Posted on 04/21/2005 12:42:08 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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, though, an East Texas high school history teacher, president of a group dedicated to putting copies of important state and national documents in the hands of state schoolchildren, is emphasizing an aspect of the battle that sometimes gets overlooked: technology.
Santa Anna's rout, says James Mitchell of Jasper, was, as much as anything, attributable to simply being outgunned.
Hundreds in Santa Anna's army carried surplus British East India pattern, smoothbore Brown Bess muskets. Although they fired a hefty three-quarter-inch ball, the guns were no match against the more accurate Kentucky rifles carried by many of Houston's troops.
"The British weapon had a hitting range of 25 yards. Maybe you could hit a target at 50 yards. Beyond that, it's anybody's guess," Mitchell said recently. "On the Texas side, it's hard to know what the percentages are. There were Springfields in Houston's army, muskets of various manufacture, maybe even a few Brown Besses. But the vast majority, probably over 500, carried the weapon of choice — the American Kentucky rifle."
Mitchell said the Kentucky rifle was accurate to up to 200 yards in ideal conditions. But even in the chaos of battle, he said, it was a sure killer at 50 yards.
When the battle ended, the carnage told the tale: Only nine of 910 Texas soldiers were killed, but Santa Anna lost 630 of his 1,300-plus force.
While historians long have been aware of the Mexicans' dependence on the British musket, Mitchell said the weapon's shortcomings have been underscored by his research on a Brown Bess musket that is believed to have been used by a Mexican soldier at San Jacinto. Mitchell's Freedom Document Fund purchased the weapon last year with the intent of verifying its history and displaying it at Texas museums.
Mitchell noted that Santa Anna armed his troops with the British flintlock, muzzle-loading musket purchased through arms dealers. After the battle, as many as 600 of the guns were recovered.
Mitchell theorized that hundreds more may have been retrieved by Texas soldiers to replace Kentucky rifles broken in the battle.
"We assumed that as many as 200 people might have replaced their broken weapons with Mexican muskets recovered from the battlefield," he said. "The long Kentucky rifles were used as clubs in close-in fighting, and they weren't built that strongly."
Alamo historian and curator Bruce Winders, consulted by Mitchell in his quest to document the weapon, confirmed that at least some of the Mexican muskets were refurbished and put into service by the Republic of Texas. Others were used for replacement parts.
As Mitchell and others with his group scrutinized their newly purchased musket — one of more than 1.6 million produced by the British between 1804 and 1815, they detected the half-inch-tall initials "JL" engraved on the left side.
In a year of research that included a trip to the British armory where the weapon was made, Mitchell and his colleagues perused the roster of Texas fighters at the Alamo — at which both sides used the musket — and San Jacinto. Sixteen men with the initials "JL" were identified, but none of the available signatures matched the style of the cursive engraved initials.
Mitchell finally identified the probable owner as James Lathem, an independent contractor who moved weapons from the Texas Republic's Wharton-area arsenal to Houston. Lathem's initials were matched to documents bearing his signature at the Texas State Library and Archives.
Not much is known about Lathem, nor about what happened to the musket in ensuing years. Mitchell said he found it for sale at an area gun show last year.
"I'm a native Texan," Mitchell said, "and this is big stuff to me. It's very important."
With scholarly caution, Winders was hesitant to verify the finding, saying only that the weapon was of the kind carried by many Mexican soldiers.
"(Mitchell's) contention is one of those things that makes perfect sense," he said. "However, there is no definite proof."
Mitchell said his organization plans to show the weapon at a series of Texas museums in the fall.
His group, linked with the American Legion and supported by a variety of foundations, was formed five years ago to disseminate color copies of important Texas and U.S. documents to high school history students.
allan.turner@chron.com
Well, thanks to the Internet: freedomdocuments.com
Never bring a musket to a rifle-fight.
15. The final production run is completed. In addition to the First Edition of on thousand special Prints, an additional three thousand Educational Distribution Prints were produced. These Prints will not be available to individuals and are scheduled to be shipped at no charge to School Systems, Museums and Libraries in the State of Texas,and to key depositories throughout the United States of America.
