April 21, 1836

General Sam Houston and 800 Texas militia defeated General Santa Anna and the entire Mexican Army to avenge the massacres of The Alamo and Goliad thus winning the independence of the Republic of Texas.

The Battle turned out to be one of the most consequential events in World History as it eventually enabled the US to expand West to the Pacific.

650 Mexicans were killed, 208 wounded, 300 captured, and as many as 1000 escaped scattering in all directions and unable to regroup. Only 11 Texans were killed.

The Battle lasted only 18 minutes!

1,000 escaped....that's where all these illegals started....

:-)Rocky

I heard on a Texas history podcast that the reason General Sam went due east instead of northeast to Nacogdoches where reinforcements were is because United States President Andrew Jackson had 10,000 U.S. troups stationed in southwest Louisiana just across the Sabine River ready to take on Santa Ana if the need arose.

I have been a student of Texas history for decades and never read or heard of this. The podcaster is Ken Wise, a U.S. Judge. That in itself doesn't make it true but lends some credibility to the story.

Coach,
That is indeed very interesting.

I guess that the Mexicans that all scattered during the battle did not run south???

Wayne

Tom, Supposedly, General Gaines of the US Army had a large number of troops stationed at Fort Jesup just across the Sabine River where the Pendleton Bridge goes across Toledo Bend.

Wayne, an interesting fact about Sam Houston's army is that he had a considerable number of Mexicans fighting along side of him. One notable was Juan Seguin.

Thanks Coach.

I will try to find the podcast angain and send you a link.

And while General Gaines had orders to not cross the Sabine, many of his troops took “furloughs” in order to go help the Texans.

Probably not. Since most of the Mexican soldiers were convict conscripts!

Coach--

I haven't been a student of the Texas revolution in any detail, but considering the mix of people in San Antonio and at the Alamo in 1836, it makes sense that some of the Hispanics who were indigenous to what became the Republic of Texas fought for independence alongside the Gringos.

By the way, if you caught Season 1 of the TV series "The Son" (with Pierce Brosnan) you get some idea about the types of hostilities continued along the border for a long time, and also prejudice and violence against Hispanics who had sided with the Gringos against Mexico.

Larry

It is interesting to hear the real facts about these incidents. A lot of information is conveniently withheld from the history books.

Wayne