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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

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO AND THE SAN JACINTO CAMPAIGN ***

  
The Battle of San Jacinto and the San Jacinto Campaign

THE BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO

THE BATTLE OF
SAN JACINTO
and the
SAN JACINTO CAMPAIGN

Flags

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

5

The Battle of San Jacinto
and the
San Jacinto Campaign

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 1835. The Texas Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, officially signalized the revolution.

RETREAT FROM GONZALES

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.

7

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 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.

8

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.

9

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.

THE ROAD TO SAN JACINTO

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.

ON THE EVE OF BATTLE

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.

12

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.

13

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. [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.

14

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.

15
Sam Houston
16

The surrender of Santa Anna to Sam Houston on San Jacinto battlefield, April 22, 1836.

17

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.

THE CAPTURE OF SANTA ANNA

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.

Outline of Texas
19

Opposing Commanders’ Reports

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....

21

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 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.

22

ANTONIO LOPEZ de SANTA ANNA

23

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.

24

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.

Star

San Jacinto Museum of History Association

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

San Jacinto State Park Commission

J. Perry Moore , Chairman
Mary Tod
W. E. Kendall

25

San Jacinto Monument

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.

26

San Jacinto Memorial Monument and Museum

27

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.

THE FIELD OF ST. HYACINTH

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.

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Entrance to monument

Texas Revolution Epitomized

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.

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IN 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.

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ON 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.

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CITIZENS 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.

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Brigham Monument

DEAD ON THE FIELD OF HONOR

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.

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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.

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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.

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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”

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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

The Roll of Honor

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:

