Battle of San Jacinto (Texas Independence)

Everyone knows the story of the Alamo...A
force of 185 volunteers under the command of
Colonel William Barret Travis held off the Army
of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
for eleven days before falling. This happened from
February 23, 1836 to March 6, 1836. Travis was
in a hopeless situation that he was well aware of.
One of his last letters that made it out of the Alamo
is gut-wrenching to say the least.

COMMANDANCY OF THE ALAMO, BEXAR, February 24, 1836.

FELLOW-CITIZENS AND COMPATRIOTS : I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continued bombardment for twenty-four hours, and have not lost a man. The enemy have demanded a surrender at discretion ; otherwise the garrison is to be put to the sword, if the place is taken. I have answered the summons with a cannon-shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then I call on you in the name of liberty, of patriotism, and of everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all despatch. The enemy are receiving reinforcements daily, and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. Though this call may be neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible, and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country. Victory or death!
"W. BARRET TRAVIS, Lieutenant-Colonel commanding.
" P. S.—The Lord is on our side.
.... but Travis's forces were buying time. At the same
time Texas father's were putting together a document
that would proclaim Texas to be a 'free and independent
Republic'. After overrunning the Alamo, Santa Anna tried
to find the army of General Sam Houston to finish off the
rebels once and for all. On April 20, 1836 the two armies
met in the marshlands just southeast of the present day
city of Houston. Santa Anna's forces numbered 1,360
while Houston's army was made up of 910 volunteers.
The Mexicans were bottled up between the Buffalo Bayou,
Galveston Bay, and Lake Francisco. The conventional battles
of the day usually started early in the morning and the
forces fought all day. Sam Houston waited until 4:30 in
the afternoon of April 21st and unleashed his men. Revenge
and bitterness over the losses at the Alamo and Goliad led
to a one-sided slaughter by the Texans. In eighteen minutes
of fighting, 630 Mexicans were killed and 730 taken prisoner.
Casualties among the Texans were listed as nine killed and
thirty wounded. Santa Anna tried to escape the battlefield
dressed in the uniform of a Corporal, but was identified when
other Mexican soldiers saluted him and called him General. The
Republic of Texas had been born. Sam Houston would become
the first President of the new country, but in 1845 Texas would
become the 28th state of the United States of America. While
Texas Independence Day is officially March 2, 1836,..remember
that April 21, 1836 was the day that gave Texas her independence.