Anahuac Disturbances The Anahuac Disturbances were uprisings of settlers in and around Anahuac , Texas in 1832 and 1835 which helped to precipitate the Texas Revolution . This eventually led to the territory ' s secession from Mexico and the founding of the Republic of Texas . Anahuac was located on the east side of the Trinity River near the north shore of Galveston Bay , which placed it astride the trade route between Mexico and Louisiana , and from there to the rest of the United States . In new attempts to curtail smuggling and enforce customs tariffs from the coastal settlements , Mexico placed a garrison there after 1830 . American settlers came into conflict with Mexican military officers , and rose up against them . They increased political activity and residents of numerous communities declared support for the federalists , who were revolting against the central government . Background . After Mexico gained independence from Spain , it legalized immigration from the United States . Empresario s were granted contracts to settle immigrants from the United States and Europe in Mexican Texas . As the number of Americans living in Texas increased , Mexican authorities began to fear the United States would want to annex Texas . On April 6 , 1830 the Mexican government passed a series of laws restricting immigration from the United States into Texas . The laws also canceled all unfilled empresario contracts and established customs houses in Texas to enforce the collection of customs duties . Mexican military officer Juan Davis Bradburn , formerly an American citizen , was appointed commander of a new customs and garrison post on Galveston Bay . In October 1830 Bradburn established a post atop a bluff at the entrance to the Trinity River . The post became known as Anahuac . Bradburn was unpopular from the beginning of his tenure . He opposed the efforts of the state land commissioner to grant titles to settlers who lived near Anahuac . The Mexican Constitution of 1824 prohibited immigrants from settling within of the coast , and most of these settlers lived too close to the coast . Although the commissioner was finally able to grant the titles , settlers were angry with Bradburn . In January 1832 , Bradburn received a letter listing 10 men in his jurisdiction who wanted to separate Texas from Mexico . From that point on , " " Bradburn became increasingly obsessed about the Anglo - Americans and their intentions , believing that every event was part of a conspiracy to detach Texas . " " In June 1832 , two of Bradburn ' s soldiers attacked a female settler . Angry settlers tarred and feathered a neighbor who failed to aid her . They demanded that Bradburn turn over the soldiers for a similar punishment . After Bradburn refused , local men organized a militia , supposedly to protect the settlement from the Indians . Mexican law forbade residents from creating militias , so Bradburn arrested the ringleader Patrick Jack . After Bradburn received death threats , he released Jack . 1832 Disturbance . Prelude . Tensions between Bradburn and the colonists escalated . Bradburn strongly supported the Mexican law forbidding slavery . In August 1831 he gave asylum to three men who had escaped slavery in Louisiana . The owner retained local lawyer William Barret Travis to represent him in trying to get the slaves returned . In May 1832 , Bradburn received a letter , ostensibly from a friend , warning that 100 armed men would come from Louisiana to reclaim the slaves . When Bradburn realized that the letter was a hoax , he arrested Travis for questioning . He intended to send Travis to Matamoros for a military trial on charges of attempted insurrection to separate the territory from Mexico . Conviction on this charge would lead to Travis ' s execution . Unfamiliar with Mexican law , the settlers were outraged that Bradburn could arrest the man without a warrant , a statement of charges , or trial by jury . Most assumed they were still covered by the United States Bill of Rights . Jack threatened Bradburn , who arrested him again . Travis and Jack then began plotting their escape . They attempted to smuggle letters to David G . Burnet , a fellow instigator ; the letters called on Texians to aid them , but stopped short of calling for armed rebellion . Bradburn intercepted the letters before delivery . Although settlers at first did not get involved , they became alarmed at learning that Bradburn was taking statements from potential witnesses without allowing Travis , Jack , or their legal representation to speak with the witnesses . Jack ' s brother organized a contingent of men to march from Brazoria to Anahuac . Men began arriving from other villages as well . One of the Brazoria councilmen , John Austin , stopped to consult Colonel Domingo Ugartechea , who commanded the garrison on the Brazos . Ugartechea recommended that Austin request that the men be remanded into civilian custody . Bradburn ' s officers explained to Austin and company that the laws prohibited turning the accused men over to civilian authorities . The Brazoria men returned home . After they left , the Mexican officers discovered that their horses had been stolen . They arrested two local men on suspicion of the theft . On hearing of the new arrests , the Brazoria contingent returned to Anahuac . They camped with other angry civilians several miles from Anahuac and elected Frank W . Johnson as commander . The group soon captured Bradburn ' s nineteen cavalry officers , who had been trying to reconnoiter the Texian position . On June 10 , the insurgents occupied buildings in northern Anahuac . Bradburn worried that the armed men wanted to do more than free the American prisoners ; he suspected a full - scale revolt . Bradburn had Travis and Jack tied to the ground with weapons pointed at them . Bradburn threatened to shoot both men if the Texians attacked . Travis encouraged Johnson to lead an attack anyway . During the ensuing negotiations , the Texians offered to exchange the cavalry officers for Travis and the other prisoners . Mexican officers agreed to release their prisoners into civilian custody in exchange for the cavalry officers and for the withdrawal of the Texians to Turtle Bayou . Although most of the rebels left Anahuac , between 15 and 30 of them remained scattered through the town . Bradburn believed this violated their agreement and warned that he would begin firing on the village within two hours . Most of the Texians believed that