Adams, Thomas Jefferson
Aldrich, Collin
Alexander, Jerome B.
Allen, John Melville
Allison, John C.
Allison, Moses
Alsbury, Horace Arlington
Alsbury, Young Perry
Anderson, Washington
Andrews, Micah
Angel, John
Anson, Orin D.
Armot, W. S.
Armstrong, Irwin
Arnold, Hayden
Arocha, Jose Maria
Arocha, Manuel
Arreola, Simon
Atkinson, Milton B.
Avery, Willis
Bailey, Alexander
Bailey, Howard W.
Bain, Noel M.
Baker, Daniel Davis D.
Baker, Joseph
Baker, Moseley
Balch, Hezekiah Benjamin
Balch, John
Bancroft, Jethro Russell
Banks, Reason
Barcinas, Andres
Bardwell, Soloman B.
Barker, George
Barkley, John A.
Barr, Robert
Barstow, Joshua
Bateman, William
Barton, Jefferson A.
Barton, Wayne
Barton, Elder B.
Baxter, Montgomery
Baylor, Dr. John Walker
Bear, Isaac H.
Beard, Andrew Jackson
Beason, Leander
Beauchamp, John
Beebe, John N.
Begley, John
Belden, John
Belknap, Thomas
Bell, James Madison
Bell, Peter Hansbrough
Bell, Thomas Henry
Bennett, Joseph L.
Bennett, W. B.
Bennett, William
Benson, Ellis
Benton, Alfred
Benton, Daniel
Bernardi, Prospero
Bernbeck, Wilhelm Christoph Frederick
Berry, Andrew Jackson
Berryhill, William M.
Billingsley, Jesse
Bingham, Mathias A.
Bird, James
Birt, Samuel Pearce
Bissett, Robert B.
Blackwell, Thomas
Blakey, Lemuel Stockton
Bledsoe, George L.
Blue, Uriah
Bollinger, Ephriam
Bollinger, Peter
Bond, Henry
Booker, Dr. Shields
Boom, Garret E.
Borden, John Pettit
Borden, Paschal Pavolo
Bostick, Sion Record
Bottsford, Seymour
Bowen, William Robert
Box, James Edward
Box, John Andrew
Box, Nelson
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Box, Thomas Griffin
Boyd, James C.
Boyle, William
Bradley, Isaac B.
Bradley, James
Brake, Michael J.
Branch, Edward Thomas
Breeding, Fidelie S.
Breedlove, A. W.
Brenan, William
Brewer, Henry Mitchell
Brewster, Henry Percy
Brigham, Benjamin Rice
Brigham, Moses W.
Briscoe, Andrew
Brookfield, Francis E.
Brooks, Thomas D.
Brown, David
Brown, George J.
Brown, Oliver T.
Brown, Wilson C.
Browning, George Washington
Bruff, Christopher Columbus
Bryan, Luke O.
Bryan, Moses Austin
Bryant, Benjamin Franklin
Buffington, Anderson
Buford, Thomas Young
Bullock, David M.
Bunton, John Wheeler
Burleson, Aaron
Burleson, Edward
Burnam, John Hickerson
Burnam, William Owen
Burton, Isaac Watts
Bust, Luke W.
Butts, Augustus J.
Caddell, Andrew
Cage, Benjamin Franklin
Calder, Robert James
Caldwell, Pinckney
Callicoatte, John B.
Callihan, Thomas Jefferson
Campbell, Joseph
Campbell, Michael
Cannan, William Jarvis
Carmona, Ceasario
Carnal, Patrick
Carpenter, John W.
Carper, Dr. William M.
Carr, John
Carter, Robert W. P.
Cartwright, Matthew Winston
Cartwright, William P.
Caruthers, Allen
Casillas, Gabriel
Cassidy, John W.
Chadduck, Richard H.
Chaffin, James A.
Chapman, Henry S.
Chavenoe, Michael