Hugin wrote:
Never bring a musket to a rifle-fight.
--> Well, Mexico's army still behind the times. Only their criminals and gangs/organized crime have the latest and greatest. And their presidents are still the suckiest.
I'll be in la-la land for another decade, call me if anything changes. :P
...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......You snooze, you loose.
The Battleship Texas is anchored there too.
I'm inclined to believe that at least two other factors prevailed. Santa Anna was arrogant and over estimated the determination of his opponents who had had enough of being shoved around. Santa Anna's army was used to shoving unarmed or poorly armed "insurgents" around. The Texans did have a good position. They also knew that they would die if they did not prevail as they were well aware of what had happened at the Alamo.
Yes. I'm sure all where relevant in the Texans' victory.
Interesting reading...thanks.
Keel laid 1912.
Entered service 1916-17.
Main Battery: Ten 12-inch by 50 caliber rifles in 5 two gun turrents, two turrents forward, three turrents abaft.
Secondary Battery: ten 5-inch X 50 caliber rifled single mounts arranged amidships on the main deck. The "B" deck five-inch guns were removed to improve the bulwarks in heavy seas at the same time that the 16 inch "torpedo belt" was bolted to the sides.
Suffered two hits from German shore batteries at Normandy, one casualty, a seaman in the forward "crow's nest" that was hit, the other round, a dud, penetrated below deck and ended up on an officer's bunk.
Captain ordered the port side ballasts flooded to gain elevation for the 12 inch rifles, as they fired upon a German position just beyond range. The order resulted in a direct hit.
The Main Electrical Panel is still in place with "JB Cutter Electric" circuit breakers in working order (What I really wanted to see).
It was one of the most enjoyable visits to a museum I ever took, and I visit every one I come near.
I know what you mean.
San Jacinto ping.
That said, with properly disciplined troops firing in volley -- which is what was expected of musket armed troops in the Napoleonic era -- well-maintained Brown Bess muskets could be very effective at 25-50 yards. They could be fired much faster than the Kentucky rifles, which because of the slow loading necessitated by the rifling (a problem not solved until the Minie ball), made rifles unsuitable for volley fire.
The bottom line is that technology should not have been decisive at San Jacinto; rather the decisive factors were leadership and motivation. The Mexicans might want to feel better about themselves because the evil Yanquis had better guns, but it won't wash. And, it doesn't answer the question in Guns, Germs, and Steel (a stupid book that gives the wrong answer even if it asks the right one): WHY did the Texans have more cargo (better guns)?
Isn't it just funny that Texans would have better rifles than their opponents. It's like a family tradition. Guns don't make it right, but they sure help the argument.
Like I explained to my daughter when we saw a Native American "Passion Play" about the Trail of Tears from the Carolinas out to the West... the man with the gun makes the rules. That's why we have the Second Amendment.
Life isn't fair, deal with it or be dealt with and defend yourself.
There is no question some of the Texians were better armed, but the fact is, Santa Anna was arrogant and did not use basic tactical caution. The Texians had run for weeks, and he didn't think they had the guts to stand up in the open field, so he didn't take them seriously when Houston deployed his men in the WIDE OPEN FIELD.
More here at:
By the way, I never forget my own birthday because it's "Battle of San Jacinto" day! (Much better than Ap. 20, Hitler's birthday!)
I'd hate to be on the receiving end of 0.75" ball at 25 yds. Can you say "big hole!"
50 Yds compared to 200 yds is pretty bad for the Mexicans.
I watched "Kentucky Rifles" the other day. Interesting. The rifles were more than a match for the Indians in the hands of a proficient user.
...on the Histroy Channel's Battlefield Detectives, They revealed another shortfall of Mexicans' Technology: the poor quality of Mexican gunpowder. ...I suspect the Texans had better/more access to better gunpowder (american/but, more expensive) and they maintain their (personal) weapons better.
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