On September 29, the Mexican government demanded return of a cannon it had loaned to residents. Colonists in that town were refusing to give back a cannon back to Mexican soldiers that they had received in 1831 to fend off Natives in the area. They wanted it now to defend themselves from Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna’s increasingly aggressive actions against the colonists.
On October 2, the first shot was fired in Texas Revolution after colonists refuse to surrender cannon saying, “Come and take it”. On October 11, Stephen F. Austin arrived and took command of “Texas Republican Army”. The next day, an army left Gonzales for San Antonio. On October 13, Halley’s comet was visible in Texas. As the Texas State Historical Association notes, the battle was actually more of skirmish. But it did mark a definitive break in relations between the Mexicans and the colonists. Less than a year later Texas would be its own republic.
