Anahuac disturbances facts for kids
The Anahuac Disturbances were two big disagreements that happened in 1832 and 1835 in a town called Anahuac, Texas. These events helped start the Texas Revolution. This revolution eventually led to Texas breaking away from Mexico and becoming its own country, the Republic of Texas.
Anahuac was an important town located on the Trinity River near Galveston Bay. It was a key spot for trade between Texas, Louisiana, and the rest of the United States. To stop illegal trading and collect taxes on goods, Mexico set up a military base there after 1830. American settlers living in the area often argued with the Mexican military officers. These arguments grew into protests. Many communities in Texas showed their support for the federalists, a group that was rebelling against the Mexican Government.
Contents
Why the Trouble Started
After Mexico became independent from Spain, it allowed people from the United States to move to Texas. Special agents called Empresarios were given permission to bring settlers from the United States and Europe to Mexican Texas. As more Americans moved in, Mexican leaders worried that the United States might try to take over Texas.
So, on April 6, 1830, Mexico passed new laws. These laws made it harder for people from the United States to move to Texas. They also canceled contracts for empresarios that hadn't been finished. Plus, Mexico set up customs houses in Texas to collect taxes on imported goods.
A Mexican military officer named Juan Davis Bradburn, who used to be an American, was put in charge of the new customs and military post on Galveston Bay. In October 1830, Bradburn set up this post on a tall bluff at the entrance to the Trinity River. This place became known as Anahuac.
Bradburn was not popular with the American settlers from the start. He tried to stop the state land commissioner from giving land titles to settlers near Anahuac. Mexican law said that immigrants couldn't settle within 26 miles (42 km) of the coast. Most of these settlers lived too close to the coast. Even though the commissioner eventually gave out the titles, the settlers were still angry with Bradburn for trying to enforce Mexican law.
In January 1832, Bradburn got a letter saying that 10 men in his area wanted Texas to separate from Mexico. After this, Bradburn became very worried about the Americans. He thought every event was part of a plan to take Texas away from Mexico.
In June 1832, two of Bradburn's soldiers caused trouble with a woman settler. Angry settlers punished a neighbor who didn't help her. They demanded that Bradburn hand over his soldiers for punishment. When Bradburn refused, local men formed a Texian Militia group. They said it was to protect the settlement from Native Americans. But Mexican law didn't allow residents to create their own militias. So, Bradburn arrested the leader, Patrick Jack. Bradburn later released Jack after receiving threats.
The 1832 Disturbance
The Build-Up
Arguments between Bradburn and the settlers grew worse. Bradburn strongly supported the Mexican law against slavery. In August 1831, he gave protection to three men who had escaped slavery in Louisiana. The owner of these men hired a local lawyer, William B. Travis, to help get them back.
In May 1832, Bradburn received a letter, supposedly from a friend. It warned that 100 armed men would come from Louisiana to get the escaped men. Bradburn soon realized the letter was a trick. He then arrested William B. Travis for questioning. Bradburn planned to send Travis to Matamoros for a military trial. The charge was trying to start a rebellion to separate Texas from Mexico. If found guilty, Travis could be executed.
The settlers didn't know much about Mexican law. They were very upset that Bradburn could arrest Travis without a warrant, without telling him the charges, or without a jury trial. Most of them wrongly thought they were still protected by the United States Bill of Rights.
Patrick Jack threatened Bradburn, who then arrested Jack again. Travis and Jack started planning their escape. They tried to send secret letters to David G. Burnet, another leader. The letters asked Texans to help them but didn't directly call for a fight. Bradburn stopped the letters before they were delivered.
At first, settlers didn't get involved. But they became worried when they learned Bradburn was taking statements from possible witnesses. Travis, Jack, or their lawyers were not allowed to talk to these witnesses. Jack's brother then organized a group of men to march from Brazoria to Anahuac. Americans from other towns also started arriving.
One of the Brazoria leaders, John Austin, stopped to talk to Colonel Domingo Ugartechea. Ugartechea was in charge of the military base on the Brazos River. Ugartechea suggested that Austin ask for the arrested men to be given to civilian authorities.
Bradburn's officers told Austin and his group that the laws did not allow them to hand over the accused men to civilian authorities. The men from Brazoria went home. After they left, Mexican officers found that their horses had been stolen. They arrested two local men who they thought stole the horses. When the Brazoria group heard about these new arrests, they returned to Anahuac. They camped with other angry civilians a few miles from Anahuac. They chose Frank W. Johnson as their commander. This group soon captured Bradburn's nineteen cavalry officers, who had been trying to scout the Texans' position.
On June 10, the rebels took over buildings in northern Anahuac. Bradburn worried that the armed men wanted more than just to free the American prisoners. He thought it was a full-scale rebellion. Bradburn had Travis and Jack tied to the ground with weapons pointed at them. He threatened to shoot both men if the Texans attacked. Travis encouraged Johnson to attack anyway.
During talks, the Texans offered to trade the captured cavalry officers for Travis and the other prisoners. Mexican officers agreed to release their prisoners to civilian authorities. In return, the Texans would release the cavalry officers and move back to Turtle Bayou. Most of the rebels left Anahuac. But between 15 and 30 of them stayed hidden in the town. Bradburn believed this broke their agreement. He warned that he would start firing on the town within two hours. Most Texans thought Bradburn had lied to them just to get them out of the buildings they had taken. The Texans didn't know at the time that those buildings held extra ammunition and supplies.
