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Schlacht von San Jacinto

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Vorlage:Infobox Military Conflict Vorlage:Campaignbox Texas Revolution

The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texas Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican forces. Hundreds of Mexican soldiers were killed or captured, while there were relatively few Texan casualties.

Background

During the early years of Mexican independence, numerous Anglo-American immigrants had settled in Texas, then a part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. In 1835, they rebelled against the Mexican government of General Santa Anna after he rescinded the Constitution of 1824 and asserted dictatorial control over Mexico. Besides capturing a number of outposts and defeating the Mexican army garrisons in the area, the Texans formed a provisional government and drafted a Declaration of Independence. Early in 1836, Santa Anna personally led a force of several thousand Mexican troops into Texas to put down the insurrection. First, he entered San Antonio de Béjar and defeated a Texan force at the Battle of the Alamo, then the right wing of his offensive, under General José de Urrea, defeated a second Texan force near Goliad. Santa Anna had all the captured men, considered to be pirates, put to death and resulting in the deaths of almost 400 Texans.

Sam Houston, now in command of the main Texan army, retreated. Santa Anna pursued him and he devised a trap, in which three columns of Mexican troops would converge on Houston's force and destroy it. However, he diverted one column to attempt to capture the provisional government, and a second one to protect his supply lines. Meanwhile, he led the only remaining column against Houston. Santa Anna caught up to Houston on April 19. He established positions around the San Jacinto River, and Houston established his positions across a field 1,000 yards away.

Believing Houston to be cornered, Santa Anna decided to rest his army on April 20 and attack on the 22nd. On the morning of April 21, Houston held a council of war and the majority of his officers favored waiting for Santa Anna's attack. Houston, however, decided in favor of a surprise attack that afternoon. With his army of 800 men, he decided to attack Santa Anna, whose troops numbered about 1,400. Most of the attack would come over open ground, where the Texan infantry would be vulnerable to Mexican gunfire. Even riskier, Houston decided to outflank the Mexicans with his cavalry, stretching his troops even thinner. However, Santa Anna made a crucial mistake: during the army's siesta, he failed to post sentries around his camp.

The battle

On April 21, at 4:30 p.m. after the burning of Vince's Bridge the Texan attack began. Marching to "Will you come to the bower I have shaded for you", Sam Houston's army is one of the few that ever marched to a love song. The Texan army moved quickly and silently across the high-grass plain, then when they were only a few dozen yards away, charged Santa Anna's camp shouting "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad", only stopping a few yards from the Mexicans to open fire. Confusion ensued. Santa Anna's army were professional soldiers, but were trained to fight in ranks, exchanging volleys with their opponents; also ill-prepared and unarmed, at the time of the attack. Thousands of miles away, without their leader Santa Anna (he wasn't even present), the demoralized and confused Mexicans retreated. Many Mexican soldiers ran into the marshes along the river. Some of the Mexican army rallied and attempted to push the Texans back, but their training left them ill-equipped to fight well-armed American frontiermen in hand-to-hand combat. During the battle, Houston was wounded in the left ankle and Santa Anna escaped. In 20 minutes, the Texan army had won, killing over 600 Mexican soldiers and taking 730 prisoners.

Aftermath

The San Jacinto Monument.

The following day, Santa Anna was recaptured. On May 14 he signed the Treaties of Velasco, in which he agreed to withdraw his troops from Texan soil and, in exchange for safe conduct back to Mexico, lobby there for recognition of the republic. However, the safe passage never materialized; Santa Anna was held for six months as a prisoner of war (during which time his government disowned him and any agreement he might enter into) and finally taken to Washington, D.C., in the supposedly uninvolved United States. There he met with President Andrew Jackson, before returning in disgrace to Mexico in early 1837. By then, however, Texan independence was a fait accompli, although Mexico did not officially recognize it until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.

Today, the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site commemorates the battle, and includes the San Jacinto Monument, the world’s tallest memorial column. The park is located in La Porte, about 25 miles east of Houston. The monument contains the inscription:

"Measured by its results, San Jacinto was one of the decisive battles of the world. The freedom of Texas from Mexico won here led to annexation and to the Mexican War, resulting in the acquisition by the United States of the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma. Almost one-third of the present area of the American Nation, nearly a million square miles of territory, changed sovereignty."

Alfonso Steele is generally credited as being the last remaining survivor of the battle, to whom a roadside park is dedicated in Limestone County, Texas.

An annual San Jacinto Day festival and battle re-enactment is held at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site. [1]

See also

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