A messenger came riding into San Felipe one day; his clothes were dusty,
his horse was flecked with foam, his voice was hoarse with excitement.
He had ridden hard and fast from Gonzales town, and the news he brought
thrilled to the heart’s core the men who had gathered about him in the
plaza.
Colonel Ugartechea, acting under the decree disarming citizens, had sent
an order to Gonzales for a cannon—a four-pounder given by the Mexican
government to the townspeople in 1831 for service against the Indians.
The order had been peremptorily refused. There were only eighteen men at
Gonzales, but they determined to hold the cannon at any cost; and
believing that Ugartechea would send an armed force to take it, they had
dispatched messengers to the Colorado, the Guadalupe, and the Brazos for
help.
The messenger to San Felipe had not finished his story before the men
were in their saddles, or girded for the long tramp. They were already
armed for the purpose of intercepting General Cos on his march to San
Antonio.
When they reached Gonzales they found that the Mexican captain
Castenado, had appeared there (September 29) with one hundred cavalrymen
and made his demand for the cannon. He had been put off with the pretext
that the alcalde was absent, thus giving the volunteers time to arrive.
The Mexicans had remained on the west bank of the Guadalupe River, the
ferryboats having been removed by the Texans to the east or town side on
the approach of the enemy.
With the recruits from the Brazos, the Colorado, and the Guadalupe, the
Texans on the 30th numbered one hundred and sixty fighting men. They
then informed Castenado that he could not have the cannon. Moreover,
Major Williamson (three-legged Willie) and some others drew the disputed
piece of artillery to the river-bank, and placed above it a placard
bearing in large letters the challenge, “Come and Take It.”
[Illustration: R. M. Williamson.]
In response to this taunt Castenado made an effort to cross his troops
over the river; but the fords were too well guarded, and he finally
moved away and encamped a short distance from the river.
On the evening of the 1st of October the Texans, under the command of
Colonels John Moore and J. W. Wallace, crossed the Guadalupe, carrying
their four-pounder with them. The same night at eleven o’clock they were
formed into a hollow Square. Colonels Moore and Wallace, with the Rev.
W. P. Smith, rode into the square, where the minister, being seated on
his favorite mule, made them a spirited address. “Fellow soldiers,” he
said, “the cause for which we are contending is just, honorable, and
glorious—our liberty.... Let us march silently, obey the commands of our
superior officers, and, united as one man, present a bold front to the
enemy. _Victory will be ours._”[17]
On the morning of the 2d they advanced under cover of a heavy fog to a
high mound in the prairie where the enemy was posted. After the exchange
of a few picket shots a parley took place between Colonel Moore and
Captain Castenado. But they could come to no agreement, so they returned
to their respective commands. The Texans at once opened fire with their
saucy little cannon, and in a short time the enemy was put to rout. The
Mexicans retreated toward San Antonio, having lost several men. The
Texans, without the loss of a man, returned in triumph to Gonzales with
their precious cannon.
This was the first trumpet call to the war of independence. The alarm
leaped from town to town. Texas, like a trooper who stands with his foot
in the stirrup awaiting but the blast of a bugle, sprang at once into
action. There was everywhere an eager note of preparation.
A few days after the victory at Gonzales, Captain George Collingsworth,
with about fifty planters from Caney and Matagorda, marched from the
latter place to capture Goliad. Just about midnight on the 9th of
October, as they approached the town, they were hailed by a man who came
out of a mesquit thicket on the roadside. It was Benjamin Milam. He had
escaped from prison in Monterey, where he had been placed for opposing
the tyranny of Santa Anna, and, worn out by his long journey, he had
thrown himself on the ground to rest.
Milam was a man of high courage and stern patriotism. He had taken
part—always on the republican side—in several of the bloody revolutions
in Mexico, and he had been in almost every prison from the Rio Grande to
the city of Mexico.[18]
He offered his services to the little band of patriots. They welcomed
him with joy into their ranks.
They marched on, and during the night fell upon the unsuspecting
garrison at Goliad. The sentinel who fired upon them was killed. The
commandant Colonel Sandoval was taken prisoner in his own room, the door
of which was broken open with axes. Several officers and twenty-five
private soldiers surrendered, the others having escaped in the _mêlée_.
The spoils which fell into the hands of the Texans by this exploit were
very valuable. They consisted of three hundred stands of arms, several
cannon, and about ten thousand dollars worth of military stores.