Historical Timeline
1812-15
War of 1812, Sam Houston serves under Andrew Jackson
1810-22
Santa Anna serves in the Mexican military
1821
Santa Anna leads Mexican forces at the Battle of Veracruz
Moses Austin receives imperial grant from Spain for Texas colony
Mexico defeats Spain and declares independence
1822
Stephen Austin arrives in Texas with the first of the “old three hundred” and begins the Austin colony
1824
The Republic of Mexico completes its first Constitution
1829
Santa Anna leads Mexican forces to victory against Spain at the battle of Tampico, becoming “The Napoleon of the West”
1832
December – Sam Houston departs the Oklahoma territory for Texas
1833
April 1 - Santa Anna elected president of Mexico
July 18 – Stephen Austin departs for Mexico in a vain attempt to help restore order. He is eventually imprisoned there.
1834
Santa Anna rescinds the constitution of 1824 and sets up a military dictatorship
1835
January-June – worried Texans begin forming committees of correspondence, especially at San Felipe de Austin
May 12 – Santa Anna defeats the Zacatecan militia
June 30 – William B. Travis commands a small force of Texians who demand and receive the surrender of the Mexican garrison under Captain Tenorio at Fort Anahuac
July 13 – Stephen Austin is released from captivity in Mexico
July-September – Santa Anna sends reinforcements to La Bahia (Goliad) under Colonel Condelle, Bexar (San Antonio) under General Cos, and Gonzales under Colonel Ugartechea
September 16 – General Cos occupies San Antonio with a force of 800 soldiers
September 19 - Austin sends out a call to arms to Texians to rally in Gonzales
October – the Permanent Council meets at San Felipe and elects Richard Royall of Matagorda president
October 2 – The first battle of the revolution, fought at Gonzales; A small force of Texians under the command of Colonel John Moore attacks the Mexican Army, under Captain Francisco Castaneda; after a brief skirmish, the Mexican force withdraws to San Antonio
October 10 – Texians attack and take the presidio at La Bahia, unaware that General Cos has departed for Bexar
October 11 – Stephen Austin is elected Commanding General of the Volunteer Army of Texas
October 13 – Austin leads the Volunteer Army of Texas overland to Bexar
October 20 -December 9 – siege of Bexar
October 28 - The Battle of Concepcion pits Colonel Ugartechea against Colonels Bowie and Fannin in the first major battle of the war
November 3 – Under the command of Captain Phillip Dimmitt, Texian forces take Fort Lipantitlan
November 2-14 – Texians dissolve the Permanent Council and begin a new government at San Felipe; Henry Smith is elected governor, Sam Houston is elected commander-in-chief of the regular army of Texas, and Austin, Branch Archer and William Wharton are appointed commissioners to the United States
November 24 -Austin resigns as commander of the Army and the Texians at Bexar elect Edward Burleson as commander of the Army at Bexar
November 28 – Texians under the command of James Bowie win The Grass Fight
December 5 – Ben Milam leads troops into San Antonio, he is killed on December 7
December 9 - General Cos vacates San Antonio de Bexar and occupies the Alamo
December 11 – Cos surrenders, his troops are allowed to march to Mexico
December 15- General Burleson, thinking the war is over, resigns his commission and returns home; many Texians follow
1836
January 3 – Dr. James Grant and Colonel James Fannin lead a force south from Bexar with the intent of capturing Matamoros; the Texian force at San Antonio is thus decimated
January 17 – Governor Smith sends Colonel James Bowie from Goliad to support the garrison at San Antonio
January 24 – Governor Smith orders Colonel William Travis to San Antonio to support Colonel Neill
January 30 – General Houston places himself on furlough until March 1, stating to Governor Smith that he cannot lead an army that is so poorly conceived
February 1 – Davy Crockett arrives at the Alamo with a small band of Tennesseans
February 23 – General Santa Anna arrives with his army at San Antonio, the siege of the Alamo begins
February 24 - Bowie collapses, most likely from pneumonia, typhoid or diphtheria, passing command to Travis
February 27 – General Jose Urrea, leading a Mexican army northward along the coastal route, surprises and defeats Colonel Frank Johnson and his troops at the Battle of San Patricio
March 1 – a new convention meets at Washington-on-the-Brazos; thirty-two settlers under George Kimball fight their way into the Alamo
March 2 – Texas declares independence from Mexico at Washington-on-the-Brazos
March 3 – Sam Houston is appointed Commander-in-chief of the Army of the Republic of Texas; he immediately marches west to Gonzales
March 6 – The Mexican Army defeats the Texians at the Battle of the Alamo, Santa Anna now mistakenly believes that the war is largely over
March 11 – Sam Houston receives word at Gonzales that the Alamo has fallen; he orders a general retreat of the Army of Texas
March 12-15 – General Urrea defeats a Texian force and takes Refugio
March 16 – Texians adopt a constitution at Washington-on-the-Brazos; David G. Burnet is elected interim president of the Republic of Texas
March 19 – Colonel Fannin sets out with his army from Goliad; Colonel Fannin’s army is surrounded by General Urrea’s superior force in the afternoon sun, and engages in battle at Coleto Creek
March 20 –Colonel Fannin surrenders to General Urrea; his forces are taken prisoner at Coleto Creek and returned to La Bahia at Goliad
March 27 – Colonel Fannin’s forces are massacred at Goliad
March-April – Santa Anna divides his forces into five divisions and chases eastward across Texas in what comes to be called The Runaway Scrape
April 20 – Santa Anna corners Houston at San Jacinto
April 21 – Battle of San Jacinto
April 22 – Santa Anna captured
September 5 – Sam Houston elected president of the Republic of Texas