The Mexican commander during the conflict, Domingo de Ugartechea, tried to stop the Texians, under John Austin, from transporting a cannon down the Brazos River to attack the city of Anahuac.

Ugartechea surrendered after a two-day battle, once he realized he would not be receiving reinforcements, and his soldiers had almost run out of ammunition.. After Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, it legalized immigration from the United States.

On April 6, 1830 the Mexican government passed a series of laws restricting immigration from the United States into Texas.

[3] Mexican military officer Juan Davis Bradburn, formerly a United States citizen, was appointed commander of a new customs and garrison post on Galveston Bay.

[7] A log stockade was built on flat ground approximately 150 yards (140 m) from the Brazos River, and an equal distance from the Gulf of Mexico.

[10] Tensions escalated in May 1832, when Bradburn arrested a local man, William Barret Travis, on charges of attempted insurrection to separate the territory from Mexico.

[14] When presented with this request, several Mexican officers explained to Austin that the laws prevented them from turning the men over to civilian authorities.

Placated, Austin returned home; on his arrival he learned that Bradburn's men had arrested several Texians on suspicion of stealing horses.

[16] On June 10, the insurgents occupied Anahuac[13] and after a brief engagement with Mexican troops, the Texians withdrew to Turtle Bayou.

[17] Taking advantage of the civil war engulfing the Mexican interior, the Texians drafted the Turtle Bayou Resolutions.

In this document, they declared themselves federalists who supported rebellious Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna and decried "the present dynasty" that gave them military order instead of civil authority.

After the resolutions were adopted on June 13,[17] the group determined that Austin, Henry S. Brown, and William J. Russell would go to Brazoria to recruit reinforcements and retrieve several cannon that belonged to private citizens.

[19][20] Austin quickly proposed that the group be given permission to attack the closest Mexican military installation, Fort Velasco, if necessary.

[22] Ugartechea indicated that he would not allow the ship to pass; he knew that the cannon were most likely intended to create additional havoc in Anahuac.

Because only three of the volunteers had any familiarity with sailing, one of the mates of the Brazoria agreed to accompany the Texian Militia to ensure the ship arrived at its destination.

Texians soon ran low on ammunition for the cannon, but as the ship was fairly close to the fort, riflemen continued to fire.

[25] Austin's men discovered that their portable palisades were ineffective against Mexican marksmen; after the battle one shield alone had 130 holes.