The
Growing Tyranny
Under
the leadership of General Santa Anna, the government of Mexico was
transformed into a military dictatorship,
ignoring
the Constitution
of 1824, which had cost many
lives and had secured liberties not
previously enjoyed by the people. The state of Coahuila did not
cooperate with Santa Anna's plans, and the state of Zacatecas
rebelled, but was brutally crushed by the military. One of Santa
Anna's "reforms" was to reduce the number of the militia to
one soldier for every five-hundred inhabitants, and to disarm the
remainder. This arbitrary decree was a sufficient justification of
Texas for her subsequent acts...
Word
had just come of a serious problem at Gonzales. The colonists there
were shining up a small cannon given them years ago to ward off
Indians. Col. Ugartechea, garrison commander at San Antonio, acting
under a decree disarming citizens, sent a file of cavalrymen riding
to Gonzales with an order for the surrender of the gun. Andrew
Ponton, the Gonzales alcalde, received the order and stalled for
time. He sent a message stating he was absent. He demanded an order
from the political chief of the Department of the Brazos before
releasing it. The noncommissioned officer in charge of the Mexican
cavalry left his men camped at Gonzales and rode back to San Antonio
de Bexar for further instructions from Colonel Ugartechea. Meanwhile,
Ponton buried the cannon in a peach orchard and sent runners to the
surrounding area for armed assistance.
Not
long after, the Texans shed all pretense of ever surrendering the
cannon. Joseph D. Clements delivered the message to the Mexican army:
“I cannot, nor do I desire to deliver up the cannon...and only
through force will we yield.”
In
the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 2, 1835, the Texans crossed the river
under cover of darkness and surprised reinforcements who had arrived
from San Antonio, fired the first shot in the Texas Revolution, and
emerged victorious when the enemy retreated and left all supplies
behind...
Come
and Take it festival Oct. 4, 5 and 6 at Gonzales, Texas...
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