The Battle of Gonzales:

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There was an unusually thick fog that morning, almost eerie according to some observers. About 4 am, the Texans formed for action. Mexican soldiers fired on the Texans, and one man was wounded when his horse threw him. The Texans fired a volley and one Mexican trooper was wounded. The Mexicans retreated to wait until the fog lifted.... When the fog lifted about daylight, the Texans moved into an open field and began firing on the Mexican position. The Mexican troops fired a volley and the Texans fell back to the wooded riverbank where they could not be seen. ...During a meeting in the field between the two opposing forces, (Col. John Henry) Moore suggested that (Lieutenant Francisco de) Castaeda, sent to seize the cannon, either surrender and join the Texans in support of the Constitution of 1824, or prepare to fight. Moore pointed to the cannon and told Castaeda that the little cannon was on the field, so he should just try to "Come and Take It". The flag* stating the Texans' sentiment was flying defiantly over the cannon. Moore then wheeled around. He shouted "Fire"and a shot was fired from the cannon. The Mexican troops immediately wheeled around and withdrew to San Antonio.

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Thanks for this.

I gotta say that the cannon they have at the museum in Gonzalez is, shall we say, not exactly an intimidating field piece. Reminds me of the little popgun the Sips used to fire when they scored a touchdown back in the 80s.

The cannon at the museum is a "1/2 pounder", basically a signal cannon that weighs about 70 pounds. The story I heard growing up is that the cannon was loaded up after the battle & hauled by oxen on a cart to go to the Alamo. The cart broke down & the cannon was buried (presumably because it couldn't be carried) and later rediscovered. Why on earth would a cannon that was basically as heavy as a feed sack be left behind? It could have been strapped to a horse. They left it because it was useful for making noise & that's about it. This is not "The" Come & Take It Cannon.

New research has put forth some pretty convincing evidence there were in fact two cannons present at the Battle of Gonzales. Lt. Castaneda's battle report indicates there were two cannon: The signal cannon & another medium cannon.

There are accounts from Travis, Jacob Darst and others that mention a brass cannon from Gonzales arriving during the Siege of Bexar that was a 4 or 6 pounder. It was most likely used during the Battle of the Alamo & its whereabouts know are unknown.

Not a lot of folks have heard about this new research, Gonzales is my home town so I am more aware than others. Below is a link to the new book that details the research with much additional supporting evidence than my old brain can recall. Suffice to say the book does a good job of destroying the "Lone Little Cannon" narrative.

The Battle of Gonzales and its Two Cannons

There were lots of little guns like that around the frontier. Mainly used for scaring the natives off.

I wonder how much good those little cannons did. Certainly didn't impede the Comanche.

The noise usually scared them off.

A small signal cannon like that , aside from noise, is essentially a large bore shot/Langridge gun. Very effective in ship boarding conflict(ones that size), but I would think a bit cumbersome on land.