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The Generalship of Sam Houston--Stephen Hardin Officers and Men of the Texas Republican Army: Battle of San Jacinto Accounts of Participants | Mexican Officer Casualties & Prisoners
".........waving his hat and
shouting "San Jacinto! San Jacinto! The Mexicans are whipped and Santa Anna a
prisoner." The scene that followed beggars description. People embraced, laughed
and wept and prayed, all in one breath. As the moon rose over the vast
flower-decked prairie, the soft southern wind carried peace to tired hearts and
grateful slumber. As battles go, San Jacinto was but a skirmish; but with what
mighty consequences! The lives and the liberty of a few hundred pioneers at
stake and an empire won! Look to it, you Texans of today, with happy homes, mid
fields of smiling plenty, that the blood of the Alamo, Goliad, and San Jacinto
sealed forever . Texas, one and indivisible!--Ms. Kate Scurry Terrell describing the scene
among refugee families on the Sabine River.
 FOREWORD
SAN JACINTO, birthplace of
Texas liberty! ... San Jacinto, one of the world’s decisive battles! . . . San
Jacinto, where, with cries of "Remember the
Alamo! Remember
Goliad!" Sam Houston and his ragged band of 910 pioneers routed
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, President and Dictator of Mexico and self-styled
"Napoleon of the West," with his proud army, and changed the map of
North America!
Here is a story that has thrilled Texans for more than a
century ... a story of desperate valor and high adventure; of grim hardship,
tragedy and romance ... the story of the epochal battle that established the
independent Lone Star Republic, on April 21, 1836, and indelibly inscribed the
names of Texas patriots on history's scroll of American immortals.
The actual battle of San Jacinto lasted less than twenty
minutes, but it was in the making for six years. It had its prelude in the
oppressive Mexican edict of April 6, 1830, prohibiting further emigration of
Anglo-Americans from the United States to Texas; in the disturbance at Anahuac
and in the battle of Velasco, in 1832; in the imprisonment of Stephen F. Austin,
the "Father of Texas," in Mexico in 1834. Immediate preliminaries were
the skirmish over a cannon at Gonzales; the capture of
Goliad; the "Grass
Fight," and the siege and capture of San
Antonio . . . all in 1836. The Texas Declaration of Independence at
Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, officially signalized the revolution.
Four days after the Declaration of Independence, news came to
the convention on the Brazos of the desperate plight of Colonel William Barret Travis, under siege at
the Alamo in San Antonio. Sam Houston, commander-in-chief of the Texas Army,
left Washington post-haste for Gonzales, to, take command of the troops there
and go to the aid of Travis. He arrived there on the 11th, and at about dark
learned from two Mexicans who had just arrived from San Antonio that the Alamo
had fallen and its 183 brave defenders massacred. This was confirmed two days
later by Mrs. Almeron
Dickinson who had been released by the Mexicans after seeing
her lieutenant husband killed in the old mission. She was trudging toward
Gonzales with her babe in her arms when the Texas army scouts found her.
The reports of the Alamo slaughter terrified the people of
Gonzales. They were panic-stricken by the general belief that Santa Anna next
would sweep eastward with his well-trained army, in a drive to wipe the
rebellious Texans from the face of the earth. Then began the exodus of frantic
colonists known to Texas history as the "Runaway
Scrape." Men, women and children packed what belongings they could take in
wagons and carts, on horseback, or on their own backs, and fled their homes in
terror across the rain soaked country . . . all moving eastward toward the
Louisiana border to escape the wrath of the bloodthirsty Santa Anna.
 General Houston, realizing that his
few hundred green troops were no match for the well-drilled hordes from Mexico,
evacuated Gonzales and had the rear guard put
the town to the torch. The Texans crossed the Colorado River on the 17th at Jesse Burnam's, and
camped there for two days. Then the army resumed its march down the east bank to
Benjamin Beason's crossing, some twenty miles below, near the present town of
Columbus. Camp was pitched at Beason's on the 20th.
