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 can not 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 texan force and takes refugio march 16 texans 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 fannins army is surrounded by general urreas 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 fannins 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 list of main characters fictional characters : hank macelrae was born in edinburg , scotland in 1803 .