor, rode at a full gallop towards the Louisiana border and safety. His life was spared by a combination of factors; a fast horse, luck and a high resistance to pain and trauma. How many of us could survive a trek of over 450 miles on horseback … after receiving seven wounds in the battle, including two rifle slugs in your body?
Upon arriving in Louisiana the rifle slugs were removed. After a long recovery, Josiah returned to Georgia to his wife and two children. This would not be the last Texas would see of Josiah Taylor and his offspring.
It was a disaster in that less than 100 out of a force of about 1400 survived the slaughter, while the Spanish forces lost only fifty-five men. These fifty-five were given an honorable burial on the march to San Antonio. The Spanish forces declared martial law and delivered brutal punishment to the rebels, their supporters and family members in San Antonio.41
The bodies of the fallen Republicans lost in the battle were ordered by the Spanish authorities to be left to rot under the blazing Texas sun. It wasn’t until nine years later in 1822, when Jose Felix Trespalacios, the first Governor of Mexican Texas gave these skeletons and bones a Christian burial.
One of Spanish General Arredondo’s subordinates was a Lt. Antonio López de Santa Anna. Santa Ana would return to San Antonio twenty-three years later in the Battle of the Alamo demonstrating some of the brutal techniques learned during the Battle of Medina.42
Although the Battle of Medina is virtually unknown to most Americans and Texans, it was the bloodiest battle ever fought on Texas soil. According to Historian Robert Thonhoff “More men died at the Battle of Medina than at the battles of the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto combined,” Amazingly, the exact location of this historic battle is still unknown. (In 2008 the author and his sons Brian and Brandon Harrin participated in an unsuccessful expedition to locate the actual Battle of Medina site.)
Chapter 7: The Anglo Invasion
The Anglo invasion began first with the encouragement of the Spanish and later the Mexican governments. In 1820 Moses Austin a 59-year old Missourian asked the Spanish government for a large land grant that he proposed to promote and sell to American settlers.43
Based on Austin’s background as a Missouri banker, Louisiana judge, Virginia mine operator and Philadelphia dry goods merchant, his request must have seemed outrageous.44 However, the Spanish government had three problems it needed to solve: It needed a buffer against illegal Anglo settlers and it had a shortage of native Mexican settlers. Only 3,500 had settled in Texas (part of the Mexican State Coahuila y Tejas) and finally Spain needed to pacify or exterminate the more violent Indian tribes.45
In 1821 Mexico, of which Texas was a part, finally won its independence from Spain. Texas developed quickly under Mexican rule as the government promoted settlement by working with groups such as Austin’s. Returning from a trip to Mexico City, Moses Austin died from exposure and exhaustion. His son Stephen took over and by the end of 1824 the colony had attracted over 250 colonists to Texas.46
Working with the Mexican government, Austin set up a sales organization of land agents. These land agents (Called empresarios) received 67,000 acres of land for every 200 families they brought to Texas.
The sales organization was wildly successful in spite of the Mexican government strict requirements for land ownership (1) Settlers must become Mexican citizens and (2) Settlers must be or must convert to Roman Catholicism. In spite of these restrictions, by 1830 there were 16,000 Americans in Texas. Although the Anglos weren’t the majority in the State of Coahuila de Tejas, they made up a 4-to-1 majority in the northern (Texas) portion of the State.
The third goal of elimination of the more violent Indian tribes did not occur until around 1875 when the last of the original Indian groups of Texas had been killed or forced onto reservations in Oklahoma.
As the Anglo population exploded, the Mexican authorities became quite alarmed, not only by their numbers but by their actions. It was more than the exploding Anglo population that caused concern, it was also their actions. The Anglos segregated themselves from the native Mexicans, attended their own schools, refused to learn Spanish and primarily traded with the United States. Mexican authorities strongly suspected that the Anglos were a Trojan horse and these colonists would be used as a revolutionary force to annex Texas to the United States.
As a form of self-defense, Mexican authorities began a major crackdown. This included restricting trade with the United States, setting up new military posts, reaffirming their prohibition on slavery and ending Anglo immigration.47
By 1832 General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, became the president of Mexico and to the dismay of the American colonists, in 1834 Santa Ana made himself dictator of Mexico. When Stephen Austin went to Mexico City to negotiate with Santa Ana he was imprisoned for a year.
