Texan-Mexican War

The Texas-Mexican War was a civil war between the Mexican government and Texas, which they owned at the time of the war, which started in 1835 and ended in 1836, only 6 months later. Both regions, Mexico and Texas, had been conquered by the Spanish, and both regions had recently become independent in 1821, after the war for Mexican Independence. The Texas part of Mexico was very lightly populated, with only a few Mexicans, a few Americans, and a few Indians. This makes sense, as Texas is a dessert, and desserts aren’t really made for people. Despite this, Americans decided to colonize it and live off of the dry, hot land. The Mexican government figured why not, and so started letting Americans come in. But by 1830 their was some 7,800 Mexican Texans, and 30,000 American Texans. The Mexican Government had tried to stymie the flow of Americans in 1830, but the local government took offense to this control that the Mexican leader was taking and using. In 1832 the Texan governors started meeting and talking quietly about seceding from Mexico, and the leader of Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, started gathering control under himself. In 1835 Antonio sent General Cos to try and quiet down the rumblings of revolution, but didn’t quite do that.

A Texan town, Gonzalez, had borrowed a cannon from a neighboring Mexican fort to defend from Indians, and when the Mexicans asked for it back, due to the fact that they could soon be at war, the Texans kept it, due to the fact that they could soon be at war. The fort sent a company of 100 dragoons to take back the cannon. The battle ended with a total of 3 casualties on both sides, but they kept the cannon, so it was declared a victory, and Texas decided to be declare it’s independence.

After this there wasn’t really any conflicts until the battle of the Alamo in 1836. The Alamo was a small fort near the former capital of Texas, San Antonio, and was only very lightly defended by the Texans, as they had already cleared the area of Mexico supporters. Antonio arrived in the area to take the fort, however, and had some total 2,500 Mexican troops, while the fort had some 200 Texan defenders. The siege lasted 13 days, during which there was not a thought of surrender, before the Mexicans broke in, and killed all the defenders. They weren’t to be dismissed, however, and they took 400-600 Mexican soldiers with them. There were also major frontiersmen at the fort and died there, like Davy Crockett, Sam Bowie, and William Travis. This battle was a victory for the Mexicans, but it became a symbol for the Texans.

The last battle was the battle of San Jacinto, named after a river that Antonio set up camp at to await reinforcements. The Texans decided to fight him before the reinforcements arrived. They didn’t make it, and Antonio’s reinforcements arrived. The Texans decided to attack anyway, as they thought it would be a surprise attack, because it was possibly the dumbest thing they could’ve done. It worked. It did surprise Antonio, because it was the dumbest thing they could’ve done. Santa Anna was captured, and gave the Texans got their Independence, and Antonio got his.

Texas remained independent until 1845, when they joined The United States of America, and fought a second war against Mexico to gain more land for Texas and the U.S. Overall, it was an impressive feat for the Texans to have achieved, and though they flocked to the U.S, it was still a respectable accomplishment.