Battle of San Jacinto- Part 2 of the Texas Revolution

With the fall of the Alamo in March 1836, the morale of the Texan army under General Sam Houston was extremely low, not aided by the fact of their continuous retreat through Texas. In late March, the town of Goliad in South-East Texas was taken by Mexican forces, resulting in the murder of several hundred Texan defenders who had surrendered to the Mexican invaders. This outraged the Texan army and drove them harder in their attempts to defeat Santa Anna. As the Mexicans pursued Houston and his army through Texas towards the Louisiana/Texas border, General Houston waited patiently for Santa Anna to make a mistake that he could capitalize upon.
On April 20th, 1836, following a small skirmish between elements of the two armies, Santa Anna positioned his troops with their backs to a river, a poor tactical choice if one's location is in danger of being overrun by a hostile force. However, Santa Anna had no fear of this, having underestimated Houston and his seeming penchant for withdrawal in the face of the enemy. He didn't even post pickets or sentries to warn of the approach of an enemy force. This blunder was one that Houston would use to great effect. On the afternoon of the 21st, Houston moved his 800-900 man force within a few hundred yards of the Mexican army 0f 1200-1300 men without being detected. When attacked by the Texan army, the Mexican forces attempted to mount a defense, but were quickly overrun, resulting in close quarters fighting, a type of combat that the Texans excelled at, as opposed to the open field European style of warfare the Mexican forces were trained for. The Mexican army attempted to retreat, but with their backs to a river, the retreat quickly turned into a rout. Within the next hour, approximately 600 Mexicans were killed, along with 700 captured. Houston's army lost less than 10 men killed and a few wounded. General Santa Anna was discovered among the captured, dressed as a common soldier, in an attempt to disguise himself as the Mexican army commander. He was allowed to return to Mexico after signing an agreement waiving Mexico's claim to Texas, and forcing the withdrawal of all Mexican forces from Texas.
As a result, the Republic of Texas was officially created and later annexed by the United States as the 28th State in 1845. This annexation was viewed by Mexico as a declaration of war, a war fought from 1846-1848 and later known as the Mexican-American War. This war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, granting the US ownership of not only Texas, but modern day California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Remember the Alamo!- Part 1 of the Texas Revolution

In 1836, a small group of Texans gathered inside an 18th century Spanish mission, originally constructed to aid the spread of Christianity. However, these men were not there for religious purposes. Instead they were prepared to defend this small structure with their lives in order to aid a cause they deemed worthy of such sacrifice.
Previously, Texas had been a region controlled by the Mexican government until they were expelled by Texan forces fighting for the freedom of their land. A sizable amount of these Texans were Americans who had moved to Texas in order to make a new life for themselves, while the rest of them were Mexicans. In February of 1836, Santa Anna invaded Texas in order to regain control of the rebelling region. Around 200 men under the command of Colonel William Travis and Colonel Jim Bowie took refuge in the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. Their orders given to them by General Sam Houston, commander of the Texan army were to burn the Alamo, and fall back to meet up with the main army. Instead, they decided to mount a defense of the mission in order to stall the Mexican forces, giving Houston a chance to assemble the small Texan army into a cohesive fighting force. The Mexicans arrived in San Antonio on February 23rd with between 1,600 and 6,000 men and settled in for the siege of the fort. The course of the next 13 days brought constant artillery fire by both sides and occasional skirmishing caused by Texans venturing out of the fort to gather food, firewood, and to burn huts and surrounding buildings that could be used by the Mexicans for cover.
On March 5th, Santa Anna gave orders to prepare for an assault on the Alamo, which commenced in the early hours of March 6th. The initial two assaults upon the walls were beaten back with heavy casualties on the Mexican side. However, where the early assaults failed, the third and final assault would clench victory for the Mexicans. Between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning, Mexican troops poured through a breach in an outer wall of the Alamo, resulting in a short period of fierce hand-to-hand combat. When the smoke had cleared, all but a few of those residing in the Alamo were dead, with the survivors being mainly women and children who had taken shelter inside the mission. Among the Texan dead were Colonels Bowie and Travis and famed Tennessean, Davy Crockett. Estimates of dead on the Mexican side vary between 600 and 1,600, a tribute to the fighting skill of the Texan defenders. Although the battle at the Alamo could be considered a Texan military defeat, it was also a tactical victory. The 13 days spent fighting at the Alamo allowed General Houston to assemble the Texan army and prepare it for it's upcoming struggle against the Mexican forces culminating in the Battle of San Jacinto in April of the same year.