Day of Decision: The Battle of San Jacinto
Background
The events leading up to the Battle of San Jacinto, ironicly, were started by first Spain, then Mexico’s desire to defend vast, unpopulated territories in America. Even before Mexico’s independence from Spain, the rulers of Mexico were interested in developing the then under populated region by attracting new settlers. Land grants were given to an American businessman, Moses Austin which upon Austin’s death, were bequeathed to his son Stephen F. Austin. In December of 1821, Austin and three hundred American families settled around the town of San Felipe, in central Texas near modern Austin.
Subsequently, Mexico achieved its independence. At first, the new Mexican government refused to confirm Austin’s land grants in Texas. However, Stephen Austin spent three years traveling to and from Mexico City to negotiate a settlement and eventually the Mexican government approved the land grants and encouraged more American settlement of Texas.
The terms of the land grant stipulated that each settler would convert to Roman Catholicism and become a Mexican citizen, among other requirements. In return, each settler would receive 4000 acres of land.
In 1824, Mexico became a republic. Under the constitution of 1824, slavery was officially abolished within Mexico, though the institution unofficially continued. Texas was combined with Coahuila to form the state of Coahuila y Tejas.
Austin received further land grants in 1825, 1827, and 1827 to settle nine hundred additional American families. Under the new system of immigration, Austin became a kind of governor of the American immigrants. Also, ironically when one considers contemporary American-Mexican politics, illegal immigration from the United States also occurred.
The 1830s were a time of turmoil between the Mexican government and the Texas settlers. Alarmed by increasing rates of illegal immigration, the Mexican government closed the state to immigration and garrisoned troops to enforce the new law. Though Austin managed to get the law repealed, the damage was done. The Mexican troops garrisoned in Texas tended to be convicted criminals, given the choice of jail or military service.
The American settlers were also discontented because rights they enjoyed in America were not granted by Mexico, particularly freedom of religion. The settlers wanted Texas to be separated from Coahuila and be made its own state in the Mexican Republic, with its own capital. Finally, the status of slaves, which many of the American settlers, having come from the American south, owned was ambiguous. While slavery was officially abolished, the ownership, though not the sale, of slaves was tolerated.
Things started to come to a head when a Mexican General and politician named Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna overthrew the Mexican Republic and declared himself dictator. At first, the Texas settlers supported Santa Ana, despite the fact that he had abolished the 1824 Constitution and had savagely put down a revolt in Zacatecas. Austin himself was imprisoned for a time on suspicion of sedition, though he was eventually released. Meanwhile, Santa Ana decreed that all state militias would be disbanded and all illegal immigrants expelled. The path that would ultimately lead to the Battle of San Jacinto had been set upon.
The first battle of the Texas Revolution occurred on October 1st, 1835 when a force of Mexican dragoons attempted to retrieve a cannon from a force of 140 Texas militiamen. After an initial exchange of gun fire, during which the Texans flew a flag that read “Come and Take It!” the Mexican dragoons prudently choose to disengage and retreat.
Further Texan victories at the Battle of Concepcion, where Jim Bowie proved his bravery and leadership, the Siege of Bexar, where the Texans prevailed despite a lack of leadership, as well as at Goliad and other places led to the formation of a provisional Texas government, with Henry Smith as governor and Sam Houston as commander of the Army.
There was no Texas Army as such, merely groups of volunteers and militia. So Sam Houston set about building an army, using land grants as an incentive for men to enlist. Drill manuals were obtained and employed in the training of the new army. This was the army that would eventually defeat the better equipped, better trained Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto.
The revolt in Texas did not escape the notice of Santa Anna. With an army of 6000 men, he executed a march north across Mexico’s desert in the most grueling of winter conditions, losing hundreds of men, but arriving in Texas in February, months before he was expected. He invested the small garrison at the Alamo, near San Antonio, and a separate column under General Jose de Urrea invested a Texan force near Goliad. After a thirteen day siege, Santa Anna took the Alamo, wiping out it’s entire garrison of about 180 men. Meanwhile, Urrea forced the surrender of Goliad and, on Santa Anna’s orders, executed the 400 Texan prisoners.
The story of the Alamo in particular, of the heroic defense led by Jim Bowie, William Travis, and Davy Crockett (an American frontiersman and politician who was already famous) entered into legend. Since the actual event, the story has been celebrated in song, story, and film. The two atrocities also became a rallying cry at the Battle of San Jacinto.
Santa Anna divided his army into three columns, hoping to converge on Sam Houston’s Army and trap him. Houston, prudently, choose instead to retreat, burning fields and towns before him in a scorched earth policy. Torrential rains and bad roads also hampered Santa Anna’s advance. Houston had to endure the discontent of his own officers and men, tired of retreating, burning with the desire to avenge the Alamo and Goliad.
Santa Anna detached one column in an attempt to seize the provisional Texas government, which had fled to Galveston. Another column was detached to secure the Mexicans’ overstretched supply lines. With a single column of 1400 men, Santa Anna pushed on to the San Jacinto River. With an army of over 900 men, Sam Houston at last saw his chance.
The Battle of San Jacinto
Santa Anna decided to rest his army at the San Jacinto camp on April 20th, confident that the Texans would not dare attack, with plans to attack himself on April 22nd. Sam Houston instead choose to attack on the afternoon of the 21st. Santa Anna made the crucial mistake of not posting sentries during the traditional late afternoon siesta period. This ensured that the Mexicans would fight Battle of San Jacinto unprepared.
At 4:30 PM, after burning Vince’s Bridge over Sim’s Bayou, constituting the only route of retreat for the Mexicans, the Texan Army began the Battle of San Jacinto by advancing across a grassy plain. While the cavalry galloped to flank the Mexican camp, the Texan infantry charged, yelling, “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!” They paused just once to fire a volley, then pressed on.
Though some Mexicans tried to rally, most broke and ran. The Texans overran the Mexican camp and chased the Mexican soldiers into the marshes along the river. In just 18 minutes, the Battle of San Jacinto was over, with 600 Mexicans dead and 730 taken prisoner. The Texans lost just nine men in the Battle of San Jacinto, with Sam Houston having been wounded.
Aftermath
Santa Anna, who legend suggests had started the Battle of San Jacinto dallying in his tent with a prostitute since immortalized in song as The Yellow Rose of Texas, fled as the Texans entered his camp. He was taken the next day, wearing the uniform of a common Mexican soldier. His identity was soon revealed by his fellow prisoners and the Texans debated whether to hang him outright for his atrocities at the Alamo and Goliad.
Instead, Sam Houston forced him to sign a treaty withdrawing his army from Texas and recognizing Texas as an independent republic. For his own safety, Santa Anna was shipped to the United States and found himself eventually in Washington D.C. where he met with President Andrew Jackson before returning to Mexico in disgrace in 1837. Ironically, the Mexican government had disowned him for his incompetence, especially at the Battle of San Jacinto,and had repudiated any agreement he entered into with the Texans. Mexico did not recognize the secession of Texas until after the Mexican-American War of 1846-48.
Subsequent to the War of Texas Independence, the relationship between Texas and Mexico was a bloody one, with a number of attempts by Mexico to regain its lost territory, reversing the verdict of the Battle of San Jacinto. Finally, with Texas admitted to the United States as a state of the Union in 1846, war broke out between Mexico and the United States, with Santa Anna once again leading Mexico. The war ended with total defeat of Mexico and Mexico City itself occupied by American troops for a period.
Today the field where the Battke of San Jacinto was fought is a Texas State Historical Park, which includes the San Jacinto Monument, the tallest memorial column in the world. It is located in La Porte, about 25 miles east of Houston.
