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.