Posted on 06/22/2007 7:59:42 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
(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 independence from Spain. In 1833, he won election to the presidency of the independent republic of Mexico by an overwhelming popular majority. His dedication to the ideal of a democratic role proved weak, though, and he proclaimed himself dictator in 1835.
Santa Anna's assumption of dictatorial power over Mexico brought him into direct conflict with a growing movement for independence in the Mexican state of Texas. During the 1820s and 1830s, large numbers of Euro-Americans had settled in the area of Texas, and many of them remained more loyal to the United States than to their distant rulers in Mexico City. Some viewed Santa Anna's overthrow of the Mexican Republic as an opportunity to break away and form an independent Republic of Texas that might one day become an American state.
Determined to crush the Texas rebels, Santa Anna took command of the Mexican army that invaded Texas in 1836. His forces successfully defeated the Texas rebels at the Alamo, and he personally ordered the execution of 400 Texan prisoners after the Battle of Goliad. However, these two victories planted the seeds for Santa Anna's defeat. "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad" became the rallying cries for a reinvigorated Texan army. Lulled into overconfidence by his initial easy victories, Santa Anna was taken by surprise at San Jacinto, and his army was annihilated on April 21, 1836. The captured Santa Anna, fearing execution, willingly signed an order calling for all Mexican troops to withdraw. Texas became an independent republic.
Deposed during his captivity with the Texan rebels, Santa Anna returned to Mexico a powerless man. During the next two decades, however, the highly unstable political situation in Mexico provided him with several opportunities to regain-and again lose-his dictatorial power. All told, he became the head of the Mexican government 11 times. Overthrown for the last time in 1855, he spent the remaining two decades of his life scheming with elements in Mexico, the United States, and France to stage a comeback.
Although he was clearly a brilliant political opportunist, Santa Anna was ultimately loyal only to himself and he had an insatiable lust for power. While Santa Anna played an important role in achieving Mexican independence, his subsequent governments were also at least partially responsible for the loss of the Southwest to the United States. He died in poverty and squalor in Mexico City at the age of 82, no doubt still dreaming of a return to power.
I will the toast the dictator's death tonight with some tequila shots.
Burn in hell Santa Anna...
and...
Remember the Alamo!
"Come and take it" was a slogan used in the Texas Revolution in 1835. At the minor skirmish known as the Battle of Gonzales, a small group of Texans successfully resisted the Mexican forces who had orders to seize their cannon. As a symbol of defiance, the Texans had fashioned a flag containing the phrase along with a black star and an image of the cannon.
182-250 Americans died at the Alamo. 600 Mexicans were killed with an estimated 1,200 wounded out of an attacking force of a little 1,400. I’d say that’s a Texas style ass kickin’.
Of course with the current immigration bill pending, now it would look more like Viva Max starring Peter Ustinov. He retakes the Alamo and the Feds send in the NG. But as to not start an international incident, they have no ammunition.
It took the Mexicans a long time, but they finally have control of the United States. Santa Ana would be pleased.
Ah, but Santa Anna would probably quite proud of the progress of the Mexican invasion of the US.
Agreed.
It’s comparable to the Greek Battle of Thermopylae some 2500 years ago where the samll band of Spartans and other Greek soldiers held off thousands and thousands of Persian invaders.
http://www.thefiringline.com/HCI/molon_labe.htm
Of course you have probably already seen the movie “300” T
A bit sanitized version of the career of a megalomaniacal monster. If I remember correctly, Santa Ana initially fought on the side of the Spaniards, distinguishing himself by exemplary brutality against the Mexico people. When it appeared his best interests lay with the winners, he changed sides. I wonder how “democratic” the election really was which put him in power. As ruler of Mexico he also demonstrated exemplary brutality against Native American Indians and Mestizos. I believe Senior Santa Ana was a Creole, i.e. a Mexican born of Spanish extraction in Mexico. The first in a long line of such creatures leading to the current problems along our borders.
He demonstrated his brutality in the callousness with which he treated his won troops. Their March to the Alamo and back was almost a death march with inadequate food, clothing, shelter or medical treatment.
This beast of a barbarian no more merits the accolades of the Mexican people than he did the Tejanos and Americans.
As ruler of Mexico during the Mexican War with America, he set a military record of sort by not winning a single major engagement.
A monster, phony, liar and beast.
I hope his soul rests in the Hell it so richly merited.
Still a fan of the original. I remember my 8th Grade history teacher telling us the story of the Spartan mother who told her son, “come back with your shield, or on it.”
They left one of the most important elements out of his biography. He brought chewing gum to America.
Ironically, when Santa Anna was overthrown, he fled to the United States.
Your casualty figures for the Mexicans are probably overstated.
Wikipedia: After the battle, Santa Anna reported that he had suffered 70 dead and 300 wounded, while many Texian accounts claim that as many as 1,500 Mexican lives were lost. While many quickly dismiss Santa Anna’s account as being unrealistic (since Santa Anna had plenty of reasons to lie about the number of men he lost), the Texian account of 1,500 dead also lacks logic. Most Alamo historians agree that the Mexican attack force consisted of between 1,400 and 1,600 men, so a count of 1,500 sounds improbable, although 1,500 killed during the entire time of the siege could well have been achieved. The accounts most commonly accepted by historians are the ones that place the number of Mexican dead around 200 and the number of initial Mexican wounded around 400. These losses (at about 43% casualties) would have been considered catastrophic by the Mexican Army, while still being realistic to today’s historians.
Good points.
One wonders how a guy who lost such disastrous wars still managed to get back into power.
I can understand making a successful general dictator, but a guy who manages to lose half the country to invaders?
I hope his soul rests in the Hell it so richly merited.
Hey, sounds a lot like Che and Fidel.
“Of course you have probably already seen the movie “300” “
Yup - and this is my favorite scene: http://www.moviesonline.ca/TheFeed/index.php?id=300-laydownyourweapons
By the way, if the descendants of Santa Anna and his soldiers try their invasion again, they’ll face lots of proud Texans armed with AR-15s, M1As, Garands, Remington 700s and a belt-fed or 2 (or 50). Probably why they won’t do it openly.
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