"Come And Take It" Flag | Authentic Texas

The story of the “Come and Take It” flag begins Oct. 2, 1835, at what is now known as the Battle of Gonzales — the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution.

It was the fall of 1835. Mexican President Santa Anna had dissolved the Constitution and made himself dictator. Tensions began to flare between his oppressive government and the liberty minded desires of Texans and Tejanos. To suppress the rumblings of unrest and revolution, the Mexican military leaders began their quest to quietly disarm the Texans. One of the first actions was to retrieve a cannon lent to the Texan colonists at Gonzales. The famous bronze cannon was loaned to the Gonzales colonists by the Mexican government in 1831 to defend themselves from hostile Apaches and Comanches. Mexican Corporal Casimiro De León and a few soldiers were sent to reclaim the cannon.

The relationship between Texas and Mexico during this period had always been somewhat tumultuous. In the early 1820s, Mexico granted permission to Stephen F. Austin to colonize the area around the Brazos River for purposes of expanding Mexican territory and barring the French from encroaching into the region. Texans began moving into the area because of its fairly open borders and plentiful amount of inexpensive land. But in 1830, Mexico prohibited further immigration by U.S. citizens into the area since it feared the ideals of the Mexican government and American immigrants differed in significant ways. Texas was removed from Mexico both geographically, being separated by the Rio Grande, and culturally, given that Texas was made up of English-speaking colonists.

Knowing that the stiff tensions between the Texans and the centralist government of Santa Anna could provoke aggression on either side, Domingo de Ugartechea enlisted the help of Captain Francisco de Castañeda and an estimated 100 Mexican cavalrymen to repossess the cannon, which had been buried in a peach orchard near the Colorado River for safety, but was retrieved shortly after and readied for battle and mounted on cart wheels.

Ugartechea instructed his men to avoid open conflict if possible, but to resort to forceful removal if needed. An assembly of men left San Antonio de Béxar on Sept. 27, 1835 and arrived at the banks of the Guadalupe River opposite Gonzales two days later.

The Mexican troops were met by high water and a group of 18 militiamen, both of which blocked their entrance into Gonzales. Captain Castañeda asked that a message be relayed to the alcalde (mayor), Andrew Ponton, but the Texan militiamen said he’d need to wait for Ponton’s return.