Title: The Battle of San Jacinto and the San Jacinto Campaign
Author: Louis Wiltz Kemp
Edward W. Kilman
Release date: September 4, 2018 [eBook #57849]
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO
by
L. W. Kemp and Ed Kilman
COPYRIGHT, 1947
by
L. W. KEMP and ED KILMAN
Second Printing
Printed in the United States of America
The Webb Printing Co., Inc., Houston
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 1835. 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 6 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 Jose Urrea’s forces 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.
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 were on the west side of the Colorado with approximately 725 troops and General Eugenio Tolsa 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.[1]
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 sent the commander-in-chief, a caustic note, prodding him to stop his retreat and fight. Secretary of War Thomas J. Rusk 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.
Route of Sam Houston’s army (line of crosses) from San Felipe to San Jacinto, with stops at Groce’s, Donoho’s, McCurley’s, Burnett’s, White Oak Bayou (Houston), and Harrisburg.
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 eighteen miles southeast. Burning Harrisburg, Santa Anna sped after them. On the 19th when he arrived at New Washington he learned that the Texas government had fled to Galveston. Santa Anna then set out for Anahuac, via Lynchburg.
Meanwhile, on April 11th, the Texans at Groce’s received two small 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 Moseley 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 creek forms 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 to 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 Pendleton Gaines, with whose help the Texans might turn on their foes and destroy them. However, on April 17, when Roberts’ 10 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, 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!”[2]
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.
At dawn April 20 the Texans resumed their trek down the 11 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 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 Martin 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.[3] 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 had made it several times wider and deeper.
Map of San Jacinto battlefield, showing positions of Texas army and Mexican army, and battle formation of Texas Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry in the attack on Santa Anna’s breastworks.
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.
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.[4] 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.
The battle line was formed with Edward Burleson’s 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.
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,”[5] a popular tune of the day. That was the only music of the battle.
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 east, 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 Fernandez Castrillon, 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.
The surrender of Santa Anna to Sam Houston on San Jacinto battlefield, April 22, 1836.
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 had slept the previous night he 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 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[6] 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.
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. 18 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, 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 20 timber afforded us 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.
“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 war-cry, ‘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 hand 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....”
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 Aprl 21, 1836, I had fallen asleep in the shade of an oak, hoping the heat 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 he 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:
“All hopes being lost, and everyone flying as fast as he could, I found myself in the greatest danger, when a servant of my aide-de-camp ... offered me his horse, with the tenderest and most urging expressions insisted on my riding off the field.... I remembered that General Filisola was only seventeen leagues off, and I took my direction toward him, darting through the enemy ranks. They pursued me, and after a ride of one league and a half, overtook me on the banks of a large creek, the bridge over which had been burned by the enemy to retard our pursuit.
ANTONIO LOPEZ de SANTA ANNA
“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:
“I stepped upon some ammunition boxes the better to observe the movements of the enemy. I saw that their formation was a mere line of one rank, and very extended. In their center was the Texas flag; on both wings, they had two light cannons, well manned. Their cavalry was opposite our front, overlapping our left. In this disposition yelling furiously, with a brisk fire of grape, muskets and rifles, they advanced resolutely upon our camp. There the utmost confusion prevailed. General Castrillon shouted on one side; on another Colonel Almonte was giving orders; some cried out to commence firing; others to lie down and avoid the grape shot. Among the latter was His Excellency.
“Then already, I saw our men; flying in small groups, terrified, and sheltering themselves behind large trees. I endeavored to force some of them to fight, but all efforts were in vain—the evil was beyond remedy; they were a bewildered and panic-stricken herd.
“The enemy kept up a brisk cross-fire of grape on the woods. Presently we heard, in close proximity, the unpleasant noise of their clamor. Meeting no resistance they dashed, lightning-like upon our deserted camp.
“Then I saw His Excellency running about in the utmost excitement, wringing his hands, and unable to give an order. General Castrillon was stretched on the ground, wounded in the leg. Colonel Trevino was killed, and Colonel Marcial Aguirre was severely injured. I saw also, the enemy reaching the ordnance train, and killing a corporal and two gunners who had been detailed to repair cartridges which had been damaged on the previous evening.”