Battle of Anahuac
After hearing Bradburn's warning, the women and children of Anahuac left the town. Mexican soldiers briefly fought the men who remained. Five Mexican soldiers and one Texan died in the fight. After the skirmish, the remaining Texans gathered at Turtle Bayou. They waited for cannons that were coming from Brazoria.
On June 5, the Texans wrote the Turtle Bayou Resolutions. In this document, they announced they were federalists. They supported the rebellious Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna. They spoke out against the "current government" that kept them under military rule instead of civilian rule.
While the Texans waited for their cannons, Bradburn asked for more soldiers. He asked Colonel Piedras, who was in Nacogdoches (about 200 miles or 320 km north), and Colonel Elosúa in San Antonio (about 300 miles or 480 km to the west). On June 19, Piedras and about 100 of his men left to help Bradburn.
John Austin and his men went back to Brazoria for the cannons. On June 20, he called the residents together. They voted to oppose the centralist government. Austin invited Colonel Domingo Ugartechea, who commanded the small Fort Velasco on the Brazos, to join their side. Ugartechea refused. So, on June 26, the Brazoria residents attacked the fort. This fight became known as the Battle of Velasco. The next morning, Ugartechea surrendered. He agreed that he and his men would return to Matamoros but leave their cannons behind.
When Piedras was within 30 miles (48 km) of Anahuac, he sent a group to Johnson. Johnson gave him a list of complaints against Bradburn. Piedras helped work out a solution to the conflict. He agreed to several things, including:
- to bring back the local government (called the ayuntamiento) in Liberty;
- to release the civilian prisoners at Anahuac to civilian authorities;
- to have Bradburn step down and choose another officer to take his place.
The Texans accepted these terms on June 28. Piedras marched to Anahuac on July 1.
Aftermath
Bradburn's chosen replacement, Lieutenant Colonel Felix Maria Subarán, refused to take his place. Piedras took temporary command of the military base. On July 2, he released the prisoners to the civilian authorities. Within a week, they were set free with no charges. On July 8, Piedras left for Nacogdoches. He gave command of the Anahuac base to Lieutenant Cortina, who was previously the third-in-command.
Three days after Piedras left, most of the Anahuac troops declared themselves federalists. Cortina couldn't keep order. He asked Bradburn to take command again. Bradburn refused. Instead, he suggested that Subarán take responsibility.
After someone tried to assassinate him, Bradburn decided to leave Texas. None of the local ship captains would give him passage. On July 13, Subarán announced he would not protect any officers who supported the centralist government. That night, Bradburn left Anahuac. A hired guide took him on foot to Louisiana. Other officers found safety with local people who supported them.
Historians have talked about Bradburn's actions. Some believe he "overreacted and made heroes of two local troublemakers whose actions their own people otherwise had not been much inclined to support." However, the Turtle Bayou Resolutions that came from this encouraged other Texans to do similar things. Many communities declared their support for Santa Anna.
When Piedras returned to Nacogdoches, he found that citizens were forming Texian Militia groups. He asked the local government to order the militias to break up. They refused and instead formed their own militia. On August 1, the combined militias ordered Piedras to promise support for the federalist rebellion. When he refused, the Texans attacked. This started the Battle of Nacogdoches. Several days later, they captured Piedras and his men. They then "convinced" them to become federalists. With the soldiers' surrender and retreat into Mexico, no Mexican troops were left in eastern Texas. This encouraged the colonists to become more involved in politics. Soon after, they organized the Convention of 1832. This was the first time Texans from different colonies gathered to talk about their shared goals.
The 1835 Disturbance
A second dispute happened in late June 1835. Again, it was about customs taxes. Before this crisis, many American settlers had moved into the Anahuac area. The current commander was reportedly worried about the disrespectful attitudes of the locals. He asked his superiors for more military help. Tensions continued to grow as some citizens protested taxes and signed petitions. Also, a group called the Citizens of Texas started meeting to achieve their demands.
Andrew Briscoe, a local merchant and boat captain who was part of this group, complained that taxes were not being collected fairly at all ports. He purposely tested the new commander, Captain Antonio Tenorio. Briscoe loaded his boat in a way that would make officials curious. He simply loaded his boat with ballast (heavy material to stabilize a ship). Tenorio was very angry and arrested Briscoe and his partner, DeWitt Clinton Harris. The soldiers escorting Harris and Briscoe shot and wounded another Texan, young William Smith.
Travis played a big part after this. When news of the arrests reached San Felipe de Austin, where strong feelings against Mexico were growing, the political leader Peter Miller allowed Travis to gather a Texian Militia group to respond. Travis took control of a ship at Harrisburg. He sailed to Anahuac with his group and a cannon. His force of 25 men quickly made the more than 40 Mexican troops surrender. After taking their weapons, Travis and his group freed the Texians and sent the Mexican troops away.
Because Travis had acted without wide community support, he apologized. He wanted to avoid putting Stephen F. Austin in danger, who was then in Mexico City. Austin was the most important empresario who had contracts from the Spanish, and later Mexican, governments to oversee people moving to Mexico's frontier. Later that summer, Mexican military leaders demanded that Travis surrender for a military trial. The colonists were against this.
Travis and Austin continued to be active in Texas's development. Travis died at the Battle of the Alamo. Austin served as secretary of state for the Republic of Texas for a short time before his own death.
See Also
- Texas Revolution
- Battle of Velasco
- Battle of Nacogdoches
- Turtle Bayou Resolutions
Images for kids
-
William B. Travis played a key role in the Anahuac Disturbances of 1832.
-
Frank W. Johnson commanded Texan forces during the 1832 Battle of Anahuac.