Had the retreating column been fifty miles farther south, the troops
might have heard the distant rumble and crackle of gunfire. On March 19, Colonel James Walker Fannin Jr.,
commanding about 450 volunteers withdrawing from Goliad toward Victoria, was
defeated in battle on Coleto Creek by General
José Urrea's forces (photo at left) of 1200 infantry and
700 cavalry. Fannin surrendered. On Palm Sunday, March 27, he and 352 of his men
were marched out on the roads near Goliad and brutally shot down, by order of
Santa Anna.
THE MEXICAN PURSUIT
 Flushed with their Alamo victory, the
Mexican forces were following the colonists. Houston's scouts reported that
General Ramirez y Sesma and General
Adrian Woll (left) were on the west side of the Colorado with
approximately 725 troops and General Eugenio Tolso with 600. By
this time recruits and reinforcements had increased Houston's army to a strength
estimated as high as 1200. The chilling news of Fannin's defeat, reaching the
Texas forces on March 25, impelled many to leave the ranks, to remove their
families beyond the Sabine. Those remaining clamored for action, but Houston
decided to continue his retreat. On the 26th, keeping his own counsel, he
marched his army five miles. On the 27th the column reached the timbers of the
Brazos River bottoms, and on the 28th arrived at San Felipe de Austin, on the
west bank of the Brazos. On the 29th the army marched six miles up the river in
a driving rain, and camped on Mill Creek. On the 30th after a fatiguing tramp of
nine miles, the army reached a place across the river from "Bernardo," on one of
the plantations of the wealthy Jared E. Groce, and there camped
and drilled for nearly a fortnight. [this
plantation belonging to Groce has been confused by the historian John Henry
Brown, and perhaps others, with another plantation he owned which was situated
in the present county of Grimes, and known as "Groce's Retreat."]  When the ad interim Texas
government at Washington-on-the-Brazos learned of the
Mexicans' approach, in mid-March, it fled to Harrisburg. President David G. Burnet (left) sent
the commander-in-chief a caustic note, prodding him to stop his retreat and
fight. Secretary of War Thomas J. Rusk
(below) arrived at the camp April 4 at Burnet's direction, to urge Houston to a
more aggressive course. Houston having shown no disposition to fight, Santa Anna
decided to take possession of the coast and seaports, as a step in his plan to
round up the revolutionists. Crossing the Brazos at Fort Bend (now called
Richmond) on the 11th, the Mexican general proceeded on April 14 on the road to
Harrisburg, taking with him about 700 men and one twelve-pounder cannon. Urrea
was at Matagorda with 1200 men: Gaona was somewhere between Bastrop and San
Felipe, with 725; Sesma, at Fort Bend, with about 1,000, and Vicente Filisola
between San Felipe and Fort Bend, with nearly 1800 men.  Santa Anna arrived at Harrisburg on
the 15th. There he learned that the Burnet government had gone down Buffalo
Bayou to New Washington (now Morgan's Point), about 18 miles southeast. Burning
Harrisburg, Santa Anna sped after them. On the 19th when he arrived at New
Washington he learned that the new Texas government had fled to Galveston. Santa
Anna then set out for Anahuac via Lynchburg.
THE ROAD TO SAN JACINTO
Meanwhile, on April 11th, the Texans at Groce's received two
cannon, known to history as the "Twin Sisters," a gift
from citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio. Thus fortified, General Houston, after a
consultation with Rusk, decided to move on to the east side of the Brazos. The
river being very high, the steamboat "Yellow Stone"
and a yawl were used to ferry the army, horses, cattle and baggage across. The
movement began on the 12th and was completed at 1 p.m. on the 13th.
On the 13th Houston ordered Major Wyly
Martin, Captain Mosely Baker, and other commanders of
detachments assigned to delaying actions, to rejoin the main army at the house
of Charles Donoho, about three miles from Groce's. At Donoho's the road from San
Felipe to eastern Texas crossed the road south from Groce's.
On April 16 the army marched twelve miles to the home of Samuel
McCurley on Spring Creek, in present Harris county. The creeks formed the
boundary line between Harris and Montgomery counties. Three miles beyond
McCurley's was the home of Abram Roberts, at a settlement known as "New
Kentucky." At Roberts' two wagon trails crossed, one leading to Harrisburg
and the other Robbins' Ferry on the Trinity and on to the Sabine.
