The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, July 1960 - April, 1961 Page: 480
574 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
but as soon as possible, he rode to Gonzales with the news. James
H. C. Miller and a group, including Caldwell, followed the trail.
When the whites neared the Indians, Caldwell and two others
were sent ahead to reconnoiter while the remainder of the force
hid in a thicket. The Indians had dismounted and were eating
when the scouts accidentally burst in on them. The three whites
turned and ran with ten Indians in pursuit. The scouts fled
toward the thicket where their friends were waiting in ambush.
When the three reached the thicket, Caldwell wheeled, fired, and
killed the first Indian. The other nine were also killed and the
remainder of the Indian band retreated.6
Caldwell soon had an opportunity to develop his other spe-
.cialty, which was Mexican fighting. The people of Gonzales
were not wholeheartedly in sympathy with the Anglo-Americans
nearer the coast who were talking of war. It was, however, at
Gonzales on October 2, 1835, where the first incident of the revo-
lution took place. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna wanted to disarm
the Anglo-Americans, so Domingo de Ugartechea sent Francisco
Castafieda and one hundred dragoons to retrieve a cannon from
Gonzales which the citizens had received four years before for
Indian defense. The citizens refused, and the alcalde, Andrew
Ponton, directed the burial of the cannon in a peach orchard
and dispatched Old Paint to obtain help. So successful was Cald-
well, that within forty-eight hours the number of defenders in-
creased from eighteen to one hundred and sixty. On October 2,
1835, the Texans uncovered the cannon, loaded it with metal and,
flying a flag on which was a picture of a cannon and the words
"'Come and Take It," attacked and routed the Mexicans. Be-
cause of the part Caldwell played in the "Lexington of Texas,"
he is often called the Paul Revere of the Texas Revolution.7
Caldwell was not only a volunteer, but he also supplied provi-
sions for the army. On October 1, 1835, when the Texans were
gathering in Gonzales, he furnished the government seventy-five
bushels of corn at one dollar a bushel. Caldwell was officially
6John Henry Brown, Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas (Austin, 1891-1892), 16.
7Miles S. Bennet, "The Battle of Gonzales, the 'Lexington' of the Texas Revo-
lution," Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, II, 314-315.480
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 64, July 1960 - April, 1961, periodical, 1961; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101190/m1/517/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.