12/5/1835: Texans assault Mexican garrison at Béxar

[Craig Tx]

On this day in 1835, the Texas revolutionary army began its assault on the Mexican garrison at San Antonio de Béxar.

Ben Milam and William Gordon Cooke gathered more than 300 volunteers to attack the town in two columns, while Edward Burleson and another 400 men forced Mexican general Martín Perfecto de Cos to keep his 570 men divided between the town and the Alamo. The battle ended with the surrender of the Mexican army on December 9. Texas casualties numbered 30 to 35, while Mexican losses totaled about 150; the difference reflected in part the greater accuracy of the Texans' rifles. Most of the Texas volunteers went home after the battle, which left San Antonio and all of Texas under their control.

[Ohio Joe]

It's rather ironic in a way that the story leading to the later battle for the Alamo, is not normally told -or- barely mentioned in the movies... It's almost as if they by pass how the Alamo defenders came to be there with little to no mention at all...

Thank you Craig for once again giving us an interesting part of history. 

[Winter Hawk]

What Joe said!   

~Kees~

[Nessmuk]

What I  like  about  Texas is their great sense of their own history. I've  seen more historical  roadside  plaques in Texas than any other  state I've  traveled .

[Ohio Joe]

Those roadside history markers are educational for sure.

We have them here in Nebraska as well. The late Jim Potter, Senior Nebraska Historian - (and a feller I shared many a muzzle loading firing lines with, and many a camp hours at State Shoot & Rendezvous) made sure the history of this State was well documented (just like Texas history is)...

I think I've learned more from these State Historical Markers (no matter what State you're passing through) simply because they are mostly a short history and to the point! It is what it is and to the point of why it was...

You have to love history - it's the first and last thing all of us will ever be part of on this ol' earth.