Posted on 04/21/2010 12:01:55 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Thousands will gather to celebrate the San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Re-enactment on Saturday. Some will know the story. Others won’t. Before the day is over, both groups will experience the emotion of a day long ago when an 18-minute battle ended a revolution. That win established Texas as a free republic and made it possible to extend U.S. boundaries to the Rio Grande and all the way to the Pacific.
The world’s tallest war memorial stands at San Jacinto – 15 feet taller than the Washington Monument – honoring all those who fought for Texas independence.
“This is a festival about who Texans are and how we got here,” said Larry Spasic, San Jacinto Museum of History Association President. “You’ll find a strong sense of history here with a uniqueness that you can latch on to. The re-enactment portrays a short intense battle that changed the history of three nations, made the U.S. a bi-coastal nation and influenced world history. For a total immersion in the event, you can stroll through the Texian and Mexican camps where soldiers will even answer your questions.”
The battle re-enactment, the day’s most popular event, begins at 3 p.m. Re-enactors will dramatize the decisive battle when Gen. Sam Houston led his Texian soldiers to victory over the Mexican Army that eventually added almost a million square miles to the U.S.
They will dramatically interpret the Runaway Scrape, the march of the Texas Army from Gonzales to San Jacinto, the cannon duel and the final battle between the two forces. The end is marked with the laying of wreaths to honor the sacrifices of both armies.
Craig Livingston, professor of history at LSC-Montgomery College is veteran re-enactor. As a Temple University student he first performed with the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers in America and has since participated in many others.
“Re-enactments let actors and audience take ownership of history,” Livingston said. “Many of the actors are ‘history buffs’ and scholars who have a deep abiding passion for historical events. This is an act of interpreting the events in an unfolding drama of uniforms, gunfire and traditional music. It gives a sense of the actual magnitude of the event that is awe inspiring. It evokes a sense of being transported back in time. The San Jacinto Festival draws a huge crowd in the south, and in the northeast people will line the roads from Boston to Concord to celebrate the ride of Paul Revere. Re-enactments allow us to experience the ritual of replaying history and make certain that history lives on.”
The admission-free event on the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site offers a full day of music, entertainment, games and fun. On the Main Stage, popular local and regional entertainers will perform and demonstrate favorites from days gone by. Visit the Texas Dancehall with twin fiddles and a steel guitar. Listen to a singer who brings an authentic chuck wagon and performs his “Camp Cookie” review. See a display of magnificent birds, or play the tambourine with a band performing with penny whistles, spoons and a scrub-board.
The Children’s Area will include “Phydeaux’s Flying Flea Circus,” a 55’ train complete with whistle and flags, and a Make-and-Take history activities and crafts area.
See blacksmiths, weavers, spinners, quilters and others who will provide a glimpse of life in the early 1800s. Stroll over to the Medicine Show Wagon with its lively medicine man who spins tales of cure-all elixirs and works a little magic. Watch the square dancers and even try a step or two. Take a stroll over to the Battleship Texas, the first battleship memorial museum in the U.S., or visit inside the San Jacinto Monument. Whatever you choose to do, it’s destined to be a memorable day.
Enjoy free admission to the San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Re-enactment. Combo tickets for the elevator ride, exhibit and movie inside the Monument can be purchased: $12 for adults, $8 for children. Fees for the Battleship TEXAS are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for school and youth groups with a reservation, and free for children 12 and younger. Admission fees to the park are waived on Festival day. Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and/or blankets for comfortable viewing of the Battle Reenactment.
See the USS Texas first.
Happy San Jacinto Day!
If the Texans hadn’t won the Battle of San Jacinto, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, Nevada, western Colorado, southwest Wyoming, the Oklahoma panhandle, and southwest Kansas would probably still be part of Mexico.
Texas, O Texas! your freeborn single star,
Sends out its radiance to nations near and far,
Emblem of Freedom! it set our hearts aglow,
With thoughts of San Jacinto and glorious Alamo.
Texas, dear Texas! from tyrant grip now free,
Shines forth in splendor, your star of destiny!
Mother of heroes, we come your children true,
Proclaiming our allegiance, our faith, our love for you.
~Chorus~
God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.
God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.
Houston PING
I was there in November, the Alamo, Goliad, San Jacitno.
When discussing the new revolution, Texas rather than the USA should be the model. The Texans, mostly ordinary folk got really pissed at Santa Ana who like Obams et al, overthrew the valid and tolerated Mexican constitution and ruled as he pleased.
Vain and overconfident, he got his ass whipped at San Jacinto.
The victory was after many good Texans died.
Remember the Alamo!!
Remember Goliad!!
Happy San Jacinto Day!
San Jacinto Ping.
Better yet, take picures of the monument from the USS Texas.
This Minnesotan did last year. (That’s one impressive monument.) The view from the top is great.
Nearly a thousand Mexican soldiers killed, and almost 750 captured in less than twenty minutes.
Did Santa Anna not know of the proximity of the Texas Army or did he simply ignore them as unlikely to attack?
My paternal grandmother was a Miller from the Miller clan in Kentucky. And according to my father, one of the Miller family members wrote in the Miller family Bible that we had a family member who had left Kentucky to serve under the command of Sam Houston.
I bought this book about SantaAnna last year at the San Jacinto re-enactment. If you can get your hands on this, it's a great read, and goes into depth about Santa Anna's meglomania, and his belief that his vaunted Mexican Army would destroy this ragtag band of Texas freedom fighters.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.