Many of his officers and men, as well as government officials,
believed that Houston's strategy was to lead the pursuing Mexicans to the Sabine
River, the eastern border of Texas. There, it was known, were camped United
States troops under General Pendelton Gaines, with whose help the Texans might
turn on their foes and destroy them. However, on April 17, when Roberts' place
was reached, Houston took the Harrisburg road instead of the one toward the
Louisiana line, much to the gratification of his men. They spent the night of
the 17th near the home of Matthew Burnett on Cypress Creek, twenty miles from
McCurley's. On April 18 the army marched twenty miles to White Oak Bayou in the
Heights District of the present city of Houston, and only about eight miles from
Harrisburg, now a part of Houston.
 From two prisoners, captured by
Erasmus "Deaf"
Smith, the famous Texas spy (left), Houston first learned that
the Mexicans had burned Harrisburg and had gone down the west side of the bayou
and of San Jacinto River, and that Santa Anna in person was in command. In his
march downstream Santa Anna had been forced to cross the bridge over Vince's
Bayou, a tributary of Buffalo Bayou, then out of its banks. He would have to
cross the same bridge to return. Viewing this strategic situation on the morning
of the 19th, Houston told his troops it looked as if they would soon get action.
And he admonished them to remember the massacres at San Antonio and at Goliad.
"Remember the Alamo!" The soldiers took up the cry.
"Remember Goliad!" [Thomas J. Rusk, Secretary of
War, and other Texans who were in the battle said the battle cry was
'Remember the Alamo' 'Remember La
Bahia!']
In a letter to Henry Raguet he said:
"This morning we are in preparation to meet Santa
Anna. It is the only chance for saving Texas." In an address
"To the People of Texas" he wrote: "We
view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must
conquer or perish…We must act now or abandon all hope."
Houston's force crossed Buffalo Bayou to the west side, near
the home of Isaac Batterson, two and a half miles below Harrisburg, on the
evening of the 19th. Some 248 men, mostly sick and non-effective, were left with
the baggage at the camp opposite Harrisburg. The march was continued until
midnight.
ON THE EVE OF BATTLE
At dawn April 20 the Texans resumed their trek down the bayou,
to intercept the Mexicans. At Lynch's ferry, near the juncture of Buffalo Bayou
and San Jacinto River, they captured a boat laden with supplies for Santa Anna.
This probably was some of the plunder of Harrisburg or New Washington.
Ascertaining that none of the enemy forces had crossed, the Texans drew back
about a mile on the Harrisburg road, and encamped in a skirt of timber protected
by a rising ground.
 That
afternoon, Colonel Sidney Sherman (left) with a small
detachment of cavalry engaged the enemy infantry, almost bringing on a general
action. In the clash two Texans were wounded---one of them, Olwyn J. Trask,
mortally---and several horses were killed. In this preliminary skirmish
Mirabeau B. Lamar, a private from Georgia (later President of
the Republic of Texas), so distinguished himself that on the next day he was
placed in command of the cavalry.
Santa Anna's blue-uniformed army made camp under the high
ground overlooking a marsh, about three-fourths of a mile from the Texas camp.
They threw up breastworks of trunks, baggage, pack-saddles and other equipment.
Both sides prepared for the expected conflict. The Texans awoke to find
Thursday, April 21, a clear fine day. Refreshed by a breakfast of bread made
with flour from the captured supplies and meat from beeves slaughtered the day
before, they were eager to attack the enemy. They could see Santa Anna's flags
floating over the enemy camp, and heard the Mexican bugle calls on the crisp
morning air.
It was discovered at about nine o'clock that General Martín
Perfecto de Cos had crossed Vince's bridge, about eight miles behind the Texans'
camp, with some 540 picked troops, swelling the enemy forces to about 1265.
General Houston ordered "Deaf" Smith and a detail to destroy the bridge and
prevent further enemy reinforcements. This also would prevent the retreat of
either the Texans or the Mexicans toward Harrisburg. In dry weather Vince's
Bayou was about fifty feet wide and ten feet deep, but the excessive April rains
bad made it several times wider and deeper. [With "Deaf" Smith in the detail
that destroyed the bridge were Young P. Alsbury, John Coker, John Garner, Moses
Lapham, Edwin R. Rainwater and Dimer W. Reaves.]
