This is a timeline of the
Republic of Texas, spanning the time from the Texas Declaration of Independence from
Mexico on March 2, 1836, up to the transfer of power to the State of
Texas on February 19, 1846.
April 21 –
Battle of San Jacinto: Texian army under
Sam Houston overwhelmingly defeats Mexican force under
Santa Anna, securing Texas independence. Santa Anna captured.
October 22 -
Sam Houston becomes president of the republic.
1837
March 1 - The United States recognizes Texas's independence.
April - Houston becomes the sixth temporary capital of the republic March 1,1837
1838
October 5 - Disaffected band of Cherokee kills or abducts 18 extended-family members in the
Killough massacre, the largest Native American attack on white settlers in Texas.
March - An uprising of Nacogdoches-area Tejanos who did not support independence from Mexico culminated in the
Córdova Rebellion and its defeat at Battleground Prairie in
Guadalupe County.
July 12 - The
Cherokee under
The Bowl accept President Lamar's proposal of relocation to the adjacent
Arkansas Territory in the
United States but refuse to begin preparations for departure after asking for an extension to collect their already planted crops.
July 15 - The first day of the
Battle of the Neches repulses a Cherokee attack against the Texian army under General Kelsey Douglass.
July 16 - The second day of the
Battle of the Neches ends in a rout of the Cherokee, scattering them and their allies from their settlements on the upper Neches. Generals
Rusk and
Burleson command the Texians, and Vice President
David G. Burnet and Secretary of War
Albert Sidney Johnston are both wounded. Both Cherokee chiefs, The Bowl and Big Mush, are killed.
September 25 - France recognizes Texas's independence.
June - 321 men under Hugh McLeod and George Thomas Howard at the behest of President
Mirabeau B. Lamar began an
invasion of Santa Fe. After confusing the
Wichita River for the
Red River they arrived on October 5 near present-day
Tucumcari, New Mexico, were captured without firing a shot and were marched to prison at the
San Carlos Fortress in
Perote, Veracruz before ultimately being released in June 1842. The disgrace was to lead to the return of Sam Houston.
December 13 -
Sam Houston becomes president of the republic.
1842
March - A division of the Mexican Army led by
Ráfael Vásquez invades Texas and captures San Antonio and Goliad, only to withdraw a few days later.
September 18 - 36 Texians are surrounded and killed by the Mexican Army in the
Dawson Massacre.
December 26 - 261 Texians are taken prisoner in the ill-fated
Mier Expedition, after they cause about 800 casualties in
Pedro de Ampudia's force at the Battle of Mier, where they were outnumbered ten to one by the Mexican Army.
December 29 - The people of Austin fire on Texian officials, who attempted to move the government records to
Houston at Pres. Houston's request, in the
Texas Archive War.
1843
April 24 – August 6,
Snively Expedition; an operation led by
Jacob Snively to intercept a train of Mexican traders who would be returning from
Missouri on the
Santa Fe Trail by way of Texas territory and to seize their goods. This was to be in retaliation for the Mexican raids on San Antonio in 1842 and for the mistreatment of Texas prisoners captured in the
Mier Expedition and on the Texian
Santa Fe Expedition. Despite defeating a detachment of Mexican soldiers on the
Arkansas River, they caused a border incident with the United States, and were disarmed by U. S. Dragoons. Those who remained were not strong enough to defeat the guard on the train and returned to Texas.