Cheairs, John F.
Cheevers, John
Chenoweth, John
Chiles, Lewis L.
Choate, David, Jr.
Christie, John
Clapp, Elisha
Clark, James
Clark, John
Clark, William
Clarke, Charles A.
Clarkson, Charles
Clayton, Joseph Alvey
Clelens, Josh
Clemmons, Lewis Chapman
Clemmons, William H.
Cleveland, Horatio N.
Clopper, ——
Coble, Adam
Cochran, Jeremiah D.
Coffman, Elkin G.
Coker, John
Cole, Benjamin L.
Cole, David
Coleman, Robert M.
Collard, Job Starks
Collins, Willis
Collinsworth, James
Colton, William
Conlee, Preston
Conn, James
Connell, Sampson
Connor, James
Cook, James R.
Cooke, Francis Jarvis
Cooke, Thomas
Cooke, William Gordon
Cooper, Mathias
Corry, Thomas F.
Corzine, Hershel
Cox, Lewis
Cox, Thomas
Craddock, John Robert
Craft, James A.
Craft, Russell B.
Craig, Henry R.
Crain, Joel Burditt
Crain, Roden Taylor
Cravens, Robert M.
Crawford, Robert
Criswell, William Vanoy
Crittenden, Robert
Crittenden, William
Crosby, Ganey
Crunk, Nicholas S.
Cruz, Antonio
Cumba, James
Cumberland, George
Cunningham, Leander Calvin
Curbiere, Antonio
Curbiere, Matias
Curtis, Hinton
Curtis, James, Sr.
Dale, Elijah Valentine
Dallas, Walter Riddle
Dalrymple, John
Darling, Socrates
Darr, George
Darst, Edmund Calloway
Darst, Richard Brownfield
Davey, Thomas P.
Davidson, John F.
Davis, Abner C.
Davis, George Washington
Davis, James P.
Davis, Jesse Kencheloe
Davis, Moses H.
Davis, Samuel
Davis, Travis
Davis, Washington H.
Dawson, Nicholas Mosby
Day, William
Deadrick, David
Deadrick, Fielding
Deadrick, George M.
Denham, M. H.
Denman, Colden
Dennis, Thomas Mason
De Vore, Cornelius
DeWitt, James C.
Dibble, Henry
Dillard, Abraham
Dixon, James W.
Doan, Joseph
Doolittle, Berry
Doubt, Daniel L.
Douthet, James
Dubromer, Dr. Tobias
Duffee, William
Dunbar, William
Duncan, John
Dunham, Daniel T.
Dunn, Matthew
Durham, William Daniel
Dutcher, Alfred
Earl, William
Eastland, William Mosby
Edgar, Joseph Smith
Edingburg, Christopher Columbus
Edson, Amos B.
Edwards, Isiah
Edwards, Tilford C.
Egbert, James D.
Eggleston, Horace
Ehlinger, Joseph
Eldridge, James J.
Ellinger, Joseph
Elliot, James D.
Elliot, Peter S.
Ellis, Willis L.
Enriquez, Lucio
Erath, George Bernhard
Evetts, James H.
Ewing, Dr. Alexander Wray
Eyler, Jacob
Faris, Hezekiah
Farley, Thomas M.
Farmer, James
Farrish, Oscar
Farwell, Joseph
Fennell, George
Ferrell, John P.
Ferrill, William L.
Fields, Henry
Finch, Matthew
Fisher, William
Fisher, William S.
Fitch, Benjamin Franklin
Fitzhugh, Dr. John P. T.
Flick, John
Flores, Manuel
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Flores, Martin
Flores, Nepomuceno
Floyd, Joseph
Flynn, Thomas
Foard, Charles A.
Fogle, Andrew
Foley, Steven Tucker
Forbes, George Washington
Forbes, John
Ford, Simon Peter
Forrester, Charles
Foster, Anthony
Foster, John Ray
