Mexico demanded their cannon back. Texas raised a flag that said 'Come and Take It' — and fired the first shot of the revolution that would birth an entire nation.
On October 2, 1835, roughly 140 Texian settlers faced down 100 Mexican dragoons over a small bronze cannon near Gonzales, Texas — a dispute that became the opening shot of the Texas Revolution.
Mexico had loaned the cannon to Gonzales settlers years earlier for protection against Comanche raids, but now wanted it back as tensions rose. The colonists buried it, dug it up, mounted it on wagon wheels, and marched out to meet the troops.
The Texians raised a homemade white flag bearing a crude drawing of the cannon and the defiant phrase 'Come and Take It,' deliberately echoing the Spartan cry at the Battle of Thermopylae and American Revolutionary spirit.
The skirmish lasted only minutes — two Mexican soldiers were killed, no Texians died, and the Mexican dragoons withdrew. Militarily trivial, but symbolically it ignited a revolution.
Stephen F. Austin, the 'Father of Texas,' declared 'War is declared' upon hearing the news and was elected commander of Texian forces just nine days later on October 11.
The bronze cannon's fate became legendary: historians believe it was later used at the Alamo, captured by Mexico, and recast into a church bell at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio in 1874.