19 20 March 1836 the Battle of Coleto

19 -20, March 1836 the Battle of Coleto Creek 27 March 1836 -- the Goliad Massacre.

Goliad Massacre General Urrea was moving up the coastline and defeated many Texan troops on his march to Refugio and Goliad. While General Urrea fought Fannin with Fannin’s troops stationed in Refugio, Fannin received orders from Sam Houston to retreat to Victoria.

Fannin decided to wait for his troops in Refugio to return before obeying Houston, but those soldiers had been either killed or captured by General Urrea Fannin and Urrea finally met at the battle of Coleto, where Fannin was wounded.

Fannin and Urrea finally met at the battle of Coleto Creek, where Fannin was wounded.

The morning after the battle started, General Urrea received several hundred more soldiers, and Fannin decided to surrender.

The Texan prisoners were marched back to Goliad where they stayed for a week.

General Urrea wanted to keep them as prisoners of war, but Santa Anna ordered him to execute them all. When the shooting of the prisoners began, a few of the prisoners were able to escape in the smoke and confusion Grave of Fannin and his men

Texas Declares Independence §The Convention of 1836 was held at Washington-on-the-Brazos to vote on Independence §Some delegates were former members of the United States and Mexican Governments.

§George Childress wrote the Texas Declaration of Independence. §The vote for independence was unanimous §Although two of the signers of the declaration were Tejano, many Tejanos opposed the declaration

A few days later, the delegates learned of the siege of the Alamo and wanted to leave to go to the aid of the Alamo defenders. Sam Houston convinced the delegates to stay because Texas needed a constitution to form a legitimate government.

The Texas Constitution was modeled after the United States Constitution and guaranteed: • Freedom speech • Freedom of the press • Freedom of religion • Right to trial by jury

But the constitution also legalized slavery, and required free blacks to petition Congress for permission to stay in Texas. Samuel Mc. Culloch Jr. , the first Texan to shed blood in the Revolution was among those who had to make a petition.

Today Texans celebrate Texas Independence Day March 2, 1836

Leadership of the Provisional Government of Texas elected at the Convention of 1836 President Vice-President Lorenzo de Zavala • Helped write the Constitution Of 1824 • Fled to Texas when Santa Anna became a dictator David G. Burnet • Political opponent To Sam Houston

Runaway Scrape Sam Houston left the convention and headed for San Antonio. In Gonzales , he heard rumors of the fall of the Alamo and sent scouts lead by “Deaf” Smith to find out what happened. Deaf Smith The scouts found the Alamo survivors and brought them back to Gonzales where they told the story of the Alamo.

Word came that Santa Anna was approaching Gonzales, so Houston ordered the town burned and took his army east. As the Texas army moved east, citizens also left their homes to escape Santa Anna. Sam Houston used the retreat to gain time to train his army, as well as to tire out the larger Mexican force chasing them.

Battle of San Jacinto After gathering supplies and training his troops during the Runaway Scrape, Houston marched his troops down Buffalo Bayou towards Santa Anna’s camp. Houston found that Santa Anna camped out in the open in a vulnerable spot, and camped his men in a spot that was partially hidden in a grove of trees

The day before the battle, there were several small fights. In one of the fights, a private named Mirabeau B. Lamar saved the lives of two Texans and was promoted to Colonel and put in charge of the cavalry.

Before the battle, Houston sent Deaf Smith on a special mission to destroy the bridge at Vince's Bayou. This effectively destroyed the retreat route for both the Mexican army as well as his Texans.

On April 21, 1836 Houston ordered his army to attack the exhausted Mexican soldiers as they took their afternoon siestas. words

Mistakes were made Santa Anna made three major mistakes just prior to the Battle of San Jacinto. He underestimated the effects destroying the homes and killing other Texans would have on Sam Houston's Army. He did not believe that Sam Houston would make the first move when it came time for a battle. He camped his army in a place surrounded on three sides by water, making escape impossible.

Taken by surprise, 630 Mexican soldiers were killed and 730 captured in 18 minutes of fighting

The next day, Santa Anna was captured while hiding in the nearby marshes. Santa Anna escapes the battle and is feared dead or lost. He is found the next day in civilian clothes hiding in the bushes. Santa Anna is brought before Sam Houston who was laying under a tree after being wounded during the battle. He is presented Santa Anna who says, “I am Antonio Lopez Dde Santa Anna, president of Mexico, commandeer in chief of The army of operations, and I put myself at the deposition of the brave General Houston as a prisoner of war” Texas Independence was secured.

The Treaty of Velasco On May 14, 1836 Santa Anna signed The Treaty of Velasco. Which had two parts. The public treaty provided that hostilities would cease and that Santa Anna would withdraw his forces below the Rio Grande. The Texans would send Santa Anna back to Mexico and would not pursue the retreating Mexican troops. In the secret agreement, the Texans agreed to release Santa Anna immediately in exchange for his pledge to use his influence to secure Mexican recognition of Texas independence. The Texas border would be the Rio Grande.

Republic of Texas On June 1, Santa Anna boarded a ship to travel back to Mexico. For the next two days, crowds of soldiers, many of whom had arrived that week from the United States, gathered to demand his execution. Voters overwhelmingly chose Houston the first president, ratified the constitution drawn up by the Convention of 1836 Houston issued an executive order sending Santa Anna to Washington, D. C. , and from there he was soon sent home. During his absence, Santa Anna had been deposed. Santa Anna was disgraced until the following year, when he became a hero of the Pastry War.