HR105 - Commemorating the 190th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto.

      H.R. No. 105       R E S O L U T I O N          WHEREAS, April 21, 2026, marks the 190th anniversary of the   Battle of San Jacinto, the culminating engagement of the Texas   Revolution; and          WHEREAS, After a decade of sporadic clashes between Texas   colonists and Mexican officials, the movement toward rebellion   picked up increasing momentum in the fall of 1835; Antonio Lopez de   Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, having abrogated the   federalist Constitution of 1824 and assumed autocratic power,   decided to reestablish troops at posts in Texas that had been   evacuated in 1832; as part of that plan, General Martin Perfecto de   Cos arrived in San Antonio with a battalion of infantry on   October 9, 1835; an army of Texas volunteers quickly moved to lay   siege to San Antonio, in what became the first major campaign of the   revolution; General Cos finally capitulated on December 9, 1835,   and he and his troops were allowed to withdraw to Mexico; and          WHEREAS, Determined to suppress the rebellion, General Santa   Anna led an army of some 6,000 men into Texas in early 1836,   crossing the Rio Grande near present-day Eagle Pass; at the same   time, a second Mexican force, under General Jose de Urrea, advanced   into Texas farther to the east; while General Santa Anna besieged   some 180 Texas troops at the Alamo, a convention of Texas delegates   convened at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 1, 1836, and on   March 2 adopted a declaration of independence; two days later, the   convention appointed Sam Houston, one of the delegates, to take   command of the Texas army; and          WHEREAS, General Houston left immediately to join Texas   troops gathered in Gonzales; when he reached that town, he learned   that the Alamo had fallen and that a division of General Santa   Anna's army was marching in his direction; given that the effective   strength of his own force numbered only 374, as well as the fact   that his men were poorly provisioned and largely untrained, he   began a withdrawal toward the northeast, playing for time; and          WHEREAS, Elsewhere, the Texans were meeting with successive   defeats; the most shocking of those was the loss of James W. Fannin   and some 400 men, who were captured and then executed on March 27 in   what became known as the Goliad Massacre; and          WHEREAS, In April, General Houston halted his retreat at the   Brazos River and spent two weeks drilling his troops; a short time   later, on April 20, calculating that the time for battle had come at   last, he staked out a position near the confluence of Buffalo Bayou   and the San Jacinto River; later that same day, General Santa Anna   and his army caught up to the Texans and established their own   position; the following morning, General Cos arrived with an   additional body of soldiers, bringing the total strength of the   Mexican army to perhaps 1,200 or more, as opposed to the   approximately 900 men under General Houston's command; and          WHEREAS, Confident that he had the Texans on the defensive,   General Santa Anna planned to launch an attack on April 22; on the   afternoon of the 21st, however, while the Mexican army was resting,   General Houston drew up his troops in battle formation; General   Santa Anna had apparently posted no sentries, and a swell of land   between the two armies hid the Texans from view; and          WHEREAS, At the given signal, the Texans advanced across a   mile of open prairie toward the Mexican army, becoming visible only   when they reached within about 200 yards of the Mexican camp; crying   "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad," they took General Santa   Anna's troops completely by surprise; the battle lasted 18 minutes,   according to Sam Houston's report, but the killing continued for   about an hour afterward; in the end, Texan losses stood at nine dead   and mortally wounded, with 630 Mexican soldiers killed and 730   taken prisoner; General Santa Anna himself was captured the   following day; and          WHEREAS, With the Battle of San Jacinto, the long colonial   period of Texas history, stretching as far back as the 16th century,   came to an end; Texas would remain an independent republic for nine   years before joining the Union in 1845; and          WHEREAS, The Battle of San Jacinto dramatically changed the   course of Texas history, and the story of how an outnumbered army of   volunteers ultimately prevailed against General Santa Anna and his   troops continues to inspire a special sense of pride among Texans to   this day; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas   Legislature hereby commemorate the 190th anniversary of the Battle   of San Jacinto and pay tribute to all those whose courage and   tenacity brought ultimate victory to the Texan cause.     Cain     ______________________________   Speaker of the House                 I certify that H.R. No. 105 was adopted by the House on May   23, 2025, by a non-record vote.     ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House