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Battle That Gained Texas Independence Observed Today Today is San Jacinto Day, a state holiday observing the April 21, 1836, battle near Houston in which a Texas army led by Gen. Sam Houston defeated Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Historians cite it as the decisive battle in Texas gaining independence from Mexico. Sam Houston's approximately 900 men, infuriated by the deaths of about 550 comrades at the Alamo and the Goliad massacre, took just 18 minutes to win a battle that left 630 Mexican soldiers dead and another 730 in captivity, according to historical accounts. Santa Anna agreed...

(On This Day In History) June 22, 1876: General Santa Anna Dies In Mexico City Embittered and impoverished, the once mighty Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna dies in Mexico City. Born in 1792 at Jalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico, Santa Anna was the son of middle-class parents. As a teen, he won a commission in the Spanish army and might have been expected to live out an unspectacular career as a middle-level army officer. However, the young Santa Anna quickly distinguished himself as a capable fighter and leader, and after 1821, he gained national prominence in the successful Mexican war for...

San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Reenactment Presented by H-E-B Tournament of Champions Festival offers plethora of entertaining activities, all for free The San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Reenactment on Saturday, April 21, is an independence celebration of Texas' famous Battle of San Jacinto and the enduring spirit of Texas. The admission-free San Jacinto Day Festival takes place from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on the 1,200-acre San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site at the San Jacinto Monument, with a full day of music, entertainment, food, games and fun set amidst living history. The most popular event of...

DALLAS (AP) - Texas ranked lowest among the nation's four southern border states in its standards for teaching Latin American and Mexican history, according to a national study released Monday. The study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said on a scale of zero to 10, Texas scored a five - just above the national average of 4.2. California, meanwhile, scored a 10. Arizona scored a six and New Mexico scored an eight, said Walter Russell Meade, a senior fellow for the council on foreign relations who conducted the study based on a review of...

San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle ReenactmentFestival celebrates 170th anniversary of battle The San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Reenactment on Saturday, April 22, 2006 is an independence celebration of Texas' legendary Battle of San Jacinto and the enduring, mythic spirit of Texas. The Festival is a full day of music, entertainment, food, games, and fun set amidst living history. The Battle Reenactment is one of the largest in the state, complete with cannons, muskets, horses, pyrotechnics and hundreds of reenactors, dressed in uniforms that duplicate the real dress of the day. The reenactment includes the Runaway Scrape; the...

The swallow- tailed Mexican flag, which was taken by Maj. Henry P. Brewster at the Battle of San Jacinto 170 years ago today, is the centerpiece of an annual exhibition of Texas artifacts at the Sterling Bank branch at 4849 Greenville Ave. in Dallas. The tri-color flag, fashioned from three pieces of silk and decorated with a delicately stitched embroidery of the Mexican coat of arms, flew over the battleground headquarters of Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. At least it did until April 21, 1836, when Sam Houston's Texians rushed the Mexican camp with cries of "Remember the Alamo!"...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

The heroism of Gen. Sam Houston's soldiers at San Jacinto is the stuff of legend. And heroism certainly abounded when the Texas Army, after miles of wearying retreat, rallied 169 years ago today to decimate the overwhelmingly superior army of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the so-called Napoleon of the West. Historians traditionally attribute Houston's victory, which secured Texas' independence after an 18-minute battle, to timing, geography and luck. Trapped between attacking Texans and a treacherous marsh, Mexican troops — rudely awakened from their afternoon siesta by a withering rebel fusillade — had nowhere to go but their deaths. Now,...

Okay, okay... I know this is late for The Birthday, but I just received it.  I checked snopes and they don't seem to have it yet.  The e-mail came from a woman whose brother went to high school with Bum at French High School (Beaumont, Tx), so I'm thinking he really wrote it.  It sure sounds like him, anyway.  Does anyone know him personally so we can verify? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TEXAS -- FROM BUM PHILLIPS  Being Texan by Bum PhillipsDear Friends,   Last year, I wrote a small piece about what it means to me to be a Texan. My...

For all of her secret life as the wife of a soldier in Santa Anna's army, Patty Tristan has tried to adhere to one policy. No camping in the mud. There was no such luck this weekend, when Tristan and more than 200 other people gathered at San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Park to recreate the 1836 victory that gave Texas its independence from Mexico. The battle re-enactment was cancelled after a thunderstorm Saturday morning was capped by a lightning strike to the 570-foot tall monument in the middle of the park. Lightning, static electricity and 100 pounds of black...

The Battle of San JacintoThe Battle of San Jacinto lasted less than twenty minutes, but it sealed the fate of three republics. Mexico would never regain the lost territory, in spite of sporadic incursions during the 1840s. The United States would go on to acquire not only the Republic of Texas in 1845 but Mexican lands to the west after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican War in 1848. By early April, Santa Anna had divided his forces in a three-pronged attack: a northern army, under General Antonio Gaona , the central army under Santa Anna and General...

Let's state this simply: If it weren't for San Jacinto, The Alamo would not be drawing crowds this weekend. In fact, nobody would remember the Alamo. Yet compared to the Alamo, San Jacinto is the Rodney Dangerfield of battlefield sites. The $100 million epic now at the theaters does conclude by showing Sam Houston's victory over Santa Anna seven weeks after the slaughter in San Antonio. But the movie doesn't bother to mention the venue. If Sam Houston and his men had lost at San Jacinto, the Alamo would be a footnote in Mexican history books. The victory at San...

<p>The Texas Revolution has been the subject of countless articles, books, songs, and films. It is one of the foundations of our history and heritage as Texans and a part of our national story as Americans. Names like Travis, Bowie, Seguin, and Crockett and places like the Alamo, Goliad, and San Jacinto resonate with all of us, serving to shape our personal relationship with our collective history. Yet there are actually very few original documents - primary sources - that have survived to tell us this story.</p>

LA PORTE, Texas — More than 10,000 Texans and others are expected to gather at San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site on April 24 to celebrate the brief but decisive battle that brought Texas its independence from Mexico. This year marks the 168th anniversary of Gen. Sam Houston’s Texan troops’ victory over the Mexican army under the command of Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna on April 21, 1836. The festival is free and lasts from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. At 3 p.m. April 24, more than 200 re-enactors will dramatize the victory of the roughly 800 Texans under...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... . U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. . . Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family...

April 21, 1836 was destined to be an important date in history. It was a day for winning freedom. At the junction of Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River, two rival armies were camped. In the Texan camp there were about 800 men. Some were volunteers who had recently arrived from the United States. Others were settlers who were helping Texas to develop from the wilderness. Many of them had lost friends or relatives at the Alamo and at Goliad in earlier struggles with the Mexican army. "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" was their battle cry. They were...

SAN JACINTO A chance to refresh our memories of Texas history Those who complain that too little attention is paid to Texas history sometimes have a point. Not so this weekend, as the San Jacinto Museum of History, the Texas Army and others mark the 166th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto this weekend. A battle symposium today will include professors and authors James L. Haley and Stephen L. Hardin discussing the controversial role of Gen. Sam Houston. Professor Josefina Zoriada, of El Colegio de Mexico, will discuss "The Enigmatic Lopez de Santa Ana," and Dr. Jesus F. de...