Fowle, Thomas Patton
Fowler, Styles J.
Fowler, Thomas M.
Franklin, Benjamin Cromwell
Frazer, Hugh
Freele, James
Fry, Benjamin Franklin
Fullerton, William
Gafford, John
Gage, Calvin
Gainer, John N.
Gallaher, Edward
Gallatin, Albert
Gammell, William
Gant, William W.
Gardner, George Washington
Garner, John
Garwood, S. Joseph
Gay, Thomas
Gedry, Lefroy
Gentry, Frederick Browder
Giddings, Giles Albert
Gilbert, John Floyd
Gill, John Porter
Gill, William
Gillaspie, James
Gillespie, Luke John
Glidwell, Abner
Goheen, Michael R.
Goodloe, Robert Kemp
Goodwin, Lewis
Graham, John
Graves, Alexander S.
Graves, Thomas A.
Gray, James
Gray, Mayberry B.
Green, B.
Green, George
Green, James
Green, Thomas
Greenlaw, Augus
Greenwood, James
Greer, Thomas N. B.
Grice, James B.
Grieves, David
Griffin, William
Grigsby, Crawford
Gross, Jacob
Gustine, Dr. Lemuel
Halderman, Jesse
Hale, John C.
Hale, William
Hall, James S.
Hall, John
Hallet, John, Jr.
Hallmark, William Calvert
Halstead, E. B.
Hamilton, Elias E.
Hancock, George Duncan
Handy, Robert Eden
Hanson, Thomas
Hardaway, Samuel G.
Hardeman, Thomas Monroe
Hardin, Benjamin Franklin
Harmon, Clark M.
Harmon, John A.
Harness, William
Harper, Benjamin J.
Harper, John
Harper, Peter
Harris, Andrew Jackson
Harris, James
Harris, Temple Overton
Harrison, A. L.
Harrison, Elzy
Harvey, David
Harvey, John
Haskins, Thomas A.
Hassell, John W.
Hawkins, William J.
Hawkins, William Washington
Hayr, James
Hays, William C.
Hazen, Nathaniel C.
Heard, William Jones Elliot
Heck, Charles F.
Henderson, Francis K.
Henderson, Hugh
Henderson, Robert
Henderstrom, Augustus
Henry, Charles M.
Henry, Robert
Herrera, Pedro
Herron, John Harvey
Hickox, Franklin B.
Higsmith, Ahijah M.
Hill, Abraham Webb
Hill, H.
Hill, Isaac Lafayette
Hill, James Monroe
Hobson, John
Hockley, George Washington
Hogan, Josiah
Hogan, Thomas
Holder, Prior A.
Holman, Sanford
Holmes, Peter W.
Homan, Harvey
Hood, Robert
Hope, Prosper
Hopson, Lucien
Horton, Alexander
Hotchkiss, Rinaldo
Houston, Samuel
Howard, William C.
Howell, Robert F.
Hueser, John A.
Hughes, Thomas M.
Hunt, John Campbell
Hyland, Joseph
Ijams, Basil G.
Ingram, Allen
Ingram, John
Irvine, James Thomas Patton
Irvine, Josephus Somerville
Isbell, James H.
Isbell, William
Jack, William Houston
Jackson, W. R.
James, Denward
Jaques, Isaac L.
Jennings, James D.
Jett, James Matthew
Jett, Stephen
Johnson, Benjamin
Johnson, George
Johnson, George J.
Johnson, James
Johnson, John R.
Johnson, John R.
Johnston, Thomas F.
Jones, Allen B.
Jones, Dr. Anson
Jones, David J.
Jones, Edward S.
Jones, George Washington
Jordan, Alfred S.
Joslin, James
Karner, John
Karnes, Henry Wax
Kelly, Connell O’Donnell
Kelso, Alfred
Kenkennon, William P.
Kennard, William Stephens
Kent, Joseph
Kenyon, Amos D.