 [Photo:
Martín Perfecto Cos, Santa Anna's brother-in-law]. Shortly
before noon, General Houston held a council of war with Colonels Edward Burleson
and Sidney Sherman, Lieutenant Colonels Henry Millard, Alexander Somervell and
Joseph L. Bennett, and Major Lysander Wells. Two of the officers suggested
attacking the enemy in his position, while the others favored awaiting Santa
Anna's attack. Houston withheld his own views, but later, after having formed
his plan of battle, submitted it to Secretary of War Rusk, who approved it.
THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO
General Houston disposed his forces in battle order at about
3:30 in the afternoon. Over on the Mexican side all was quiet; many of the
foemen were enjoying their customary siesta. The Texans' movements were screened
by the trees and the rising ground, and evidently Santa Anna had no lookouts
posted. Big, shaggy and commanding in his mud-stained unmilitary garb, the
chieftain rode his horse up and down the line. "Now hold your fire,
men," he warned in his deep voice, "until you get the
order!"
 At the command,
"Advance," the patriots, 910 strong, moved quickly out
of the woods and over the rise, deploying. Bearded and ragged from forty days in
the field, they were a fierce-looking band. But their long rifles were clean and
well oiled. Only one company, Captain William Wood's "Kentucky
Rifles," originally recruited by Sidney Sherman, wore uniforms.
[In his official report of the battle, April 25, 1836, Houston said 783
Texans took part. Yet in a roster published later he listed 845 officers and men
at San Jacinto, and by oversight omitted Captain Alfred H. Wyly's Company. In a
Senate speech February 28, 1859, Houston said his effective force never exceeded
700 at any point. Conclusive evidence in official records brings the total
number at San Jacinto up to 910.] The battle line was formed with
Edward Burleson's (photo left) regiment in the center;
Sherman's on the left wing; the artillery, under George W. Hockley, on
Burleson's right; the infantry, under Henry Millard, on the right of the
artillery; and the cavalry, led by Lamar, on the extreme right
The Battlefield of San
Jacinto(Click here for enlargement)
Silently and tensely the Texas battle line swept across the
prairie and swale that was No Man's land, the men bending low. A soldier's fife
piped up with "Will You Come to the
Bower,"' a popular tune of the day. That was the only music of the battle.
[Several veterans of the battle said the tune played was "Yankee Doodle."]
As the, troops advanced, "Deaf" Smith galloped up and told Houston,
"Vince's bridge has been cut down." The General
announced it to the men. Now both armies were cut off from retreat in all
directions but one, by a roughly circular moat formed by Vince's and Buffalo
Bayous to the west and north, San Jacinto River to the north and cast, and by
the marshes and the bay to the east and southeast.
At close range, the two little cannon, drawn by rawhide thongs,
were wheeled into position and belched their charges of iron slugs into the
enemy barricade. Then the whole line, led by Sherman's men, sprang forward on
the run, yelling, "Remember the Alamo!" "Remember
Goliad!" All together they opened fire, blazing away practically
point-blank at the surprised and panic-stricken Mexicans. They stormed over the
breastworks, seized the enemy's artillery, and joined in hand-to-hand combat,
emptying their pistols, swinging their guns as clubs, slashing right and left
with their knives. Mexicans fell by the scores under the impact of the savage
assault.
General Manuel Fernández Castrillón, a brave Mexican, tried to
rally the swarthy Latins, but he was killed and his men became crazed with
fright. Many threw down their guns and ran; many wailed, "Me no
Alamo!" "Me no Goliad!" But their pleas won no mercy. The enraged
revolutionists reloaded and chased after the stampeding enemy, shooting them,
stabbing them, clubbing them to death. From the moment of the first collision
the battle was a slaughter, frightful to behold. The fugitives ran in wild
terror over the prairie and into the boggy marshes, but the avengers of the
Alamo and Goliad followed and slew them, or drove them into the waters to drown.
Men and horses, dead and dying, in the morass in the rear and right of the
Mexican camp, formed a bridge for the pursuing Texans. Blood reddened the water.
General Houston tried to check the execution but the fury of his men was beyond
restraint.
