DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm gonna tell this one the way the official marker tells it — because sometimes the truth is the best tall tale of all. October 2, 1835. West side of the Guadalupe River, about four miles above Gonzales.
What happened there that morning would come to be known as the Lexington of Texas. And friend, it all started with a cannon. Late in September, a man named Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea sent a demand to the Gonzales settlement: hand over the cannon that had been given to the colonists for defense against Indians.
Now, the colonists had a thought about that demand, and that thought was no. Alcalde Andrew Ponton — the alcalde, mind you, the man running the settlement — refused to surrender it. Then he did something smart.
He sent word out to other colonists letting them know exactly what he'd done and what was coming. In the meantime, on September 29, that cannon was buried. Not hidden behind a barn, not stashed under a floorboard — buried, in George W.
Davis' peach orchard. You let that image sit a moment. A cannon, tucked under the roots of a peach orchard, waiting.
Ugartechea wasn't done. He sent 150 Dragoons to come collect the weapon. And here is where the numbers start telling their own story.
On September 30, there were 18 defenders at Gonzales. By October 2, there were about 160. Word travels fast when something important is about to happen.
Under the command of John H. Moore and J. W.
E. Wallace, those colonists made their move. They dug up the cannon.
They mounted it on ox-cart wheels. They filled it with chains and scrap iron — because when you've got one cannon and one chance, you make every bit of it count. Then they crossed the river and marched toward the enemy.
Early on the morning of October 2, Texan scouts found the Mexican forces. The scouts fired their pieces and retired, drawing the Mexicans forward in pursuit. And then — a discharge from that six-pounder.
The one that had been buried in a peach orchard. The one Ugartechea's men had ridden 150 strong to collect. That discharge caused the Mexican forces to retreat.
The Texans opened with their artillery and charged. The enemy's force was driven back in the direction of San Antonio. The first battle of the Texas Revolution was over.
And the cannon? Well, it had already said everything it needed to say.
What the marker says
The first battle of the Texas Revolution, fought on the west side of the Guadalupe River about four miles above Gonzales on October 2, 1835, came to be known as the Lexington of Texas. The incident grew out of Col. Domingo de Ugartechea's demand late in September for a cannon given to the settlement for defense against Indians. When the colonists refused to deliver the cannon, Ugartechea sent 150 Dragoons to demand the weapon. Alcalde Andrew Ponton, in the meantime, sent word to other colonists that he had refused to surrender the cannon, which on September 29 was buried in George W. Davis' peach orchard. From September 30 to October 2, the number of defenders at Gonzales had grown from 18 to about 160. Under command of John H. Moore and J. W. E. Wallace they dug up the cannon, mounted it on ox-cart wheels, filled it with chains and scrap iron, crossed the river and marched toward the enemy. When the Texan scouts discovered the Mexican forces early October 2 they fired their pieces and retired with the Mexicans in pursuit. A discharge from the six-pounder caused the latter to retreat. When the Texans opened with their artillery and charged the enemy his force was driven back in the direction of San Antonio.