Kibbe, William
Kimbro, William
Kincheloe, Daniel R.
King, W.
Kleburg, Robert Justus
Kornegay, David Smith
Kraatz, Lewis
Kuykendall, Matthew
Labadie, Dr. Nicholas Descomp’s
Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte
Lamar, Shelly W.
Lamb, George A.
Lambert, Walter
Lane, Walter Paye
Lang, George Washington
Lapham, Moses
Larbarthrier, Charles
Larrison, Allen
Lasater, Francis B.
Lawrence, George Washington
Lawrence, Joseph
Lealand, James
Leek, George W.
Leeper, Samuel
Legg, Seneca
Legrand, Edward Oswald
Lemsky, Frederick
Lessassier, Alexander
Lester, James Seaton
Leuders, Ferdinand
Lewellyn, John
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Lewis, Abraham
Lewis, Archibald S.
Lewis, Edward
Lewis, John Edward
Lightfoot, William W.
Lightfoot, Wilson T.
Lind, John F.
Lindsay, Benjamin Franklin, Jr.
Loderback, John D.
Logan, William M.
Lolison, Abiah
Lonis, George Washington
Loughridge, William Wallace
Love, David Hall
Love, Robert S.
Lowary, John L.
Lupton, Cyrus W.
Lyford, John
Lynch, Nicholas
Magill, William Harrison
Maiden, Isaac
Maldonado, Juan
Malone, Charles
Mancha, Jose Maria
Manning, James M.
Manuel, Albert C.
Marner, John
Marre, Achelle
Marsh, Alonzo
Marshall, John Ligett
Martin, Joseph
Martin, Philip
Mason, Charles
Mason, George W.
Massey, William
Maxwell, Pierre Menard
Maxwell, Thomas
Maybee, Jacob
Mays, Ambrose
Mays, Thomas H.
McAllister, Joseph
McClelland, Samuel
McCloskey, Robert D.
McCorlay, Placide B.
McCormick, Joseph Manton
McCoy, John
McCoy, William
McCrabb, John
McCrabb, Joseph
McCullough, Benjamin
McFadin, David Hutcheson
McFarlane, John W. B.
McGary, Daniel H.
McGary, Isaac
McGay, Thomas
McGown, Andrew Jackson
McHorse, John W.
McIntire, Thomas H.
McIntire, William
McKay, Daniel
McKenzie, Hugh
McKinza, Alexander
McKneely, Samuel M.
McLaughlin, Robert
McLaughlin, Stephen
McLean, McDougald
McMillan, Edward
McNeel, Pleasant D.
McNelly, Bennett
McStea, Andrew M.
Menchaca, Jose Antonio
Menefee, John Sutherland
Mercer, Eli
Mercer, Elijah G.
Mercer, George Richie
Merritt, Robert
Merwin, Joseph W.
Miles, Alfred H.
Miles, Edward
Millard, Henry
Millen, William A.
Miller, Daniel
Miller, Hugh
Miller, Joseph
Miller, William H.
Millerman, Ira
Millett, Samuel
Mills, Andrew Granville
Mims, Benjamin Franklin
Minnitt, Joshua.
Mitchell, Alexander S.
Mitchell, James
Mitchell, Nathen
Mitchell, S. B.
Mixon, Noel
Mock, William N.
Molino, Jose
Money, John Hamilton
Montgomery, Andrew M.
Montgomery, John
Montgomery, Robert W.
Moore, Robert
Moore, Robert D.
Moore, Samuel
Moore, William P.
Mordorff, Henry
Moreland, Isaac N.
Morgan, Hugh
Morris, Jonathan D.
Morton, John
Mosier, Adam
Moss, John
Moss, Matthew Mark
Mottley, Dr. Junius William
Murphree, David
Murphy, Daniel
Murray, William
Myrick, Eliakin P.