Some of the Mexican cavalry tried to escape over Vince's
bridge, only to find that the bridge was gone. In desperation, some of the
flying horsemen spurred their mounts down the steep bank; some dismounted and
plunged into the swollen stream. The Texans came up and poured a deadly fire
into the welter of Mexicans struggling with the flood. Escape was virtually
impossible. General Houston rode slowly from the field of victory, his ankle
shattered by a rifle ball. At the foot of the oak where he bad slept the
previous night be fainted and slid from his horse into the arms of Major
Hockley, his chief of staff.
 As the
crowning stroke of a glorious day, General Rusk presented to him as a prisoner
the Mexican general Don Juan
Almonte, who had surrendered formally with about 400 men. The
casualties, according to Houston's official report, numbered 630 Mexicans
killed, 208 wounded, and 730 taken prisoner. As against this heavy score, only
nine Texans were killed or mortally wounded, and thirty wounded less seriously.
Most of their injuries came from the first scattered Mexican volley when the
attackers stormed their barricade. The Texans captured a large supply of
muskets, pistols, sabers, mules, horses, provisions, clothing, tents and
paraphernalia, and $12,000 in silver. Santa Anna had disappeared during the battle, and
next day General Houston ordered a thorough search of the surrounding territory
for him. In the afternoon Sergeant J.
A. Sylvester spotted a Mexican slipping through the woods
toward Vince's Bayou. Sylvester and his comrades caught the fugitive trying to
hide in the high grass. He wore a common soldier's apparel round jacket, blue
cotton pantaloons, skin cap and soldier's shoes. [With Sylvester in the
capture of Santa Anna were Joel W.
Robison, Joseph D. Vermillion, Alfred H. Miles and David Cole.]
They took the captive to camp, and on the way, Mexican prisoners recognized
him and cried, "El Presidente!" Thus his identity was
betrayed; it was indeed the dictator from below the Rio Grande. He was brought
to General Houston, who lay under the headquarters oak, nursing his wounded
foot. The Mexican President pompously announced, "I am General
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and a prisoner of war at your disposition."
General Houston, suffering with pain, received him coldly. He sent
for young Moses Austin Bryan and Lorenzo de Zavala Jr. to act as interpreters.
Santa Anna cringed with fright as the excited Texas soldiers pressed around him,
fearing mob violence. He pleaded for the treatment due a prisoner of war.
"You can afford to be generous," he whined;
"you have captured the Napoleon of the 'West." "What claim have you
to mercy?" Houston retorted, "when you showed none at
the Alamo or at Goliad?" They talked for nearly two hours, using
Bryan, de Zavala and Almonte as interpreters. In the end Santa Anna agreed to
write an order commanding all Mexican troops to evacuate Texas. Later, treaties
were signed at Velasco, looking to the adjustment of all differences and the
recognition of Texas independence. Thus ended the revolution of 1836, with an
eighteen-minute battle which established Texas as a free republic and opened the
way for the United States to extend its boundaries to the Rio Grande on the
southwest and to the Pacific on the west. Few military engagements in history
have been more decisive or of more far-reaching ultimate influence than the
battle of San Jacinto.
It is interesting to compare the accounts of the battle of San
Jacinto written by leaders of the opposing Texan and Mexican forces.
 General Sam Houston, in
his official report of the engagement to President David G. Burnet, dated April
25, 1836, reviewed his movements during the three days preceding the battle:
[Headquarters of the Army, San Jacinto, April 25, 1836.---Sir I
regret extremely that my situation since the battle of the 21st has been, such
as to prevent my rendering you my official report of the same previous to this.
