82R19272 JH-D
By: Price H.R. No. 1363
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Each year on April 21, people throughout the Lone
Star State commemorate San Jacinto Day in honor of the decisive
battlefield victory that brought about the independence of the
Republic of Texas; and
WHEREAS, On that date in the year 1836, the Texan forces led
by General Sam Houston faced a crucial moment in their
revolutionary struggle against the rule of Mexican dictator Antonio
Lopez de Santa Anna; over the course of the previous six weeks,
Texan forces had been defeated at both the Alamo and Goliad, and
General Houston's army had retreated steadily to the east;
meanwhile, the Mexican troops commanded by General Santa Anna were
determined to follow up their earlier victories by seizing the
seaports along the Texas coast; by mid-April, the two armies were
within a few miles of one another in the bayou country near the San
Jacinto River; General Houston decided that the time for attack had
arrived; and
WHEREAS, Moving into position on the afternoon of April 21,
the Texans formed their battle lines, and with cries of "Remember
the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!," they surged toward the Mexican
encampment; when the guns went quiet less than 20 minutes later, the
Mexican army had been routed, with more than 600 of its troops
killed and more than 700 taken prisoner; only nine Texans were
killed or mortally wounded in the fighting; and
WHEREAS, The following day, General Santa Anna was captured
and, after meeting with General Houston, agreed to order all
Mexican troops to leave Texas; later, he agreed to the Treaties of
Velasco, which recognized the independence of Texas; with these
steps, Mexican rule in Texas effectively came to an end, and the
Republic of Texas was established; and
WHEREAS, Individuals from a range of backgrounds contributed
to this epic battlefield victory; among them were a company of
Tejano troops who served bravely under the command of the prominent
revolutionary leader Juan Nepomuceno Seguin and are representative
of the many Hispanics who took up arms in the independence movement;
another Latino member of the Texan army was Lorenzo de Zavala, Jr.,
the son of the republic's vice president; as an aide to Sam Houston,
he acted as a translator in the general's negotiations with Santa
Anna; and
WHEREAS, Soldiers young and old were part of the fight for the
Texans; there were teenagers such as 15-year-old William P. Zuber,
16-year-olds Thomas O'Conner and Cornelius DeVore, and
19-year-olds Alfonso Steele and Elijah Votaw; on the other end of
the spectrum were James Curtis, Sr., and John S. Menifee, both 57
years old, and Asa Mitchell, the oldest person in the battle at age
60; in addition, General Houston's forces contained troops who had
earlier taken part in the fighting at Goliad as well as individuals
who had been present at the Alamo but had been ordered to leave the
fort before its fall to carry out various missions; after surviving
those engagements, they were able to assist in vanquishing the
enemy force that had killed so many of their fellow Texans; and
WHEREAS, Demonstrating the courage and determination that
are so much a part of the Texas character, the valiant members of
Sam Houston's army charged across a grassy battlefield in April of
1836, intent on securing liberty and avenging their fallen
comrades; their steps set in motion a series of events that have
made the State of Texas into the prosperous land that we enjoy
today, and the momentous events of that day indeed deserve to be
remembered and celebrated; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby commemorate San Jacinto Day in the year 2011.