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N0KFQ > TODAY 13.03.08 08:00l 57 Lines 2658 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 13
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From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
March 13, 1836
Houston retreats from Santa Anna's army
Less than a week after the disastrous defeat of Texas rebels at
the Alamo, the newly commissioned Texan General Sam Houston
begins a series of strategic retreats to buy time to train his
ill-prepared army.
Revolutionary Texans had only formally announced their
independence from Mexico 11 days earlier. On March 6, 1836, the
separatists chose Sam Houston to be the commander-in-chief of the
revolutionary army. Houston immediately departed for Gonzales,
Texas, where the main force of the revolutionary army was
stationed. When he arrived, he found that the Texan army
consisted of 374 poorly dressed and ill-equipped men. Most had no
guns or military experience, and they had only two days of
rations.
Houston had little time to dwell on the situation, because he
learned that the Mexican general Santa Anna was staging a siege
of the Alamo in San Antonio. Before Houston could prepare his
troops to rush to aid the defenders, however, word arrived that
Santa Anna had wiped them out on March 6. Scouts reported that
Santa Anna's troops were heading east toward Gonzales. Unprepared
to confront the Mexican army with his poorly trained force,
Houston began a series of strategic retreats designed to give him
enough time to whip his army into fighting shape.
Houston's decision to retreat won him little but scorn from the
Texas rebels. His troops and officers were eager to engage the
Mexicans, and they chafed at Houston's insistence on learning
proper field maneuvers. Houston wisely continued to organize,
train, and equip his troops so they would be prepared to meet
Santa Anna's army. Finally, after nearly a month of falling back,
Houston ordered his men to turn around and head south to meet
Santa Anna's forces.
On April 21, Houston led his 783 troops in an attack on Santa
Anna's force of nearly twice that number near the confluence of
Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River. With the famous cry,
"Remember the Alamo," the Texans stormed the surprised Mexican
forces. After a brief attempt at defense, the Mexican soldiers
broke into a disorganized retreat, allowing the Texans to isolate
and slaughter them. In a stunning victory, Houston's army
succeeded in killing or capturing nearly the entire Mexican
force, including General Santa Anna, who was taken prisoner. Only
two Texans were killed and 30 wounded.
Fearful of execution, Santa Anna signed an order calling for the
immediate withdrawal of all Mexican troops from Texas soil. The
Mexicans never again seriously threatened the independence of the
Lone Star Republic.
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