A Select Glossary of the Texas Revolution

compiled by Jean Carefoot
Archives Division Texas State Library
1986
The active period of the Texas Revolution lasted from October 2, 1835, to April 22, 1836. The capture of General Santa Anna, coupled with the decisive victory at San Jacinto, ended, for all practical purposes, the war with Mexico. Mexico would mount two raids into Texas, each capturing San Antonio temporarily. But never again did Mexico have permanent control of any Texas territory north of the Rio Grande. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, finally acknowledged Texas independence from Mexico.
The information for this select glossary of the Texas Revolution is drawn from a number of sources, but principally from the three-volume Handbook of Texas . With few exceptions, information about persons or places is confined to the period from October 1835 through April 1836. Additional information about the men who fought for and against Texas independence can be found in the Handbook and in the books listed in the bibliography.
The summer of 1835 was filled with unrest. In June the colonists had discovered that General Cos intended to use the military to force Texan compliance with government regulations. William B. Travis and a body of some 50 men responded to this threat in August by attacking and taking the fort at Anahuac. The action, although universally condemned by the Texans, strengthened Mexican determination to bring a military peace-keeping force to Texas.
Texans feared that rights and liberties guaranteed by the Mexican Constitution of 1824 were threatened by this action and the increasing centralization of the government in Mexico. Mexican officials viewed Texan opposition as a direct attack on Mexican national honor, an insult to the government which had generously allowed the colonists to settle in Texas.
The arrival of Mexican troops in Texas finally united the Texans in opposition to Santa Anna’s government. When Colonel Ugartechea demanded that a cannon at Gonzales be returned, the colonists refused. The first battle of the Revolution took place. The Mexican commander was forced to retreat.