Texas Revolution
Events moved at a quick pace after Santa Anna decided to divide his own flying column and race quickly towards Galveston, where members of the Provisional Government had fled. Santa Anna hoped to capture the Revolutionary leaders, and put an end to the war, which had proven costly and prolonged. Santa Anna, as dictator of Mexico, felt the need to return to Mexico City as soon as possible. Houston was informed of Santa Anna's unexpected move. Numbering about 700, Santa Anna's column marched east from Harrisburg, Texas. Without Houston's consent, and tired of running away, the Texan army of 900 moved to meet the enemy.[citation needed] Houston could do nothing but follow. Accounts of Houston's thinking during these moves is subject to speculation as Houston held no councils of war.
On April 20, both armies met at the San Jacinto River. Separating them was a large sloping ground with tall grass, which the Texans used as cover. Santa Anna, elated at finally having the Texas Army in front of him, waited for reinforcements, which were led by General Cos. On that same day, a skirmish was fought between the enemies, mostly cavalry, but nothing came of it.
To the dismay of the Texans, Cos arrived sooner than expected with 540 more troops, swelling Santa Anna's army to over 1,200 men. Angered by the loss of opportunity and by Houston's indeciseveness, the Texas Army demanded to make an attack. About 3:30 in the afternoon on April 21, after burning Vince's Bridge, the Texans surged forward, catching the Mexican army by surprise. Hours before the attack, Santa Anna had ordered his men to stand down, noting that the Texans would not attack his superior force. Also, his army had been stretched to the limit of endurance by the ongoing forced marches. His force was overwhelmed by Texians pushing into the Mexican camp. An 18-minute-long battle ensued, but soon the defenses crumbled and a massacre ensued.
Popular folk songs and legends hold that during the battle, Santa Anna was busy with and was distracted by a comely mixed race indentured servant, immortalized as The Yellow Rose of Texas.
Santa Anna's entire force of men was killed or captured by Sam Houston's heavily outnumbered army of Texans; only nine Texans died. This decisive battle resulted in Texas's independence from Mexico.
Santa Anna was captured when he could not cross the burned Vince's Bridge, and he was brought before Houston, who had been wounded in the ankle. Santa Anna agreed to end the campaign. General Vicente Filisola, noting the state of his tired and hungry army, marched back to Mexico, but not without protests from Urrea. Only Santa Anna had been defeated, not the Army of Operations, and Urrea felt that the campaign should continue, but Filisola disagreed.
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Aftermath
With Santa Anna a prisoner, his captors forced him to sign the Treaties of Velasco on May 14. The treaty recognized Texas's independence and guaranteed Santa Anna's life. The initial plan was to send him back to Mexico to help smooth relations between the two states. His departure was delayed by a mob who wanted him dead. Declaring himself as the only person who could bring about peace, Santa Anna was sent to Washington, D.C., by the Texan government to meet President Jackson in order to guarantee independence of the new republic. But unknown to Santa Anna, the Mexican government deposed him in absentia; thus, he no longer had any authority to represent Mexico.
Texas became a republic after a long and bloody fight, but it was never recognized as such by Mexico. The war continued as a standoff.
Santa Anna re-emerged as a hero during the Pastry War in 1838. He was re-elected President, and soon after, he ordered an expedition led by General Adrian Woll into Texas, occupying San Antonio, but briefly. There were small clashes between the two states for several years afterward. The war with Texas did not truly come to an end until the Mexican-American War of 1846.
Sam Houston's victory at San Jacinto would earn him the presidency of Republic of Texas. He later became a U.S. senator and governor of Texas. Stephen F. Austin, after a lost bid for Texas's presidency in 1836, was appointed Secretary of State but died shortly thereafter. Sam Houston eulogized Austin as the "Father of Texas". Later during the American Civil War, most Texans considered Houston the "Traitor to the Republic" for his efforts to keep Texas from seceding from the Union and his refusal to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederate States.
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Historical context of the Revolution
At the same time Texas declared independence, other Mexican states also decided to secede from Mexico and form their own republics. The state of Yucatán formed the Republic of Yucatán, which was recognized by Great Britain, and the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas joined together to form the Republic of the Rio Grande. Several other states also went into open rebellion, including San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Jalisco and Zacatecas. All were upset with Santa Anna abolishing the 1824 Constitution, disbanding Congress, changing the structure of government from a federal structure to a centralized one, and the expulsion of the Spaniards. Texas, however, was the only territory to be successful in detaching itself from Mexico.
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See also
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Footnotes
- ^ Manchaca (2001), p. 161.
- ^ a b Manchaca (2001), p. 162.
- ^ Edmondson (2000), p. 71.
- ^ a b Edmonson (2000), p. 72.
- ^ Manchaca (2001), p. 164.
- ^ Edmondson (2000), p. 75.
- ^ Manchaca (2001), p. 198.
- ^ Manchaca (2001), p. 199.
- ^ a b Barr (1996), p. 14.
- ^ a b Manchaca (2001), p. 200.
- ^ Barr (1996), p. 15.
- ^ Barr (1996), p. 17.
- ^ Manchaca (2001), p. 201.
- ^ Manchaca (2001), p. 172.
- ^ AB Looscan, The Old Fort at Anahuac, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Texas State Historical Association, Vol. 2, No. 1, July, 1898
- ^ SL Hardin (1996) Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution, 1835-1836,Chapter 1, U. of Texas Press ISBN-10: 0-292-73086-1; ISBN-13: 978-0-292-73086-1
- ^ [1] excerpted publications of Texas historian, Eugene Barker
- ^ [2] "The Port of Copano", Texas State Library website
- ^ John Henry Brown (1893) History of Texas: From 1685 to 1892 L.E. Daniell (publisher)
- ^ Harbert Davenport,"Men of Goliad", Volume 43, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online (Accessed Tue Oct 31, 2006)
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References
- Barr, Alwyn (1996), Black Texans: A history of African Americans in Texas, 1528–1995 (2nd ed.), Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 080612878X
- Davis, William C., Lone Star Rising: The Revolutionary Birth of the Texas Republic, Free Press (2004) ISBN 0-684-86510-6
- Dingus, Anne, The Truth About Texas, Houston: Gulf Publishing Company (1995) ISBN 0-87719-282-0
- Edmondson, J.R. (2000), The Alamo Story-From History to Current Conflicts, Plano, TX: Republic of Texas Press, ISBN 1-55622-678-0
- Hardin, Stephen L., Texian Iliad, Austin: University of Texas Press (1994) ISBN 0-292-73086-1
- Lord, Walter, A Time to Stand,; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press (1961) ISBN 0-8032-7902-7
- Manchaca, Martha (2001), Recovering History, Constructing Race: The Indian, Black, and White Roots of Mexican Americans, The Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, ISBN 0292752539
- Nofi, Albert A., The Alamo and The Texas War for Independence, Da Capo Press (1992) ISBN 0-306-81040-9
- [3] Main Cause for Texas Revolution, Essay by M. Martin, Texas Legislator
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External links
- Texas War of Independence http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/independcon.htm
- History of the revolution in Texas, particularly of the war of 1835 & '36; together with the latest geographical, topographical, and statistical accounts of the country, from the most authentic sources. by the Rev. C. Newell, published 1838, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Military Maps of the Texas revolution hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Evacuation of Texas : translation of the Representation addressed to the supreme government / by Vicente Filisola, in defence of his honor, and explanation of his operations as commander-in-chief of the army against Texas. hosted by the Portal to Texas History
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