One of the key figures in the unfolding drama was Sam Houston. Houston was quite a character and ultimately instrumental in winning independence for Texas. At the age of 15 he ran away from home and lived with the Cherokee Indians in Southern Tennessee. He fought in the war of 1812, battled the Creek Indians under Andrew Jackson and at 30 served as a Congressman. At the age of 34 he was elected governor of Tennessee.
He was considered by many Americans as a future Andrew Jackson, until a scandal struck in 1829. Houston had married a woman 17 years younger than he was. Within just a few months the marriage was annulled, causing great embarrassment and humiliation. He became a drunkard and returned to live with the Cherokee Indians in what is now Oklahoma and Arkansas. Houston arranged peace treaties with enemy tribes and interceded on behalf of the Cherokee tribe with President Jackson demanding that the U.S. live up to its treaty. Jackson disagreed and inst
ead sent Houston to Texas to monitor the American settlers and the growing anti-Mexican sentiment.48
In November of 1835 the American colonists created a constitution, and organized a temporary government without declaring independence from Mexico. While still hoping for self government through compromise, they created a protective military force with Sam Houston as commander.49
By the middle of 1835 scattered violence against Mexican rule began to spread until the entire Texas army of 300–500 riflemen captured Mexican military headquarters in San Antonio. This was the beginning of the revolution against Mexican rule.
Chapter 8: The Battle of the Alamo
The Texas revolution and the Battle of The Alamo were outgrowths of the Mexican civil war and Santa Ana’s seizure of power in Mexico. Santa Ana was fighting a two front war.50 He was fighting dissidents and consolidating his power within Mexico itself, while he began his campaign to liquidate Anglo infected rebels in Texas
The real revolution began on October 2, 183551 when Anglo settlers in Gonzales stopped Mexican troops from taking a small cannon that had been given to the town to protect against marauding Indians. This emboldened the revolutionaries who rapidly attacked and captured Mexican strongholds at Goliad and Lipantitlan.
By late October, the revolutionaries organized the Army of the People and marched to San Antonio de Béxar (San Antonio). They won some victories outside of the town, but were reluctant to assault Bexar. Although there were desertions of some settlers these seemed to be replaced by arriving volunteers from the United States by way of New Orleans. This changed on December 5th when the rebels captured San Antonio after a five-day battle.52
The Mexican garrison was allowed to leave Texas after they pledged not to return to reinstitute Mexican control.
Between December 1835 and February 1836 the sense of unity that had previously existed dissolved as in fighting intensified over what actions should be taken next. There were several schools of thought, regarding what needed to be done. The first; the fight had been won over Mexican authorities and the battle was now over. The second; Mexican troops would try to retake Texas in the spring. The third; the fight should be taken into Mexico itself, with the city of Matamoros and its custom house on the Rio Grande being the starting point.
After the Mexican troops were forced out of San Antonio de Bexar the rebel government ordered that a garrison remain in the town. Unfortunately two hundred of the garrison was rapidly stripped off for the Matamoros expedition, greatly weakening the ability of the rebels to defend Bexar, should Mexican troops return.
When General Antonio López de Santa Ana returned to Texas with a large column of Mexican troops, he found the rebel forces divided and unprepared. Santa Ana’s objective was to reassert control over Texas.
To accomplish this he needed to capture the politically important center of San Antonio de Bexar (San Antonio) and then to put the entire rebel garrison to the sword as an example to any other rebels.53
A second military column, commanded by General José Urrea first marched to secure the city of Matamoros from the rebel threat. Upon securing the city, they marched to meet the rebels gathered around Goliad.
The Mexican forces reached San Antonio de Bexar on February 23 and began a siege of the Texian forces garrisoned at the Alamo Mission. The battle of the Alamo which was the most famous battle of the Texas Revolution began with the siege of the Texian rebels garrisoned at the Alamo Mission and ended on March 6, 1836.54
It was in the early morning of March 6 when the Mexican army launched their final assault on the Alamo. Although the small force of rebel Texians repulsed two attacks they were overwhelmed by the third and final Attack.55
The majority of the Texian rebels retreated into the long barracks (chapel). The rebels unable to get to the chapel tried to escape, but were slaughtered by the waiting Mexican Cavalry. The fighting was hand-to-hand and room-to-room until Mexican troops controlled the entire Alamo.56
It is believed that a number of the Texans may have tried to surrender, but they were quickly executed on orders from Santa Ana. After the battle, the mutilated bodies of the Texians were burned in a pile and their charred bones left on the ground for over a year. General Santa Ana used techniques he learned so well at the Battle of Medina.
