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Battle of Gonzales

October 2, 1835 

Dear Journal,

     I have been waiting and waiting for dad to send us a letter about the battles, 

and today, it finally arrived! Dad said that they dug a deep hole and buried a 

cannon in it, because the Mexicans were coming to take it away. Then he helped 

take the huge ferry out of the river to make it harder for the Mexicans to get 

across. 

     On October 2nd, they dug up the cannon, mounted it on a wagon, and made 

a flag which stated, "Come and Take It!" How cool is that? Then the Battle of 

Gonzales soon began but didn't last for long. The Mexicans retreated early.   In 

all, there was only one casualty. 

     Meanwhile in San Antonio, Mexican General Cos formed a large army of about 

300, but a volunteer army, assisted by Veteran soldier Ben Milan, wiped them 

out.   This victory caused more Texan rebels to join the cause. To tell you the 

truth, I really don't care who wins, as long as daddy comes home.

March to San Antonio & The Battle of San Antonio

The March to San Antonio - October 12th 

Search Party Attack - October 28th 

Grass Fight - November 26th 

San Antonio Battle - December 5 (all in 1835)

Dear Journal,

     Dad sent us another letter yesterday. It stated that on October 12th, he began the 

march to San Antonio. On the way there, they picked up some local Tejanos who were 

mad at General Cos because he forced them to make tortillas for his army, clean the 

town and sometimes, he even destroyed their homes.   That's not right! One of those 

people was Juan Seguin, a local Tejano who wanted to join the Texas cavalry. 

     On October 28th, a search party lead by Jim Bowie, James Fannin and Andrew 

Briscoe went looking for a possible post. They were ambushed; but held them back and 

to their surprise, they actually won. This boosted the rebels' confidence. 

     On November 26th, a scout named "Deaf" Smith rode into town telling everyone 

that Mexican soldiers were coming with sacks of silver on their backs to pay the rest of 

the Mexican Army.   The Texans ambushed them but soon realized that the sacks were 

actually full of grass to feed horses.  

     After this, the war broke out in San Antonio under the command of Ben Milan.  

Eventually, the Mexicans surrendered.   This lead Texas to believe that the conflict was 

over. Santa Anna, although, had a different opinion.

The Alamo

Began on February 24, 1836

Dear Journal,

     Dad finally came home yesterday, but Uncle Buck was on his way to the Alamo. 

We received a letter about the battle this morning. It said that on February 24th, 

General Santa Anna and his 6,000 soldiers invaded the Alamo. The Mexicans raised 

a red flag which meant there would be no survivors.

     Lead by Colonel William B. Travis and Jim Bowie, 189 rebels held them off for as 

long as they could, but after a while, they began to get overwhelmed. The invading 

Mexican soldiers flooded in by the hundreds.   Although we got whooped, there were 

still some survivors, like Susanna Dickinson. 

     She was the wife of Almaron Dickinson. She escaped with her baby. How lucky 

was she? I think that even though we lost, this proves that Texans can accomplish 

big things too! Just look at how far we've gotten already! I think that we will earn 

our freedom and independence from Mexico very soon.

 Texas Declaration of Independence & The Constitution of 1836

March 1-2, 1836

Dear Journal,

     We just received another letter saying that Uncle Buck was killed at the Alamo, 

but towards the end of the letter, there was a brief description of the new Texas 

Declaration of Independence. 

     It said that on March 2nd, 59 delegates started to form this document. It is 

based on the U.S. Constitution, having judicial, legislative and executive branches; 

as well as a president at the very top.   I find all of this political stuff very interesting, 

and I hope that someday, I will become the President!

     George Childress was the committee chair of this event and was also in charge of 

writing the document itself. But because Texas was still at war, they appointed an ad-

interim, or a temporary leader. His name is David Burnet, and his vice-president is 

Lorenzo De Zavala.

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