Nabers, Robert
Nabers, William
Nash, James H.
Navarro, Juan Nepomuceno
Neal, John C.
Nealis, Francis
Neill, James Clinton
Nelson, David S.
Nelson, James
Newman, William P.
Noland, Eli
O’Banion, Jennings
O’Connor, Patrick B.
O’Connor, Thomas
Odem, David
O’Driscoll, Daniel
O’Neil, John
Orr, Thomas
Osborne, Benjamin S.
Ownsby, James P.
Pace, Dempsey Council
Pace, James Robert
Pace, Wesley Walker
Pace, William Carroll
Park, Joseph Belton
Park, William A.
Parker, Dickerson
Parrott, C. W.
Paschall, Samuel
Pate, William H.
Patterson, James S.
Patton, St. Clair
Patton, William
Patton, William Hester
Pearce, Edward
Pearce, William J. C.
Peck, Nathaniel
Peck, Nicholas
Peebles, Samuel W.
Pena, Jacinto
Penticost, George Washington
Perry, Daniel
Perry, James Hazard
Peterson, John
Peterson, William
Pettus, Edward Cratic
Pettus, John Freeman
Petty, George Washington
Peveto, Michael, Jr.
Phelps, James A. E.
Phillips, Eli
Phillips, Samuel
Phillips, Sydney
Pickering, John
Pinchback, James R.
Plaster, Thomas Pliney
Pleasants, John
Plunkett, John
Poe, George Washington
Powell, James
Pratt, Thomas A. S.
Proctor, Joseph W.
Pruitt, Levi
Pruitt, Martin
Putnam, Mitchell
Rainey, Clement
Rainwater, Edwin R.
Ramey, Lawrence
Ramirez, Eduardo
Raymond, Samuel B.
Reaves, Dimer W.
Rector, Claiborne
Rector, Elbridge Gerry
Rector, Pendleton
Redd, William Davis
Reed, Henry
Reed, Nathaniel
Reel, Robert J. W.
Reese, Charles Keller
Reese, Washington Perry
Rheinhart, Asa
Rhodes, Joseph
Rial, John W.
41
Richardson, Daniel
Richardson, John
Richardson, Lewis
Richardson, William
Ripley, Phineas
Robbins, John
Robbins, Thomas
Roberts, David
Roberts, Zion
Robinson, George Washington
Robinson, James W.
Robinson, Jesse
Robinson, Thomas Jefferson
Robinson, William
Robison, Joel Walter
Rockwell, Chester B.
Rodriquez, Ambrosio
Roeder, Louis Von
Roman, Richard
Rounds, Lyman Frank
Rowe, James
Ruddell, John
Rudder, Nathaniel
Rusk, David
Rusk, Thomas Jefferson
Russell, Robert Benedict
Ryans, Thomas
Sadler, John
Sadler, William Turner
Sanders, John
Sanders, Uriah
Sanett, D. Andrew
Sayers, John
Scallorn, John Wesley
Scarborough, Paul
Scates, William Bennett
Scott, David
Scott, William P.
Scurry, Richardson A.
Seaton, George Washington
Secrest, Fielding Grundy
Secrest, Washington Hampton
Seguin, Juan Nepomuceno
Self, George
Sergent, W.
Sevey, Manasseh
Sevey, Ralph E.
Shain, Charles B.
Sharp, John
Shaw, James
Sherman, Sidney
Shesten, Henry
Shreve, John Milton
Shupe, Samuel
Sigmon, Abel
Simmons, William
Slack, Joseph H.
Slayton, John
Smith, Benjamin Fort
Smith, Erastus
Smith, George
Smith, James Monroe
Smith, John
Smith, John
Smith, John
Smith, John
Smith, John N. O.
Smith, Leander
Smith, Maxlin
Smith, Robert W.
Smith, William
Smith, William C.
Smith, William H.
