The Battle of Gonzales was the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution. Its catalyst was a cannon given to American colonists by the Mexican government for Indian defense. When six Mexican soldiers acting on orders from Col. Domingo de Ugartechea tried to take it back, the fight was on.

The canon was a six-pound caliber Spanish gun made from bronze. That day in September 1835, when six of Ugartechea’s men attempted to reclaim the gun from local settlers, the soldiers were taken captive. The colonists then buried the cannon in a nearby peach orchard and let the neighbors know there would soon be trouble.

Col. Ugartechea, a sophisticated soldier and communicator, sent 100 troops under Lt. Francisco de Castañeda to make sure his request for the gun was clearly understood. Castañeda’s orders were to use force if necessary, but avoid open conflict in light of mounting tensions between the Mexican government and the Texian colonists.

When Castañeda’s troops reached the Guadalupe River near Gonzales, high water and 18 Texians blocked his path. And the colonists were busy soliciting reinforcements from nearby settlements. Sensing resistance, Castañeda marched his troops upriver to “cross without any embarrassment”. The Texians followed.

On the morning of October 2nd, they attacked the Mexican camp. At one point, the Texian leader John Henry Moore met with Lieutenant Castañeda, who again requested the cannon. Colonists pointed to its six-pound barrel as it sat behind them and said: “There it is—come and take it.”

Castañeda’s men fell back, eventually withdrawing toward Bexar. In his official report, Castañeda remarked: “since the orders from your Lordship were for me to withdraw without compromising the honor of Mexican arms, I did so.”

While a short skirmish, the Battle of Gonzales was an unfortunate milestone in the breakdown of relations between the Mexican government and its American colonists. Though the fate of the cannon is unknown, it may have been melted down after the fall of the Alamo.

The heated conflict at Gonzales was a bellwether for bigger troubles between Texas settlers and the Centrist Mexican government.

San Jacinto Museum of History © 2003