In a grove on the bayshore, Colonel Delgado said, the Texans wrought the worst carnage of the battle.
“There they killed Colonel Batres; and it would have been all over with us had not Providence placed us in the hands of the noble and generous captain of cavalry, Allen, who by great exertion, saved us repeatedly from being slaughtered by the drunken and infuriated volunteers.”
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
George A. Hill, Jr., President
L. W. Kemp, Vice President
W. B. Bates, Secretary-Treasurer
A. C. Finn
Mrs. Madge W. Hearne
Dorothy W. Estes, Director
J. Perry Moore, Chairman
Mary Tod
W. E. Kendall
The great shaft of San Jacinto, piercing the sky from the scene of the historic conflict between Sam Houston’s pioneers and Santa Anna’s Mexican invaders, was erected as a memorial to the Texas heroes, commemorating the Centennial of 1836. Appropriations aggregating $1,866,148 were made by the State of Texas and the Federal Government for the construction of the monument and improvement of San Jacinto State Park. Of this amount approximately $1,200,000 was used in building the monument.
On April 21, 1936, the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto, with impressive ceremonies, the ground was broken for the monument. Among the participants was General Andrew Jackson Houston, only surviving child of the Commander-in-Chief of the Texas Army at San Jacinto. The monument, 570 feet high, was officially dedicated April 21, 1939.
The reinforced concrete structure is faced with rough sawn fossilized limestone quarried near Leander, Williamson County, Texas. The interior walls are highly polished. The base of the building is 124 feet square and 36 feet high. The shaft is 47 feet square at the base and 30 feet at the top.
On the exterior walls of the shaft, about 90 feet above the ground, a frieze 178 feet around and 15½ feet high shows in relief the history of Texas from the coming of the Anglo-Americans to the present day. This was executed by William McVey, Houston sculptor.
On the outer sides of the base of the monument are carved inscriptions, summarizing the salient events of the Texas revolution. Each of these eight spaces measures 25 feet by 13 feet, and the letters in the inscriptions are 8 inches in height. Written by L. W. Kemp with collaboration of Dr. E. C. Barker, Mrs. Herbert Gambrell and other historical authorities, they epitomize the whole evolution of Texas independence in approximately 600 words.
San Jacinto Memorial Monument and Museum
There are five rooms on the first floor of the monument. The entrance is through the Hall of Honor, which is flanked by two spacious rooms. The south room houses the exhibits relating to the Spanish and Mexican period of Texas history, many of them donated by Colonel and Mrs. George A. Hill, Jr. Exhibits in the north room relate to the Anglo-American period until the beginning of the War between the States. An entrance lobby from the Hall of Honor leads to the elevator which runs to the observation deck in the tower. The elevator lobby serves as a gallery for paintings. Behind the elevator is a small room connecting the north and south rooms. It is devoted to relics of domestic life.
Two great bronze plaques adorn the interior walls of the monument. One, in the south room, records the names of the 910 heroes who fought in the battle; the other, in the north room, lists the 248 men of Houston’s army, mostly sick and non-effectives, who were detailed to remain at the camp established opposite Harrisburg. The lists were compiled by L. W. Kemp. In this booklet they were revised to January 1, 1947.
The monument was designed by Alfred C. Finn and was constructed by the W. S. Bellows Construction Company of Houston.
Operation and maintenance of the monument and museum is financed, without cost to the State, by receipts from a small fee charged for riding the elevator to the observation tower, and by the sale of souvenirs. The San Jacinto Museum of History Association, which operates the monument, is a non-profit organization incorporated under the laws of Texas, November 7, 1938. Members of the Association’s board of trustees are nominated by the San Jacinto State Park Board and approved by the State Board of Control.
It is told that Franciscan friars of Mexico, exploring the Texas coast during the period 1751-1772, found the stream now known as San Jacinto River so choked with water hyacinths (a mauve species of lily that still abounds in this region) that they could not pass. They called it the “hyacinth stream.” From 28 that name evolved “San Jacinto”—Spanish for “Saint Hyacinth.”
