1836%20The%20Tough%20Year

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1836The Tough Year
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Texan Military

• Sam Houston was named commander-in-chief of the
  Texas Army
• the Texas Navy was created to protect the coast
  and to attack Mexican ships.

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Meanwhile
President Santa Anna and 6,000 Mexican soldiers
marched north towards Texas, bent on revenge
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The Mexican Army advances

• By February 1836, Santa Anna was crossing the Rio
  Grande marching towards San Antonio
• General José de Urrea approached from
• Matamoros towards Goliad

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The Battle of the Alamo

• On February 24, 1836 Santa Anna ordered his
  forces to begin firing on the Alamo.
• That day William Travis wrote a famous letter To
  the People of Texas and All Americans to plea
  for help.

Juan Seguin delivered Travis letter to Houston
asking for reeinforcement.
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The Battle of the Alamo
On March 6, 1836, Santa Anna launched his
assault on the Alamo after 13 days of siege.
Texas artillery, under the command of Col.
William B. Travis, held the advancing Mexicans
off briefly, but they regrouped and eventually
overwhelmed the Alamo defenders and poured into
the mission by the hundreds.
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After a few hours, all the 189 defenders and
600Mexicans were dead..Santa Anna spared the
women, children, and a slave named Joe.
Santa Anna felt that the defeat of the Alamo
would end the Texas Revolution, but it only
convinced the Texans to fight harder.
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Goliad Massacre

• General Urrea was moving up the coastline and
  defeated many Texan troops on his march to
  Refugio and Goliad.
• While General Urrea fought with Fannins troops
  stationed in Refugio, Fannin received orders from
  Sam Houston to retreat to Victoria.

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• Fannin decided to wait for his troops in Refugio
  to return before obeying Houston, but those
  soldiers had been either killed or captured by
  General Urrea

FanUrrea finally met at the battle of Coleto,
where Fannin was wounded.
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Goliad Massacre, cont.

• The Texan prisoners were marched back to Goliad
  where they stayed for a week.
• General Urrea wanted to keep them as prisoners of
  war, but Santa Anna ordered him to execute them
  all.

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Convention of 1836
The Convention of 1836 was held at
Washington-on-the-Brazos to vote on
Independence. George Childress was the main
author who drafted the Declaration of
Independence. Lorenzo de Zavala, a former
Mexican official who fled to Texas, also signed
the Declaration, designed the
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The Texas Army

• Sam Houston was the leader of the Texas Army
• 800 soldiers
• He led his men east in a retreat starting on
  March 11, 1836
• He used this time to train his soldiers
• On April 20 his army camped at the San Jacinto
  River

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The Mexican Army

• Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was the leader of the
  Mexican Army
• 1300 soldiers
• After the Alamo Santa Anna divided the Mexican
  Army and chased the Texas Army east
• Santa Anna finally caught up with Houston at the
  San Jacinto River near Harrisburg

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The Day Before the Battle

• There was a cavalry skirmish on April 20, between
  Texas and Mexican soldiers
• Disaster was avoided when Mirabeau B. Lamar
  heroically saved the Texas commander
• Lamar was promoted to commander of the Texas
  Cavalry

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The Morning of April 21

• Sam Houston sent Erastus Deaf Smith, a scout
  for the Texas Army, to destroy Vinces Bridge
• This trapped the two armies at San Jacinto

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The Battle of San Jacinto

• At 300 on the afternoon of April 21, while Santa
  Annas troops are resting, Houston orders the
  attack
• The Texas battle cry was Remember the Alamo!
  Remember Goliad!

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The Battle of San Jacinto
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The Battle of San Jacinto
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The Outcome of the Battle

• The battle lasted about 18 minutes
• 2 Texans were killed and 30 were wounded (7 later
  died of their wounds)
• 630 Mexicans were killed and 730 were captured
  including Santa Anna