San Jacinto Battlefield - Part 2 - StarFishLearning.Org

[…]

On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston, General of the Texas Army, led the attack on the slumbering Mexican Army. This is known as the Battle of San Jacinto. The Texan soldiers after an exhaustive retreat called the Runaway Scrape, used their chance to fight and avenge their fallen brothers at this battle. “Remember the Alamo,” and “Remember Goliad” could be heard yelling in their charge. The fight lasted for only 18 minutes, but the killing of individual Mexican soldiers lasted for hours.

San Jacinto Battlefield — How did these ragtag, Texas volunteers defeat the trained, professional Mexican Army? Some say because the Mexican Army was split and tired after chasing the Texans through the wild terrain of Texas. Others say the Mexican Army was overconfident and thought the Texans were cowards who would never attack. The location didn’t help the Mexican Army either. It was a prairie(grassland) surrounded by forests, swamps and bayous(swampy waterways). So, it was hard to flee; almost like a trap.

The battle was an essential turning point for Texas because the captured Mexican President and General of the Mexican Army, Santa Anna, relinquished control over Texas. This action led to Texas being its own nation. Another consequence was that Sam Houston, whose leadership was once criticized, became a Texas hero. Some say the significance of this battle is comparable to the significance of the Battle of Yorktown in the American Revolution.

[…] Read a complete story from J.Collins’ blog @ postcardtexas.com

Sources:

https://historicalcommission.harriscountytx.gov/Pages/LynchburgFerry.aspx

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/American_Latino_Heritage/San_Jacinto_Battlefield.html

https://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/The_Battle/The_Battleground/

This site has a lot of information on the battle and has a lot of resources that can be used by teachers:

https://www.sanjacinto-museum.org

StarFishLearning.Org found this Texas Historic site has tons of visitor events and great videos, images if you are interested to learn more about the the battleground history.