Bradburn had lied to them just to get them out of the buildings they had occupied . Unbeknownst to the Texians at the time , the buildings contained extra ammunition and supplies . Battle of Anahuac . After hearing Bradburn ' s warning , the women and children of Anahuac fled the town . Mexican soldiers briefly engaged the men who remained ; five Mexican soldiers and one Texian died in the conflict . After the skirmish , the remaining Texans gathered at Turtle Bayou to await the arrival of cannons coming from Brazoria . On June 13 , the Texans adopted the Turtle Bayou Resolutions . In this document , they announced they were federalists who supported rebellious Mexican general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna . They decried " the present dynasty " that kept them under military rather than civil authority . While the Texans waited for their artillery , Bradburn appealed for reinforcements from Colonel Piedras , stationed at Nacogdoches north , and Colonel Elosúa at San Antonio , about to the west . On June 19 , Piedras and about 100 of his men set out to support Bradburn . John Austin and his men returned to Brazoria for the cannons . On June 20 , he called the residents together , and they voted to oppose the centralist government . Austin invited Colonel Domingo Ugartechea , who commanded the small fort on the Brazos , to join their cause . After Ugartechea refused , on June 26 the Brazoria residents attacked the fort . The action became known as the Battle of Velasco . The next morning , Ugartechea surrendered under an agreement that he and his men would return to Matamoros but leave their artillery behind . When Piedras was within of Anahuac , he sent a delegation to Johnson , who provided him with a list of grievances against Bradburn . Piedras negotiated a resolution of the conflict . Among the measures to which he agreed were : With Texans ' acceptance of the terms on June 28 , Piedras marched to Anahuac on July 1 . Aftermath . Bradburn ' s chosen successor , Lieutenant Colonel Felix Maria Subarán , refused to take his place . Piedras took temporary command of the garrison . On July 2 , he released the prisoners to the civilian authorities ; within a week they were released with no charges filed . On July 8 , Piedras left for Nacogdoches . He gave command of the Anahuac garrison to Lieutenant Cortina , previously the third - in - command . Three days after Piedras left , the bulk of the Anahuac troops declared themselves federalists . The troops were drunk and Cortina , unable to maintain order , asked Bradburn to resume command . Bradburn refused , instead recommending that Subarán take responsibility . After an attempt at his assassination was forestalled , Bradburn decided to leave Texas . None of the local ship captains would give him passage . On July 13 , Subarán announced he would not guarantee the safety of any officers who supported the centralist government . That night , Bradburn left Anahuac ; a hired guide took him on foot to Louisiana . Other officers sought sanctuary with sympathetic locals . Historians have discussed Bradburn ' s role . William C . Davis believes that he " overreacted and made heroes of two local malcontents whose actions their own people otherwise had not been much inclined to sanction " . The resulting Turtle Bayou Resolutions , however , encouraged other Texians to follow similar courses . Many communities declared support for Santa Anna . When Piedras returned to Nacogdoches , he discovered citizens were forming militias . He asked the local " ayuntamiento " to order the militias to disband ; they refused and instead formed their own militia . On August 1 , the combined militias ordered Piedras to vow support for the federalist revolt . When he refused , the Texians attacked and the Battle of Nacogdoches commenced . Several days later , they took Piedras and his men prisoner and " convinced " them to become federalists . With the soldiers ' surrender and retreat into the Mexican interior , no Mexican troops remained in eastern Texas . This encouraged the colonists to increase political activity . Soon after , they organized the Convention of 1832 , marking the first attempt to gather Texians from each of the colonies to discuss common goals . 1835 Disturbance . A second dispute arose in late June 1835 , again over the issue of customs . Leading up to this crisis , a large amount of Anglo settlers had immigrated into the Anahuac area . The current commander was reported as being uneasy about the insubordinate attitudes of the locals , and he requested additional military assistance from his superiors . Tensions continued to escalate as some citizens demonstrated with anti - taxation protests and petitions . In addition , a group known as the Citizens of Texas began to meet with the intention of realizing these demands . Andrew Briscoe , a local merchant and boat captain as well as a member of this group , complained that taxes were not being enforced equally at all ports . He intentionally tested the new commander , Capt . Antonio Tenorio , by loading his boat in a way to increase curiosity of the officials . Briscoe simply loaded his boat with ballast . Tenorio was incensed and arrested Briscoe and his partner DeWitt Clinton Harris . The soldiers escorting Harris and Briscoe shot and wounded another Texian , young William Smith . Travis played a major role afterward . When news of the arrests were heard in San Felipe de Austin , where radical sentiments were taking hold , the political chief Peter Miller authorized Travis to gather a militia for response . Travis commandeered a vessel at Harrisburg , and sailed for Anahuac with the militia and a cannon . His 25 - man force quickly gained surrender of the more than 40 Mexican troops . After disarming them , Travis and the militia freed the Texians and expelled the troops . Because Travis had acted without broad community support , he apologized to avoid endangering Stephen F . Austin , then in Mexico City . Austin was the most prominent empresario under contract by the Spanish , and later Mexican , governments to oversee the immigration of people to Mexico ' s frontier . Later that summer , Mexican military authorities demanded the surrender of Travis for military trial . The colonists opposed this . Travis and Austin continued active in Texas development . Travis died at the Battle of the Alamo . Austin served as secretary of state for the Republic of Texas for a short time before his own death .