Battle of San Jacinto

On April 21, 1836, in present day Harris Country Texas; the Battle of San Jacinto is known as the birthplace of Texan liberty, one of the worlds decisive battles, and where the sayings “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” began as Sam Houston and his 900+ pioneers defeated General Santa Ana and his army know as the “The Napoleon of the West”.

            The Battle of San Jacinto was the most strategically unfair battle of all time because the Texans surrounded the Mexicans, the Mexicans put up camp on the only available dry land, which was surrounded on three sides by Texan camps with a lake and marsh to their back thus trapping them into their position, and the Texans played to the Mexicans instead weaknesses instead of strengths.

            Leading up to the Battle of San Jacinto, was the Battle of the Alamo. The Alamo was started when the Texans wrote a Declaration of Independence. Gonzales, a Mexican General marched his troops the mission. The Alamo’s brave defenders fought the Mexicans for thirteen days. When, on the third day, Sam Houston heard of the Alamo he immediately marched his troops to Alamo. He was eleven days away. When he finally arrived, the Alamo had already been destroyed, along with Davy Crocket, William Travis, James Bowie, and 183 to 250 others.

            The Texans surrounded the Mexicans forcing them to retreat and not allowing the flanks to focus their fire or send reinforcements to help out their suffering flanks. The Mexicans came to the battlefield after the Texans. This gave the Texans a sort of “home field advantage.” The Mexicans had also been marching for days and needed some time to rest. The Texans had some time to find the lay of the land. The Texans could also overview the Mexican camp, then advance with a strategic advantage. Texas had two cannons that could fire on the Mexicans. The Texans could make the Mexicans crowd by attacking from three sides. Then this would lead to an easy attack with the cannons, thus killing higher numbers per shot. The Mexicans would soon need to retreat with this constant bombardment. Their only escape route was across the marsh, around the lake, and over the San JacintoRiver on a bridge. This was not a very easy way to retreat so the Mexicans couldn’t retreat. And as legend goes, Santa Ana was well known for sending out aides to find the prettiest girls in the area while on campaign for his own pleasure. They also say he was “entertaining” a mulatto woman named Emily Morgan at the time the battle broke out.

            The Mexicans put up camp on the only available dry land, which was surrounded on three sides by Texans camps with a lake and a marsh as well as a river to their back thus trapping them into their position. Just before the Battle, Deaf Smith, a Texan Scout, had burned Vince’s Bridge. This meant that they couldn’t retreat. If the Mexicans couldn’t retreat, then they would all either be killed or captured. If the soldiers were killed or captured, no more Mexican soldiers would be able to regroup or send for reinforcements. This also led to an obvious defeat and a newly acquired respect for the Texans.

            The Texans played to the Mexicans weaknesses instead of strengths. The Mexicans thought the Texans, having limited experienced generals wouldn’t be able to make the first move and succeed, and thus letting the Texans attack first. The Mexicans had also planned on attacking on the 22nd of April. The Texans led their attack on the 21^st, for the Mexicans weren’t prepared for an attack on their base. The Texans surrounded the Mexicans and then used their infantry to shoot down the first line of Mexicans and they ran into battle, then they used knives in hand to hand combat to quickly and efficiently annihilate the Mexicans. The Texans also made it a priority to attack the Mexican officers to scare the men under the officers’ command. This is historically proven by the fact that General Manuel Fernández Castrillón was almost instantly killed in the battle causing his troops to flee in fear. This gave the Texans a major advantage since the troops didn’t know what they were doing.

            In conclusion, the Battle of San Jacinto was absolutely unfair in the strategic sense. By experience and quantity of men, the results of the battle should have been the exact opposite. The Mexican General (Santa Ana) was very experienced and powerful with many knowledgeable and heroic officers under his command. Texas only had one person with military experience (Samuel Houston) and no one else was there. The Mexicans also had about 150 more men. After the battle, Santa Ana escaped so he didn’t have to surrender. He had stripped himself of the General robes so the Texan scouts couldn’t tell it was him as easily. When they did find him they didn’t know it was him until they found he was wearing a silk shirt with pearl buttons. When he was grouped with the other captives found, they saluted him, thus confirming his identity. This concludes the reasoning for my position on the strategy of the Battle of San Jacinto and story of the battle.