Our Visit to the Monument

The San Jacinto Monument stands 15 feet taller than the Washington Monument and honors those who fought for Texas’s Independence.
We enjoyed our visit to the monument, though we will want to go again. Due to the rain early in the day and the long tour of the battleship, we did not have it in us to do the full museum. We only did the bottom floor free museum which was wonderful, but we want to go through the full museum and go up the the star at the top and see the observation deck. That is on the calendar for August when we go to the THSC Conference in Houston.

A Short History of San Jacinto
In March of 1836, the war for Texas' independence from Mexico was not going well for General Sam Houston and his Texan troops. On March 11, Houston abandoned Gonzales and retreated eastward in advance of the numerically superior forces of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the President of Mexico. Houston's poorly trained troops were restless, eager for revenge after the Goliad massacre and the fall of the Alamo. Houston realized, however, that the Texans had little chance of winning over Santa Anna's much larger army without some sort of advantage.
San Jacinto Day reenactment.

On April 18, Houston arrived at Buffalo Bayou and found that Santa Anna had already sacked the small town of Harrisburg. Through a captured Mexican courier, he learned that Santa Anna had isolated himself from the bulk of his troops and had a force of about 750 men, slightly smaller than Houston's force of 820 men. Houston realized that his chance had come. On April 19, Houston and his men crossed to the south bank of Buffalo Bayou and marched east, setting up camp near Lynch's Ferry on April 20. An advance guard of the Texans captured a boatload of the Mexican Army's provisions at the ferry, providing food for the famished Texan soldiers.

A small party of Texans retreated back to Houston's position near Lynch's Ferry, with the Mexican forces not far behind. Upon his arrival at nearby San Jacinto, Santa Anna tried to draw the Texans into battle. Skirmishes continued into the late afternoon, when Santa Anna established a camp about three-quarters of a mile east of Houston's position.

In a brief skirmish at sunset, a detail of Texan cavalry almost met with disaster, stoking Houston's fears about his poorly trained, individualistic troops. As darkness fell, both armies settled into camp for the night. Houston ordered his men to eat and rest, while he stayed up all night worrying. Santa Anna, realizing that Houston's forces was slightly larger, built fortifications using saddles, baggage, and anything else available and hoped that reinforcements would soon arrive. Even though his men were exhausted, he kept them up all night on alert, believing that the Texans would attack at first light.

On April 21, dawn came with no attack and Santa Anna relaxed. At about 9 AM about 500 more Mexican troops arrived, to the chagrin of Houston and his men. Houston sent a small detail to destroy Vince's Bridge to delay additional Mexican reinforcements. At noon he held a council of war, at which no decision was reached.
San Jacinto Day reenactment.

That afternoon, Houston assembled his troops and laid out a plan of battle. The main force advanced quietly in a frontal assault, hoping for the advantage of surprise. Two other groups circled around to the left and right flanks of the Mexican camp. The Mexican troops had relaxed in the knowledge of their numerical superiority and many were eating and sleeping.

The Texas had advanced to within 200-300 yards of the Mexican position before they were discovered and the alarm sounded. The main group of Texans charged the camp, screaming, "Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!"" A pitched battle quickly ensued, much of it hand-to-hand at the Mexican fortifications. The two other groups of Texans attacked the flanks, quickly overwhelming the Mexican camp. Houston was wounded, but fought on with his men. In less than twenty minutes, organized resistance ended and many Mexicans were killed by revenge-driven Texans even as they tried to surrender. As the sun sets to the west, the battle ended, the marshes stained scarlet with blood. Nine Texans and 630 Mexicans lay dead or mortally wounded, a tremendous defeat for the Mexican Army.

Those with medical training did their best with minimal supplies to treat the Texan and Mexican wounded. The 700 uninjured Mexican troops were disarmed and placed under guard. A small number, including Santa Anna, escaped from the battle and headed westward to the several thousand troops waiting west of the Brazos River. Houston knew that if Santa Anna was able to reunite with the main body of his army, the war would continue, so he sent out scouts to search for the escapees the next day. By noon, Houston's men had captured Santa Anna, who was disguised as a private. Santa Anna ordered his troops to withdraw from Texas, securing independence for the Republic of Texas.