Smith, William M.
Snell, Martin Kingsley
Snyder, Asberry McKendree
Somervell, Alexander
Sovereign, Joseph
Sparks, Stephen Franklin
Spicer, Joseph A.
Spillman, James H.
Stancell, John F.
Standifer, Jacob Littleton
Standifer, William Bailey
Stibbins, Charles C.
Steel, Maxwell
Steele, Alfonso
Stephens, Ashley R.
Stephenson, John Allen
Stevenson, R.
Stevenson, Robert
Stewart, Charles
Stewart, James
Stilwell, William S.
Stouffer, Henry S.
Stout, William B.
Stroh, Phillip
Stroud, John W.
Stump, John S.
Sullivan, Dennis
Summers, William W.
Sutherland, George
Swain, William L.
Swearingen, Valentine Wesley
Swearingen, William C.
Sweeny, Thomas Jefferson
Sweeny, William Burrell
Swift, Hugh Montgomery
Swisher, Henry H.
Swisher, John Milton
Sylvester, James Austin
Tanner, Edward M.
Tarin, Manuel
Tarlton, James
Taylor, Abraham R.
Taylor, Campbell
Taylor, Edward W.
Taylor, John B.
Taylor, John N.
Taylor, Thomas
Taylor, William S.
Thomas, Benjamin, Jr.
Thomas, Algernon P.
Thompson, Charles P.
Thompson, Cyrus W.
Thompson, James B.
Thompson, Jesse G.
Threadgill, Joshua
Tierwester, Henry H.
Tindale, Daniel
Tindall, William Pike
Tinsley, James W.
Tom, John Files
Townsend, Spencer Burton
Townsend, Stephen
Trask, Olwyn J.
Trenary, John B.
Tumlinson, John James
Turnage, Shelby C.
Turner, Amasa
Tyler, Charles C.
Tyler, Robert D.
Usher, Patrick
Utley, Thomas C.
Vandeveer, Logan
Van Winkle, John
Vermillion, Joseph D.
Vinator, James
Viven, John
Votaw, Elijah
Wade, John Marshall
Waldron, C. W.
Walker, James
Walker, Martin
Walker, Philip
Walker, William S.
Walling, Jesse
Walmsley, James
Walnut, Francis
Wardziski, Felix
Ware, William
Waters, George
Waters, William
Watkins, James E.
Watson, Dexter
Webb, George
Webb, Thomas H.
Weedon, George
Welch, James
Wells, James A.
Wells, Lysander
Weppler, Phillip
Wertzner, Christian Gotthelf
Westgate, Ezra C.
Wharton, James
Wharton, John Austin
Wheeler, Samuel L.
Whitaker, Madison G.
White, John Carey
White, Joseph E.
White, Levi W.
Whitesides, Elisha S.
Wilcox, Ozwin
Wilder, Joseph
Wildy, Samuel
Wilkinson, Freeman
Wilkinson, James
Wilkinson, James G., Jr.
Wilkinson, John
Wilkinson, Leroy
Williams, Charles
Williams, Francis F.
Williams, Hezekiah Reams
Williams, Matthew R.
Williams, William F.
Williamson, John W.
Williamson, Robert McAlpin
Willoughby, Leiper
Wilmouth, Louis
Wilson, James
Wilson, Thomas
42
Wilson, Walker
Winburn, McHenry
Winn, Walter
Winters, James Washington
Winters, John Frelan
Winters, William Carvin
Wood, Edward B.
Wood, William
Woodlief, Deveraux J.
Woods, Samuel
Woodward, F. Marion
Woolsey, Abner W.
Wright, George Washington
Wright, Rufus
Wyly, Alfred Henderson
Yancy, John
Yarborough, Swanson
York, James Allison
Young, William Foster
Zavala, Lorenzo de, Jr.
Zumwalt, Andrew