Legend has it that Adjutant General John A. Wharton gave the battlefield its name. Santa Anna, shortly after being captured, while conversing with a group of Texan officers inquired concerning the correct name of the field. One officer is supposed to have answered “Lynchburg,” but Wharton suggested “San Jacinto.”
The battleground, off the La Porte road, some twenty-three miles from the County Courthouse in Houston, is a State park of 402 acres. It is situated near the confluence of San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou—now the Houston Ship Channel—not far from the Bay. It is a spot of natural beauty. The land has a gentle roll, and vegetation is brilliant. Wild flowers here grow in profusion and fairly radiate their splendor. Nowhere else in this section are more luxuriant mossy “beards” to be found than on the huge liveoaks of San Jacinto.
The country surrounding the battlefield and nearby Lynchburg—known in the old days as “Lynch’s Ferry”—was one of the early settlements of Texas colonists. The sylvan retreats along the wide stream and adjacent lagoons were once popular as homes of prominent Texans. Across the bayou from the battleground was the home of Lorenzo de Zavala, ad interim Vice President of the Republic.
Nearby lived David G. Burnet, ad interim President. Later General Houston had a home on Trinity Bay, a few miles from the battlefield. It is now a Boy Scout camp. Ashbel Smith, minister of the Republic of Texas to England, had his home at about the site of present Goose Creek, not far from Lynchburg.
The thumbnail history of the Texas revolution, inscribed on the exterior of the monument’s base in eight panels, is as follows:
THE EARLY POLICIES OF MEXICO TOWARD HER TEXAS COLONISTS HAD BEEN EXTREMELY LIBERAL. LARGE GRANTS OF LAND WERE MADE TO THEM, AND NO TAXES OR DUTIES IMPOSED. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ANGLO-AMERICANS AND MEXICANS WAS CORDIAL. BUT, FOLLOWING A SERIES OF REVOLUTIONS BEGUN IN 1829, UNSCRUPULOUS RULERS SUCCESSIVELY SEIZED POWER IN MEXICO. THEIR UNJUST ACTS AND DESPOTIC DECREES LED TO THE REVOLUTION IN TEXAS.
30IN JUNE, 1832, THE COLONISTS FORCED THE MEXICAN AUTHORITIES AT ANAHUAC TO RELEASE WM. B. TRAVIS AND OTHERS FROM UNJUST IMPRISONMENT. THE BATTLE OF VELASCO, JUNE 26, AND THE BATTLE OF NACOGDOCHES, AUGUST 2, FOLLOWED: IN BOTH THE TEXANS WERE VICTORIOUS. STEPHEN FULLER AUSTIN, “FATHER OF TEXAS”, WAS ARRESTED JANUARY 3, 1834, AND HELD IN MEXICO WITHOUT TRIAL UNTIL JULY, 1835. THE TEXANS FORMED AN ARMY, AND ON NOVEMBER 12, 1835, ESTABLISHED A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT.
THE FIRST SHOT OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1835-1836 WAS FIRED BY THE TEXANS AT GONZALES, OCTOBER 2, 1835, IN RESISTANCE TO A DEMAND BY MEXICAN SOLDIERS FOR A SMALL CANNON HELD BY THE COLONISTS. THE MEXICAN GARRISON AT GOLIAD FELL OCTOBER 9, THE BATTLE OF CONCEPCION WAS WON BY THE TEXANS, OCTOBER 28. SAN ANTONIO WAS CAPTURED DECEMBER 10, 1835 AFTER FIVE DAYS OF FIGHTING IN WHICH THE INDOMITABLE BENJAMIN R. MILAM DIED A HERO, AND THE MEXICAN ARMY EVACUATED TEXAS.
TEXAS DECLARED HER INDEPENDENCE AT WASHINGTON-ON-THE-BRAZOS, MARCH 2. FOR NEARLY TWO MONTHS HER ARMIES MET DISASTER AND DEFEAT; DR. JAMES GRANT’S MEN WERE KILLED ON THE AGUA DULCE, MARCH 2, WILLIAM BARRET TRAVIS AND HIS MEN SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES AT THE ALAMO, MARCH 6, WILLIAM WARD WAS DEFEATED AT REFUGIO, MARCH 14, AMON B. KING’S MEN WERE EXECUTED NEAR REFUGIO, MARCH 16, AND JAMES WALKER FANNIN AND HIS ARMY WERE PUT TO DEATH NEAR GOLIAD, MARCH 27, 1836.
