William B. Travis - Texas

Texas

In May 1831, upon his arrival in Mexican Texas, a part of northern Mexico at the time, Travis purchased land from Stephen F. Austin and began a law practice in Anahuac. He became a pivotal figure in the Anahuac Disturbances, during which Mexico City's increasingly arbitrary and authoritarian rule led to a series of assemblies by Texans, with subsequent civil disturbances and outbreaks of violence precipitating the war.

While the assemblies began debating how best to defend their Mexican rights, a similar series of outbreaks of demonstrations, assemblies, and civil strife throughout Mexico led to a massive crackdown throughout the country by a new military junta led by Antonio López de Santa Anna. Several Mexican states in the south declared independence in response. Santa Anna immediately declared a state of martial law and ordered the execution of anyone involved in the uprising. In reply, a number of Texas militia units surrounded various arsenals and armories into which Mexican central authorities had confiscated the local militia's weapons.

This led in October 1835 to the Battle of Gonzales in which Texas militia engaged Mexican army regulars quartered in the town and guarding the arsenal. In November, Travis played a small role in the Siege of Bexar, during which several militia units from across the state surrounded the main Mexican position at the Alamo, forced the Mexican army to leave, and secured large numbers of weapons, ammunition and supplies. Subsequently, on December 19, Travis was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel of the Legion of Cavalry and became the chief recruiting officer for a new regular Texan army. His command was to consist of 384 men and officers, divided into six companies. Despite his rank, Travis had to recruit the men who were to serve under his command, but he had difficulty in finding willing colonists to enlist as regulars, because the majority wished to remain in their local militia units. "Volunteers can no longer be had or relied upon", he wrote to acting governor Henry Smith.