1832 Andrew Jackson - Battle of Velasco - Prelude to Texas Revolution

Three years prior to the Texas Revolution, the relations between Texas and Mexico were already deteriorating.   The first case of bloodshed between Texas and Mexico took place on June 26, 1832 in what became known as the Battle of Velasco.  It was according to many historians a prelude to the Texas Revolution.  By time the fighting ended 8-10 Texans were killed and another 12 wounded, while Mexico loss 5 lives and another 15 wounded. The battle occurred when Henry Smith and John Austin led hundred plus Texans to Brazoria to secure a cannon for use against the Mexican forces at Anahuac.   The Texans were met by a similar number of Mexicans under the command of Domingo de Ugartecha, commander at Fort Velasco.  Ugartecha and his garrison tried to prevent the passage of the vessel carrying the cannon, but after several days of fighting,  they were exhausted their ammunition and were forced to surrender to the Texans.   The terms of the surrender allowed Ugartechea to surrender with honors of war and his men to returned to Mexico.

Additional clashes continued between the Anglo-American occupants of Texas and the Mexican rulers.  The misunderstanding between these two groups was aggravated in the minds of the Mexicans by a conviction that the United States government was hoping to acquire Texas by purchase or revolution.  It would be three years before these clashes would culminate in the battle of Gonzales, but President Jackson was already describing it as a "sanguinary struggle", that is a struggle involving or causing much blood shed.  In his 1832 State of the Union Address, described these clashes not only as a bloody battle, but also a civil war that was impacting both our trade with Mexico and our ability to define boundaries with Mexico.   Jackson pointed to the existing success of trade by caravans from St. Louis to Santa Fe as evidence of the importance of trade with Mexico.   These caravans were being carried out on a daily basis under the protection of troops from the U.S. military. 

In 1832, Andrew Jackson described the deterioration in the relations between Texas and Mexico, but he seemed to downplay the deteriorating relations between Texas and Mexico.

"Iwish earnestly that in announcing to you the continuance of friendship and the increase of a profitable commercial intercourse with Mexico, with Central America, and the States of the South I could accompany it with the assurance that they all are blessed with that internal tranquillity and foreign peace which their heroic devotion to the cause of their independence merits. In Mexico a sanguinary struggle is now carried on, which has caused some embarrassment to our commerce, but both parties profess the most friendly disposition toward us. To the termination of this contest we look for the establishment of that secure intercourse so necessary to nations whose territories are contiguous. How important it will be to us we may calculate from the fact that even in this unfavorable state of things our maritime commerce has increased, and an internal trade by caravans from St. Louis to Santa Fe, under the protection of escorts furnished by the Government, is carried on to great advantage and is daily increasing. The agents provided for by the treaty, with this power to designate the boundaries which it established, have been named on our part, but one of the evils of the civil war now raging there has been that the appointment of those with whom they were to cooperate has not yet been announced to us."

In 1833, Jackson shared with Congress that these "civil dissensions" caused the Mexican government to miss the deadlines established by the teat of limits to establish borders between the two nations and  was now something that required Jackson's "earnest attention".

"It is cause of regret that, owing, probably, to the civil dissensions which have occupied the attention of the Mexican Government, the time fixed by the treaty of limits with the United States for the meeting of the commissioners to define the boundaries between the two nations has been suffered to expire without the appointment of any commissioners on the part of that Government. While the true boundary remains in doubt by either party it is difficult to give effect to those measures which are necessary to the protection and quiet of our numerous citizens residing near that frontier. The subject is one of great solicitude to the United States, and will not fail to receive my earnest attention."

References

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Fourth Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/fourth-annual-message-3 [Accessed 8 Sep. 2019].

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Fifth Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/fifth-annual-message-2 [Accessed 3, Feb. 2020].

Tshaonline.org. (2019). TEXAS REVOLUTION | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). [online] Available at: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qdt01 [Accessed 14 Sep. 2019].

Tshaonline.org. (2019). VELASCO, BATTLE OF | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). [online] Available at: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qfv01 [Accessed 14 Sep. 2019].