I have the honor to inform you that on the evening of the 18th, after a forced
march of fifty-five miles, which was effected in two days and a half, the army
a: rived opposite Harrisburg. That evening a courier of the enemy was taken,
from whom I learned that General Santa Anna, with one division of his choice
troops, had marched in the direction of Lynches Ferry, on the San Jacinto,
burning Harrisburg as he passed down. The army was ordered to be in readiness to
march the next morning. The main body effected a crossing over Buffalo Bayou
below Harrisburg, on the morning of the 19th, having left the baggage, the sick
and a sufficient guard in the rear. We continued the march throughout the night,
making but one halt in the prairie for a short time and without refreshment. At
daylight we resumed the line of march, and in a short distance our scouts
encountered those of the enemy, and we received the information that General
Santa Anna was at New Washington and would that day take up the line of march
for Anahuac, crossing at Lynches Ferry. The Texas army halted within half a mile
of the ferry in some timber, and were engaged in slaughtering beeves, when the
army of Santa Anna was discovered to be approaching in battle array, having been
encamped at Klopper's Point, eight miles below. Disposition was immediately made
of our forces and preparation for his reception. He took a position with his
infantry and artillery in the center, occupying an island of timber, his cavalry
covering the left flank. The artillery, consisting of one double fortified
medium brass twelve-pounder, then opened on our encampment. The infantry in
column advanced with the design of charging our lines, but were repulsed by a
discharge of grape and canister from our artillery, consisting of two
six-pounders. The enemy had occupied a piece of timber within rifle shot of the
left wing of our army, from which an occasional interchange of small arms took
place between the troops, until the enemy withdrew to a position on the bank of
the San Jacinto, about three-quarters of a mile from our encampment and
commenced fortifications. A short time before sunset our mounted men, about
eighty-five in number, under the special command of Colonel Sherman, marched out
for the purpose of reconnoitering the enemy. While advancing they received a
volley from the left of the enemy's infantry, and after a sharp re-encounter
with their cavalry, in in which ours acted extremely well and performed some
feats of daring chivalry, they retired in good order, having had two men
severely wounded and several horses killed. In the meantime the infantry, under
command of Lieutenant Colonel Millard, and Colonel Burleson's regiment, with the
artillery, had marched out for the purpose of covering the retreat of the
cavalry if necessary. All then fell back in good order to our encampment about
sunset and remained without any ostensible action until the 21st, about 8:30
o'clock, taking the first refreshment which they had enjoyed for two days. The
enemy in the meantime extended the right flank of their infantry so as to occupy
the extreme point of a skirt of timber on the bank of the San Jacinto, and
secured their left by a fortification about five feet high, constructed of packs
and baggage, leaving an opening in the center of the breastwork in which their
artillery was placed, their cavalry upon their left wing.]
and then said:
"About nine o'clock on the morning of the 21st, the enemy were
reinforced by 500 choice troops, under the command of General Cos, increasing
their effective force to upward of 1500 men, whilst our aggregate force for the
field numbered 783. At half-past three o'clock in the evening, I ordered the
officers of the Texian army to parade their respective commands, having in the
meantime ordered the bridge on the only road communicating with the Brazos,
distant eight miles from the encampment, to be destroyed-thus cutting off all
possibility of escape. Our troops paraded with alacrity and spirit, and were
anxious for the contest. Their conscious disparity in numbers seemed only to
increase their enthusiasm and confidence, and heightened their anxiety for the
conflict. Our situation afforded me an opportunity of making the arrangements
Preparatory to the attack without exposing our designs to the enemy. The first
regiment, commanded by Colonel Burleson, was assigned to the center. The second
regiment, under the command of Colonel Sherman, formed the left wing of the
army. The artillery, under special command of Colonel George W. Hockley,
Inspector General, was placed on the right of the first regiment; and four
companies of infantry, under the command of Lieut.Col. Henry Millard, sustained
the artillery upon the right. Our cavalry, 61 in number, commanded by Colonel
Mirabeau B. Lamar (whose gallant and daring conduct on the previous day had
attracted the admiration of his comrades), completed our line. Our cavalry was
first dispatched to the front of the enemy's left, for the purpose of attracting
their notice, whilst an extensive island of timber afforded its an opportunity
of concentrating our forces, and deploying from that point, agreeably to the
previous design of the troops. Every evolution was performed with alacrity, the
whole advancing rapidly in line, and through an open Prairie, without any
protection whatever for our men. The artillery advanced and took station within
200 yards of the enemy's breastwork, and commenced an effective fire with grape
and canister.
