forwarded it to Mexico City. Santa Anna,
now heading Mexico for the first time,
judged the letter treasonable and had
Austin locked up until 1835. By then Santa
Anna had assumed dictatorial power,
thrown out the federalist Constitution of
1824, and begun the process of devising a
new centralist constitution that would
demolish state autonomy.
Rebellion against the new regime
began in several Mexican states, including
Zacatecas, Yucatán, and Alta California,
but nowhere were the consequences more
lasting than in Texas. There, Texan dele-
gates, some Tejano but most Anglo,
covened at San Felipe de Austin, and, on
November 7, 1835, provisionally declared
their independence until such time as the
Constitution of 1824 was restored, if it
ever was.
Independence
A month before what came to be called
the Consultation at San Felipe de Austin
took place, Texans were already fighting
Mexicans in what is generally considered
the first battle in the Texan Revolution, or
Texan War of Independence. It took place
at Gonzales on October 2, 1835, when
Texan rebels refused orders to hand over
an old cannon they had been given for
protection against Native Americans.
The rebels raised a banner that read
“Come and Take It.” Government forces
tried, but the Texans routed them and
kept the cannon.
The rebels captured the presidio at
Goliad a week later, then laid siege to San
Antonio, capturing it on December 11
after five days of fierce house-to-house
fighting. The victorious rebels permitted
their adversary, General Martín Cos, a
brother-in-law of Santa Anna, to with-
draw with his forces. Now the stakes
grew higher. Santa Anna, eager to avenge
the defeat, amassed an army of perhaps
5,000 and marched into San Antonio on
February 23, 1836. He found the town
only thinly defended by a force of about
150 men, all holed up in the fortified mis-
sion called the Alamo. It would become
the symbol of Texan independence.MANIFEST DESTINY AND HISPANIC AMERICA 85Troop Movements and Battles in the Texas Independence Movement, 1836