Читать книгу Texas Got It Right! - Sam Wyly - Страница 22

After the massacres at the Alamo and Goliad (see pre-

vious pages) in 1836, Sam Houston’s army was being

pursued by General Santa Anna. Things were not

looking good. Of course, that

is exactly the kind of moment

when a Texan likes to double

down. Which is just what Sam

Houston and his men did.

Taking up positions in a forest

next to the plain where Santa

Anna and his troops had set

up camp, Houston became the

pursuer. On the afternoon of April 21, 1836, his

Texans charged their enemy, shouting, “Remember

the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” The Battle of

San Jacinto, as this fight came to be known, was over

in eighteen minutes. Santa Anna’s troops were

routed, and he was taken prisoner. A month later he

signed the Treaties of Velasco, which laid the founda-

tion for Texan independence. The men of Sam

Houston’s army hadn’t

buried the memory of the

Alamo and Goliad; they ral-

lied around it. Those Texan

fighters, whose democracy

had been usurped by Santa

Anna, knew in their hearts

that to keep fighting was the

only way forward.

Top: Uncle Alfred Wyly leads the charge in Charles Shaw’s

depiction of the Battle of San Jacinto. Above: A banner, based

on the Mexican flag, that was flown during the Battle of the

Alamo and afterward. The provinces of Zacatecas and Texas

both rebelled when Santa Anna usurped their freedom, which

had been guaranteed by the Mexican Constitution of 1824.

TEXAS GOT IT RIGHT!

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