31ON THIS FIELD ON APRIL 21, 1836 THE ARMY OF TEXAS COMMANDED BY GENERAL SAM HOUSTON, AND ACCOMPANIED BY THE SECRETARY OF WAR, THOMAS J. RUSK, ATTACKED THE SUPERIOR INVADING ARMY OF MEXICANS UNDER GENERAL SANTA ANNA. THE BATTLE LINE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT WAS FORMED BY SIDNEY SHERMAN’S REGIMENT, EDWARD BURLESON’S REGIMENT, THE ARTILLERY COMMANDED BY GEORGE W. HOCKLEY, HENRY MILLARD’S INFANTRY AND THE CAVALRY UNDER MIRABEAU B. LAMAR. SAM HOUSTON LED THE INFANTRY CHARGE.
WITH THE BATTLE CRY, “REMEMBER THE ALAMO! REMEMBER GOLIAD!” THE TEXANS CHARGED. THE ENEMY, TAKEN BY SURPRISE, RALLIED FOR A FEW MINUTES, THEN FLED IN DISORDER. THE TEXANS HAD ASKED NO QUARTER AND GAVE NONE. THE SLAUGHTER WAS APPALLING, VICTORY COMPLETE, AND TEXAS FREE! ON THE FOLLOWING DAY GENERAL ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA, SELF-STYLED “NAPOLEON OF THE WEST,” RECEIVED FROM A GENEROUS FOE THE MERCY HE HAD DENIED TRAVIS AT THE ALAMO AND FANNIN AT GOLIAD.
32CITIZENS OF TEXAS AND IMMIGRANT SOLDIERS IN THE ARMY OF TEXAS AT SAN JACINTO WERE NATIVES OF ALABAMA, ARKANSAS, CONNECTICUT, GEORGIA, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, KENTUCKY, LOUISIANA, MAINE, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NEW YORK, NORTH CAROLINA, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, TEXAS, VERMONT, VIRGINIA, AUSTRIA, CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, IRELAND, ITALY, MEXICO, POLAND, PORTUGAL AND SCOTLAND.
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.
Prior to the erection of the present great shaft, the principal memorial on the battlefield was a plain square spire monument of Rutland variegated marble, fifteen and one-half feet high, which with the base stands seventeen feet. After its dedication it was placed at the grave of Benjamin R. Brigham, one of the nine Texans who were killed or mortally wounded in the battle, and whose bodies, with one exception, were buried on the ground on which the Texan army had camped April 20. Board markers had been placed at all of the graves but when in 1879 Judge J. L. Sullivan of Richmond, Texas, began to raise funds by public subscription to erect a joint monument where their bodies lay, the grave of Brigham was alone recognizable.
The monument was unveiled at Galveston with fitting ceremonies August 25, 1881, Temple Houston, youngest son of General Sam Houston, being the orator of the occasion. On April 23, 1883, the Eighteenth Legislature purchased for $1,500, ten acres of land surrounding the monument. This was the beginning of the present San Jacinto State Park.
Carved on the east front of the monument is: “DEAD ON THE FIELD OF HONOR”
Below which, in bold relief is a Lone Star, surrounded by a wreath of oak and laurel leaves.
Beneath the star: “B. R. BRIGHAM”
On the base: “SAN JACINTO”
Near the top of the shaft is a polished band, upon which are cut two stars on each front and one above the band on the east front. These represent the nine who fell in the battle.
Brigham monument, marking the graves of eight of the nine dead at San Jacinto.
Marker at site of Santa Anna’s surrender at San Jacinto.
On the north front, beneath the heading:
“TWO DAYS BEFORE THE BATTLE”
is recorded the statement of General Houston:
“This morning we are in preparation to meet Santa Anna. It is the only chance of saving Texas. From time to time I have looked for reinforcements in vain: We will only have about seven hundred men to march with besides the camp guard. We go on to conquer. It is wisdom growing out of necessity to meet the enemy now. Every consideration enforces it. No previous occasion would justify it. The troops are in fine spirits and now is the time for action. We shall use our best efforts to fight the enemy to such advantage as will insure victory though the odds are greatly against us.
