The Battle of Velasco took place on June 25–26, 1832, at the mouth of the Brazos River at a settlement called Velasco — now the site of Surfside Beach and Freeport. The skirmish between Anglo-American settlers and the small Mexican garrison holding Fort Velasco is considered the opening military engagement of what would become the Texas Revolution, though formal war was still three years away.
The town of Velasco was later merged into Freeport in 1957, and little physical trace remains of either the fort or the original settlement. A historical marker near the mouth of the Brazos River commemorates the site. For visitors interested in Texas history, the location is worth a brief detour: standing at the jetties at Surfside Beach and looking at the river mouth, you are standing on the ground where armed resistance to Mexican authority in Texas began.