ARLINGTON, Va. - s4story -- by Ed Lengel for David Bruce Smith's Grateful American Book Prize

The Battle of Gonzales, October 1835

A small-scale reenactment of the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord—which commemorated the start of the Revolutionary War—took place 190 years ago this month, in the fourteen-year-old—settlement of Gonzales—in the Mexican province of Texas. After a long war, it had finally secured its independence from Spain in 1821. Even so, residuals of the conflict remained in Texas. Mexican outposts were practically rubbed out and continuously menaced by native Indians. In a desperate attempt to restore viability, the nascent Mexican government permitted–and even encouraged—communities of Anglo-American frontiersmen to emerge—led by Stephen F. Austin, who was given the title of empresario.

By the mid-1830s, the permissive Mexican regime dwindled, as Antonio de Santa Anna's government, began to centralize authority—and aggressively restrict—Anglo rights in Mexico, and their flexibility to import and own slaves. On October 2, 1835.  Mexican officer Francisco de Castañeda left San Antonio de Béxar and rode at the head of 100 dragoon cavalrymen to seize a six-pounder cannon held by the Anglo Texans in Gonzales. The Mexican government had provided the artillery piece to the Texans to defend against Indians, but they refused to relinquish it. Instead, they brandished a flag with the defiant motto: "Come and Take It." The Mexican dragoons tried to take it, but they were driven off by the defenders. The skirmish activated the Texan Revolution, aroused the storming of the Alamo—and eventually—the formation of Texas.

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For more information about the Battle of Gonzales and the Texas War of Independence, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends Stephen L. Hardin's Texan Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution, 1835-1836 (1996).

History Matters is a feature courtesy of the Grateful American Book Prize.

For more book recommendations and information about the 2025 Grateful American Book Prize winner Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson visit https://gratefulamericanbookprize.org/.