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| 3 | 4 | | |
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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, Each year on April 21, people throughout the Lone |
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| 6 | 7 | | Star State commemorate San Jacinto Day in honor of the decisive |
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| 7 | 8 | | battlefield victory that brought about the independence of the |
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| 8 | 9 | | Republic of Texas; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, On that date in the year 1836, the Texan forces led |
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| 10 | 11 | | by General Sam Houston faced a crucial moment in their |
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| 11 | 12 | | revolutionary struggle against the rule of Mexican dictator Antonio |
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| 12 | 13 | | Lopez de Santa Anna; over the course of the previous six weeks, |
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| 13 | 14 | | Texan forces had been defeated at both the Alamo and Goliad, and |
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| 14 | 15 | | General Houston's army had retreated steadily to the east; |
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| 15 | 16 | | meanwhile, the Mexican troops commanded by General Santa Anna were |
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| 16 | 17 | | determined to follow up their earlier victories by seizing the |
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| 17 | 18 | | seaports along the Texas coast; by mid-April, the two armies were |
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| 18 | 19 | | within a few miles of one another in the bayou country near the San |
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| 19 | 20 | | Jacinto River; General Houston decided that the time for attack had |
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| 20 | 21 | | arrived; and |
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| 21 | 22 | | WHEREAS, Moving into position on the afternoon of April 21, |
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| 22 | 23 | | the Texans formed their battle lines, and with cries of "Remember |
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| 23 | 24 | | the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!," they surged toward the Mexican |
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| 24 | 25 | | encampment; when the guns went quiet less than 20 minutes later, the |
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| 25 | 26 | | Mexican army had been routed, with more than 600 of its troops |
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| 26 | 27 | | killed and more than 700 taken prisoner; only nine Texans were |
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| 27 | 28 | | killed or mortally wounded in the fighting; and |
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| 28 | 29 | | WHEREAS, The following day, General Santa Anna was captured |
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| 29 | 30 | | and, after meeting with General Houston, agreed to order all |
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| 30 | 31 | | Mexican troops to leave Texas; later, he agreed to the Treaties of |
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| 31 | 32 | | Velasco, which recognized the independence of Texas; with these |
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| 32 | 33 | | steps, Mexican rule in Texas effectively came to an end, and the |
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| 33 | 34 | | Republic of Texas was established; and |
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| 34 | 35 | | WHEREAS, Individuals from a range of backgrounds contributed |
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| 35 | 36 | | to this epic battlefield victory; among them were a company of |
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| 36 | 37 | | Tejano troops who served bravely under the command of the prominent |
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| 37 | 38 | | revolutionary leader Juan Nepomuceno Seguin and are representative |
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| 38 | 39 | | of the many Hispanics who took up arms in the independence movement; |
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| 39 | 40 | | another Latino member of the Texan army was Lorenzo de Zavala Jr., |
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| 40 | 41 | | the son of the republic's vice president; as an aide to Sam Houston, |
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| 41 | 42 | | he acted as a translator in the general's negotiations with Santa |
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| 42 | 43 | | Anna; and |
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| 43 | 44 | | WHEREAS, Soldiers young and old were part of the fight for the |
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| 44 | 45 | | Texans; there were teenagers such as 15-year-old William P. Zuber, |
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| 45 | 46 | | 16-year-olds Thomas O'Conner and Cornelius DeVore, and |
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| 46 | 47 | | 19-year-olds Alfonso Steele and Elijah Votaw; on the other end of |
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| 47 | 48 | | the spectrum were James Curtis Sr., and John S. Menifee, both 57 |
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| 48 | 49 | | years old, and Asa Mitchell, the oldest person in the battle at age |
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| 49 | 50 | | 60; in addition, General Houston's forces contained troops who had |
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| 50 | 51 | | earlier taken part in the fighting at Goliad as well as individuals |
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| 51 | 52 | | who had been present at the Alamo but had been ordered to leave the |
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| 52 | 53 | | fort before its fall to carry out various missions; after surviving |
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| 53 | 54 | | those engagements, they were able to assist in vanquishing the |
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| 54 | 55 | | enemy force that had killed so many of their fellow Texans; and |
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| 55 | 56 | | WHEREAS, Demonstrating the courage and determination that |
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| 56 | 57 | | are so much a part of the Texas character, the valiant members of |
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| 57 | 58 | | Sam Houston's army charged across a grassy battlefield in April of |
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| 58 | 59 | | 1836, intent on securing liberty and avenging their fallen |
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| 59 | 60 | | comrades; their steps set in motion a series of events that have |
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| 60 | 61 | | made the State of Texas into the prosperous land that we enjoy |
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| 61 | 62 | | today, and the momentous events of that day indeed deserve to be |
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| 62 | 63 | | remembered and celebrated; now, therefore, be it |
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| 63 | 64 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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| 64 | 65 | | Legislature hereby commemorate San Jacinto Day in the year 2019. |
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