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.

Abbott, Calvin P.
Abbott, Launcelot
Allphin, Ransom
Anderson, John D.
Anderson, John W.
Anderson, Thomas
Anderson, Thomas P.
Atkinson, John
Baker, Walter Elias
Barker, William
Bartlett, Jesse
Beams, Obediah P.
Belcher, Isham G.
Bennett, James
Benton, Jesse, Jr.
Berry, John Bate
Black, Albert
Blaylock, James B.
Blount, Stephen William
Bomar, Dr. William W.
Bond, George
Bostick, James H.
Box, Stilwell
Boyce, Jeptha
Bracey, McLin
Bradley, Daniel
Breeding, John
Breeding, Napoleon Bonaparte
Brown, Alexander
Brown, Robert
Bryody, Patrick
Burch, James
Burch, Valentine
Burditt, Newell W.
Burditt, William Buck
Burleson, Jonathan
Burtrang, Thomas
Campbell, David Wilson
Campbell, Heil Otem
Campbell, John
Campbell, Rufus Easton
Cannon, Thomas
Caruthers, Young
Casey, George M.
Castleman, Jacob
Chamberlin, Willard
Chance, Joseph Bell
Chelaup, James K.
Childress, James R.
Cockrell, John R.
Coe, Philip Haddox
Cole, James
Collard, James Hillness
Collard, Jonathan S.
Connell, David C.
Conner, Evan
Cook, Octavious A.
Cottle, Sylvanus
Cox, Phillip
Crawford, John B.
Crier, Andrew
Crownover, Arter
Darst, Emory Holman
Davis, John
Davis, William Francis H.
Dickinson, Edward
Douglass, Freeman Walker
Douglass, Jonathan
Duff, James Carson
Dunn, Josiah G.
Emmons, Calvin Brallery
Etheridge, Godfrey
Evans, Moses
Farley, Massillon
Farnsworth, Oliver
Finley, Benjamin C.
Fisk, Greenleaf
Fitzgerald, Lankford
Francis, Miller
Freed, Henry
Freeman, Thomas
Gillett, Samuel S.
Goolsey, William G.
Gordon, James
Gorham, Isaac
Gorham, William
Granville, Benjamin
Gravis, John A. F.
Grimes, Frederick Miller
Grimes, George W.
Haggard, Henry H.
Hale, Jonas
Hallmark, Alfred M.
Harbour, John Monroe
Harbour, T. J.
Hardin, Ennis
Harris, Isaac
Hatfield, Basil Muse
Head, Wiley M.
Hensley, John M.
Hill, David
Hill, William Warner
Hinds, James B.
Hodge, Archibald
Hodge, James
Hodge, Robert
Hodge, William
Holcombe, James J.
Hollingsworth, James
Hope, Richard
Hughes, James
Hunter, Robert Hancock
Jackson, Joseph
Johnson, Joseph Ranson
Johnson, Nathan B.
Jones, Keeton McLemore
Kemp, Thomas
Kennard, William Everett
Kenney, William H.
Kerr, William P.
Kokernot, Daniel L.
Kuykendall, Adam
Kuykendall, Brazilla
Kuykendall, Gibson
Kuykendall, H. A.
Kuykendall, James Hampton
Kuykendall, John
Kuykendall, Thornton S.
Law, Garret
Lee, Hiram
Lee, Theodore Staunton
Lightfoot, Henry L.
Litton, Addison
Litton, Jesse
Litton, John
Liverall, A.
Lloyd, Peterson
43
Lynch, Joseph Penn
Manning, James H.
Mantin, L.
Marshall, Elias J.
Marshall, Hugh Lewis
Marshall, John, Jr.
Marshall, Joseph Taylor
Marshall, Samuel B.
Mather, Elisha
Maurry, James
McCrocklin, Jesse Lindsey
McFaddin, Nathaniel A.
McFadin, William M.
McFall, Samuel
McGown, Samuel
McIntire, William
McLaughlin, James
McLaughlin, William
McMaster, William
McMillan, Andrew
McMillan, James
McNutt, Robert
Means, William
Merritt, Robert
Moore, Azariah G.
Moore, John D.
Moore, Lewis
Moore, Morris
Morris, Burrel
Morris, George
Morris, James H.
Morris, Spencer
Newton, John
Norment, Thomas
Owen, James D.
Page, Soloman Calvin
Parker, Wiley
Peebles, Richard Rodgers
Pennington, J. M.
Perry, Sion W.
Perry, William M.
Pettus, William
Pevehouse, Preston
Pier, James B.
Pleasants, George Washington
Polk, Thomas
Polk, William P.
Potts, R.
Prewitt, Elisha
Price, Hardy William Brown
Price, Perry
Price, Robert
Price, William
Rankin, David
Raper, Daniel
Reamos, Sherwood Y.
Rhodes, John B.
Rhorer, Conrad
Ricks, George Washington
Robbins, Early
Roberts, Stephen R.
Robertson, Sterling Clack
Robinett, Enoch
Robinett, James M.
Robinson, Benjamin W.
Robinson, James
Rowlett, Alexander W.
Scaggs, John H.
Scott, Robert
Seaton, George Washington
Sharp, John
Simpson, Jeremiah W.
Smith, John G.
Smith, William A.
Smith, William P.
Smith, William W.
Snodgrass, J. G.
Splane, Peyton R.
Splane, Thomas M.
Stephens, John
Stevenson, Thomas B.
Swoap, Benjamin Franklin
Taylor, Josiah
Teal, Henry
Thompson, Thomas
Tinnett, Robert
Tollett, Wesley
Tong, John B.
Townsend, Moses
Townsend, P. John
Townsend, Stephen
Townsend, William
Vardeman, Henry W.
Varner, Martin
Vaughan, Richard
Walker, John
Walker, Josiah
Walling, John C.
Whitehead, Nicholas
Whitlock, Robert
Wilburn, Ransom
Williams, Edward
Williams, Hezekiah, Sr.
Williams, Jesse
Winnett, Robert
Winters, Agabus
Wood, William Riley
Woods, Joseph H.
Wright, Gilbert
Yarborough, Joseph Randolph
Zuber, William Physick

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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.

44

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.

Footnotes

[1] 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.”
[2] 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!”
[3] 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.
[4] 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.
[5] Several veterans of the battle said the tune played was “Yankee Doodle.”
[6] With Sylvester in the capture of Santa Anna were Joel W. Robison, Joseph D. Vermillion, Alfred H. Miles and David Cole.

Transcriber’s Notes