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SAN JACINTO, BATTLE OF. The battle of San Jacinto was the concluding military event of the Texas Revolution. On March 13, 1836, the revolutionary army at Gonzales began to retreat eastward. It crossed the Colorado River on March 17 and camped near present Columbus on March 20, recruiting and reinforcements having increased its size to 1,200 men. Sam Houston's scouts reported Mexican troops west of the Colorado to number 1,325. On March 25 the Texans learned of James W. Fannin's defeat at Goliad (see GOLIAD CAMPAIGN OF 1836), and many of the men left the army to join their families...

Born on this date in 1793, Sam Houston was governor of Tennessee, president of the Republic of Texas twice, and later senator and governor of the state of Texas, and a leader in the war of independence between Texas and Mexico. Today we raise the flag of Texas in his honor.

...the federal, rather central, government is a train wreck that is on its way to happen, and we, all of us, are passengers on that fated train. Like passengers on a train headed too fast for a curve in the track, we can (at least most of us can) see the impending danger in front of us, and most have a strong suspicion that we will not survive the coming wreck. We are also afraid to jump off of the doomed train for fear that we will be hurt when we make our exit. There may be rough ground outside...

While much of America’s mainstream news media continues to scoff at the notion of Texas independence, journalists from elsewhere around the globe are beginning to recognize that the Texas Nationalist Movement is gaining momentum in its quest to put the issue of Texas secession before the voters of the state. TNM representatives have been deluged of late by requests for media interviews, particularly from journalists from overseas. TNM President Daniel Miller has been interviewed by Iranian television and a request from British TV is in the wings, while stories about the movement have also been featured in Agence France-Presse, the...

As the United States as we grew up in and once knew it rapidly disappears, many expatriate native Texans are following the activities of the Texas Secession Movement. The solution to oppressive modern government? Start another country. You can take a Texan out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of a Texan. Its something in the blood. These groups support the establishment of an independent and free Texas and Texas secession. Texas has a proud independent history, dating back to the original Texians and the 1836 fight for independence. Some say that Texas cannot legally secede; however, King...

Time has taken its toll on the Mexican bayonets, but their rust-pocked remains still hint at a lust for blood. The balls Santa Anna’s men loaded into their muskets fared better. Still round, they glisten like sinister grapes. A grenadier’s badge gleams as proudly as it did when, 173 years ago today, Texans struck the winning blow for freedom at San Jacinto. Today, these and more than 400 other artifacts — fruits of a recently completed archaeological project near the famed battlefield — are helping fill the gaps in the oft-told story of Sam Houston’s routing of the Mexican military....

So Mr. Governor Rick Perry has discovered that big federal government is an anathema to state governments as well as the nation’s citizens. Governor Perry's new found voice on fiscal restraint is refreshing; it appears that being forced to run for office every now and then does serve a purpose. After serving for years as a relatively mediocre governor, Mr. Perry faces his first real challenge from another candidate in his own party, the retiring Senator from Texas, Mrs. Kay Bailey Hutchison who is polling very well within the state. His decision last month to reject that portion of federal...

Telephone Information and Referral Hotline [for Texas callers] : (800) 843-5789 Citizen's Opinion Hotline [for Texas callers] : (800) 252-9600 Information and Referral and Opinion Hotline [for Austin, Texas and out-of-state callers] : (512) 463-1782 Office of the Governor Main Switchboard [office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST] : (512) 463-2000 Citizen's Assistance Telecommunications Device If you are using a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD), call 711 to reach Relay Texas Office of the Governor Fax: (512) 463-1849

Robert Collins might not be around had it not been for a mysterious, kindhearted Latina who was at Goliad when Texans fought for independence in 1836. Now 72, Collins had never heard of the "Angel of Goliad" until he read about Francisca Alvarez in the newspaper a few years ago. His ancestor, John P. Collin, came to Texas from Louisiana to serve in the war. Collin was a young medic when he somehow eluded execution at Goliad. The mystery runs so deep that Collins can't say for certain that Alvarez saved his forebear. "Naturally, he survived, or I wouldn't be...

PEOPLE WHO HAVE grown up with freedom and enjoyed it all of their lives may have a difficult time understanding the driving, passionate desire for liberty in the hearts of people who do not have it. One need look no further than the Alamo, which fell to Santa Anna's army on this date in 1836, for a vivid example of such passion. The 189 defenders of the Alamo are legendary - not just in Texas but around the world - for their valor and heroism in the face of overwhelming odds. But underlying that death-defying courage was a love 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...

They're less than two months from taking the field, but the team known as Houston 1836 may soon change its name. The 1836 is the team which used to be the San Jose Earthquakes, but the new name is causing a little controversy here in Houston. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also on ABC13.com: Send news tips | RSS | ABC13 E-lert | Info mentioned on air | Search abc13.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's in a name? Apparently a lot since Major League Soccer announced that the San Jose Earthquakes were coming to Houston and would be called Houston 1836. "People have been very sincere. Some...

Moniker tied to Texas history lasts just a month for soccer franchise If you're one of the thousands who went out and bought a Houston 1836 T-shirt, run to your closet, bag it and hide it in a safe place.If you don't have one, hurry to a nearby sporting goods store. The shirts are about to become collector's items.Why? You might say the team is having an identity crisis.Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Sylvia Garcia said Tuesday that Philip Anschutz, owner of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which in turn controls 1836, confirmed that a name change is in the...

Editor, the Advocate: Texas has given complainers and whiners plenty of time to get used to the results. The folks in Texas (most of us, anyway) have decided that we might have to take matters in our own hands. Here is our solution: Let John Kerry become president of the United States (all 49 states), and let George W. Bush become president of the Republic of Texas. So what does Texas have to do to survive as a republic? Nasa in Houston: We will control the space industry. We refine over 85 percent of gasoline in the U.S. Defense: We...

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...

I just heard Roger say the "new" Disney Company, (one which Walt would not have had anything to do with) is planning on making a movie called "The Alamo" designed to destroy the memory and image of all the heros who fell in battleTurning them into drunks and "white men" slave owners, the new picture is supposed to undo all the good Walt did with Fess Parker in the 50'sObviously now controled by the dark side, and destined to run the company into bankrupcy, this movie will harm Disney in a way the Bomb damaged HeroshimaYou'd think they would have...