 [Photo: Mirabeau Lamar]"Colonel
Sherman, with his regiment, having commenced the action upon our left wing, the
whole line, at the center and on the right, advancing in double quick time, rung
the warcry, 'Remember the Alamo!' received the enemy's fire,
and advanced within point blank shot, before a piece was discharged from our
lines. Our lines advanced without a halt, until they were in possession of the
woodland and the enemy's breastwork, the right wing of Burleson's and the left
of Millard's taking possession of the breastwork; our artillery having gallantly
charged up within seventy yards of the enemy's cannon, when it was taken by our
troops. The conflict lasted about eighteen minutes from the time of close action
until we were in possession of the enemy's encampment, taking one piece of
cannon (loaded), four stand of colors, all their camp equipage, stores and
baggage. Our cavalry had charged and routed that of the enemy upon the right,
and given pursuit to the fugitives, which did not cease until they arrived at
the bridge which I have mentioned before---Captain Karnes, always among the
foremost in danger, commanding the pursuers. The conflict in the breastwork
lasted but a few moments; many of the troops encountered band to hand, and, not
having the advantage of bayonets on our side, our riflemen used their pieces as
war clubs, breaking many of them off at the breech. The rout commenced at half
past four, and the pursuit by the main army continued until twilight. A guard
was then left in charge of the enemy's encampment, and our army returned with
our killed and wounded. In the battle, our, loss was two killed and twenty-three
wounded, six of them mortally. The enemy's loss was 630 killed….wounded 208 . .
. prisoners 730."
MEXICAN VERSION OF BATTLE
 General Santa Anna, in the
memoirs of his old age, wrote a brief and untruthful account of the battle of
San Jacinto, an alibi blaming General Filisola for the defeat.
He said he had ordered Filisola to join him by forced marches, for the attack on
Houston's army, and was waiting for the reinforcements when he found Houston
camped on the San Jacinto. He continued:
"At two o'clock in the afternoon of April 21, 1836, 1 had
fallen asleep in the shade of an oak, hoping the beat would moderate so that I
might begin the march, (to find Filisola), when the filibusterers surprised my
camp with admirable skill. Imagine my surprise, on opening my eyes, and finding
myself surrounded by those people, threatening me with, their rifles and
overpowering my person. The responsibility of Filisola was obvious, because be
and only he had caused such a catastrophe by his criminal disobedience."
This is somewhat at variance with an earlier report, in which Santa Anna recounted his own
heroic efforts to rally his troops in the battle until "the new recruits threw
everything into confusion, breaking their ranks and preventing veterans from
making use of their arms, whilst the enemy was rapidly advancing with loud
hurrahs, and in a few minutes obtained a victory which they could not some hours
before, even have dreamed of."
Then, El Presidente went on:
 [Photo: General Vicente Filisola]"I
alighted from my horse and with much, difficulty succeeded in concealing myself
in a thicket of dwarf pines. Night coming on I escaped them, and the hope of
reaching the army gave me strength. I crossed the creek with the water up to my
breast and continued my route on foot. I found, in a house which had been
abandoned some articles of clothing, which enabled me to change my apparel. At
eleven o'clock a.m., while I was crossing a large plain, my pursuers overtook me
again. Such is the history of my capture. On account of my change of apparel
they did not recognize me, and inquired whether I had seen Santa Anna. To this I
answered that he had made his escape; and this answer saved me from
assassination, as I have since been given to understand."
Colonel Pedro Delgado, of Santa
Anna's staff, gave a more detailed and more accurate Mexican version of the
battle. He told how Santa Anna, his staff and most of the men were asleep when
the bugler sounded the alarm of the Texan advance. Some of the men were out
gathering boughs for shelter; cavalrymen were riding bareback, to and from
water. Continuing:
In a grove on the bayshore, Colonel Delgado said, the Texans
wrought the worst carnage of the battle.
Louis Wiltz Kemp was a noted
historian and writer, an expert on the Battle of San Jacinto and instrumental in
establishment of the San Jacinto
Park and Museum. He served as vice-president of the San Jacinto Museum of
History Association when this booklet, an autographed copy in possession of the
author, was written in 1947. He also wrote The Signers of the Texas
Declaration of Independence, an extensive bibliography of all the signers,
and other works giving insight into the lives of the men who contributed to
Texas Independence. Ed Kilman was also a noted Texas
author and historian--Wallace L. McKeehan, Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas.
SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS©
1997-2010, Wallace L. McKeehan, All Rights
Reserved
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
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Had been a long time since I had read this. Good refresher post.
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