“I leave the result in the hands of a wise God, and rely upon His providence.
“My country will do justice to those who serve her. The right for which we fight will be secured, and Texas free.”
Below this is inscribed: “REMEMBER THE ALAMO”
On the south front beneath the heading: “THE DAY AFTER THE BATTLE”
is the report of Thomas J. Rusk, Secretary of War:
“The sun was sinking in the horizon as the battle commenced, but, at the close of the conflict, the sun of liberty and independence rose in Texas, never, it is to be hoped, to be obscured by the clouds of despotism. We have read of deeds of chivalry, and pursued with ardour the annals of war; we have contemplated, with the highest emotions of sublimity, the loud roaring thunder, the desolating tornado, and the withering simoon of the desert; but neither of these, nor all, inspired us with emotions like those felt on this occasion! There was a general cry which pervaded the ranks: Remember the ALAMO! Remember LA BAHIA! These words electrified all. Onward was the cry. The unerring aim and irresistible energy of the Texan army could not be withstood, it was freemen fighting against the minions of tyranny and the result proved the inequality of such a contest.”
And below is the love song, then popular, which one of Houston’s charging soldiers is said to have played on the flute: “WILL YOU COME TO THE BOWER”
On the west front:
“This monument stands at the grave of
BENJAMIN RICE BRIGHAM
who was mortally wounded April 21, 1836
“Nearby rest
LEMUEL STOCKTON BLAKEY
JOHN C. HALE
GEORGE A. LAMB
DR. WM. JUNIUS MOTTLEY
MATHIAS COOPER
THOMAS PATTON FOWLE
ASHLEY R. STEPHENS
“Who were also killed or mortally wounded in the battle of San Jacinto
“OLWYN J. TRASK
died on Galveston Island on about May 20 from the effects of the wound he had received on the San Jacinto Battlefield in the skirmish of April 20, 1836.
“This shaft was erected in 1881 by voluntary contributions of citizens of Texas to forever mark the spot where these heroes sleep and to perpetuate a knowledge of their names and prowess”
On the base following this tribute is the war cry, “REMEMBER GOLIAD”
MY COUNTRY WILL DO JUSTICE TO THEM WHO SERVE HER
THE RIGHT FOR WHICH WE FIGHT WILL BE RESCUED AND TEXAS FREE
GENERAL HOUSTON APRIL 19 1836
OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE TEXAS ARMY WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE FOUGHT HERE APRIL 21 1836 OR IN THE SKIRMISH OF THE PREVIOUS DAY
One of the two great bronze plaques that adorn the walls of the San Jacinto museum records the names of the officers and men of the Texas army who fought in the battle on April 21, 1836, and in the skirmish of the previous day. The other plaque lists the troops, mostly sick or non-effective, who were left at Harrisburg two days before the battle.
Following is the roster of the participants at San Jacinto:
Obeying the instructions of General Houston, the following officers and men remained April 21, 1836, at the camp of the Texas army established opposite Harrisburg. There the sick were attended by their comrades who guarded the baggage and acted as rear guard of the main army.
Frontispiece “Battle of San Jacinto” is a photograph of a painting by Henry A. McArdle.
Sam Houston’s picture is a photograph by Elwood M. Payne, of an etching made from a daguerreotype in the San Jacinto Museum of History.
Mr. Payne also photographed the base of the monument, showing the inscriptions.
Picture of Santa Anna is a photograph by Paul Peters of a daguerreotype in the Museum.
The photographs of the Brigham monument and the Santa Anna surrender marker also are by Paul Peters.
The surrender of Santa Anna is a photograph by Harry Pennington, Jr., of a painting by W. H. Huddle.
The map showing the route of Sam Houston’s army was drawn by L. W. Kemp. Map of San Jacinto battleground by Ed Kilman.
Bronze armillary sun dial erected on the battlefield in memory of the nine Texans killed or mortally wounded at San Jacinto.
The dial, wrought by Julian Muench, measures twenty-five feet in circumference. It was constructed with funds raised by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Texas Veterans association and was dedicated April 21, 1940.