Did you know that the "come and take it" motto dates back to 480 BC?
At Battle of Thermopylae, when asked to surrender by the Persian Army, the King of Sparta defiantly responded "Molon labe," or "come and take them."
Then again, in 1778 during the American Revolution, at the battle of Fort Morris. Fort Morris was said to be a weather post, with less than 200 Continental soldiers and citizen militia. The crudely constructed, and minimally armed fort would have been easily over taken by a counter attack. However, when British Commander, Colonel Fuser, demanded surrender in writing from the commanding American officer, Colonel McIntosh, a familiar defiant response was provided. "As to surrendering the fort, come and take it!" The British retreated.
The last, and possibly most famous use of the phrase occurred in 1831 during the Texas revolution at the Battle of Gonzales. This was the first land battle in the Texas revolution against Mexico. Mounted to a blockhouse in the Colony of Gonzales, was a copper swivel cannon, which Mexican Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea ordered to be seized. That cannon, along with a small force of Texans, resisted Mexican forces, and the flag they flew was that of a cannon below a lone star, and at the bottom the words "come and take it."
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