Today marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Texas Revolution at the Battle of Gonzales.
Gonzales is most famous as the "Lexington of Texas" because it was the site of the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution. In 1831, the Mexican government granted Green DeWitt's request for a small cannon for protection against Indian attacks.
At the outbreak of settler hostilities in 1835, a contingent of more than 100 Mexican soldiers was sent from San Antonio to retrieve the cannon. There were only 18 men in Gonzales at the time, but they refused to return it, and soon men from the area began joining them.
Texians under the command of John H. Moore confronted them. Sarah DeWitt and her daughter sewed a flag bearing the likeness of the cannon and the words "Come and Take It," which was flown when the first shots of Texan independence were fired on October 2, 1835.
The Texians successfully resisted the federal troops in what became known as the Battle of Gonzales