Eyewitnesses claim the Texian losses at 185 dead and the Mexican losses at 1454 dead with an unknown amount wounded. The few survivors included Colonel Travis’ slave Joe, a Mexican deserter and primarily family members of the Texian soldiers. They were questioned by Santa Ana and then released.
As part of a psychological warfare campaign, Santa Ana sent three of the survivors to the rebel town of Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. After hearing this news, the Texian commander ordered a retreat of the government and all the citizens towards the United States border and away from the Mexican army.57
Santa Ana grew furious after learning that his men had captured Colonel Fannin and his 350 rebel troops on the 20th of March and held them prisoner in Goliad. Santa Ana sent a courier on the old Ox-Cart Road through the future Helena to order the execution of Fannin and his men.
Santa Ana’s orders were followed on Palm Sunday, the 27th of March.58 The prisoners were divided into three groups, marched onto open fields, and shot.
All of Fannin’s command except a few who escaped or were spared by the Mexicans, were slaughtered, their bodies stacked and burned.
Only three weeks after the massacre of the defenders of the Alamo, the victims of Goliad now served as martyrs for the Texians. A sense of total terror swept across what remained of Houston’s forces and the vast majority of Texian civilians. They fled for their lives, in what has been called the “Runaway Scrape,” towards the safety of the United States border to the East.59
It was only three weeks later, on April 21, 1836 that the Texians got their revenge. Driven with fury and inspired by cries of “Remember Goliad” and “Remember the Alamo,” the outnumbered Texans in a dramatic reversal, won one of history’s most decisive victories at the Battle of San Jacinto near present day Houston.60
Sam Houston and his rag tag band of 910 pioneers routed Santa Ana, the self-styled “Napoleon of the West.” Approximately 700 Mexican soldiers were killed and 730 captured, while only nine Texans died … amazingly, the battle lasted only 18 minutes.61 Santa Ana was captured and forced to order his troops out of Texas, ending Mexican control of the area and changing the map of North America forever.
Chapter 9: Texas Is Now Free…But Not Free Of Trouble
After the Texian victory at San Jacinto the United States government decided to assess the situation in Texas. In the summer of 1836, United States President, Andrew Jackson, sent a State Department clerk, Henry M. Morfit, as a special agent to Texas. His task was to collect information on the republic’s population, strength and ability to maintain independence.
Morfit filed his report in August 1836. His report estimated the population at 30,000 Anglo-Americans, 3,478 Tejanos, 14,200 Indians, of which 8,000 belonged to the so-called civilized tribes that had migrated from the United States. In addition he estimated a slave population of 5,000 plus a few free Negroes.62
Shortly thereafter, in the fall of 1836 Sam Houston was inaugurated as president of the independent country known as the Republic of Texas. The Republic of Texas claimed all of the present State of Texas as well as parts of present-day New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming based upon the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas Republic and Mexico.63
Although many Texians favored a rapid annexation by the United States, the U.S. Government did not favor annexation. Some of the reasons for this decision were: the unstable financial situation in Texas and the constant threat of war with Mexico.64
Although the battle of San Jacinto had been a decisive victory for Texans, Mexico continued to raid the Texas border, refusing to recognize Texas’s independence. The new government of Texas was essentially bankrupt and had little governmental infrastr
ucture in place.
After being rejected by the United States, the Texians began creating a government and an independent nation from scratch. Thousands of settlers continued pouring across the Texas border every year, in spite of continued fighting with both Mexico and hostile Indian tribes.
One of the major disputes between Texas and Mexico was related to borders. This was especially true with the southern border. Mexico insisted the border was the Nueces River, while Texas claimed it to be the Rio Grande River. Many threats and incursions came from both sides over this and other issues.
In 1841 Santa Ana again became president of Mexico and renewed hostilities with Texas. These hostilities increased after several invasions of Texas by the Mexican military. One of these was a raid by General Rafael Vasquez with 700 soldiers and their two day occupation of San Antonio. This raid set off a wave of fear and terror for Texians called the “Runaway of 42.”