While most people remember the Alamo and the final battle at San Jacinto, many don't realize much of the struggle was fought in Corpus Christi's own backyard.
The Texas Revolution was sparked Sept. 20, 1835, by Mexican Gen. Perfecto de Cos landing his army of 500 men, artillery and supplies at El Copano, an old Mexican port town on Copano Bay. Alarmed Texas authorities at San Felipe issued a call to arms.
Territorial control vacillated for nine months as Mexican troops tangled with Texas militiamen and mounted rangers throughout Goliad, Refugio, San Patricio, Agua Dulce and old El Copano.
In June 1836, Mexican Gen. Vicente Filisola, second in command under Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, retreated with troops after the San Jacinto battle, crossing the Nueces River at the Santa Margarita crossing - the same passage used in February 1835 by the Mexican army getting into Texas from Matamoros.
It was called the old Camino Real - the King's Highway - identified today in Nueces County as County Road 666.
While Santa Anna agreed to draw the Mexico boundary at the Rio Grande, the Mexican government viewed the Nueces River as the border.
Mexican authorities claimed the U.S. Army supported the Texas Revolution, which was denied. But U.S. soldiers stationed in the Sixth and Third Louisiana infantry were disguised as Texas militiamen, said local historian Bill Walraven, co-author with his wife Marjorie of "Magnificent Barbarians," a book about the Texas Revolution.
"One clue was the bayonets these soldiers used in the battle at San Jacinto, which most Texas militiamen didn't use," Walraven said. "We had a strong theory there was collusion between Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston, who always denied it."
Between the end of the Texas Revolution and Texas statehood in 1846, the area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande was considered a no-man's land, called the Nueces Strip, and was patrolled by both the Texas militia and the Mexican cavalry.
Celebrate Texas Independence Day at Centennial House at 1:30p.m. today
with the Daughters/Sons of the Republic of Texas. At 2 p.m. a statewide toast
is held to commemorate the event. Information: 882-8691.
Contact Mike Baird at 886-3774
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