Battle Of The Alamo Essay

Abstract

On 21 April 1836, Texas was fighting for its independence from Mexico in the Battle of San Jacinto. This was during the Texas revolutionary war of 1836. The Texas militia just lost the Battle of the Alamo, which happened from 23 February to 6 March 1836. After this battle, with only a few men to spare, General Sam Houston decided to retreat and replenish his Soldiers. During General Houston’s retreat, his army grew expediential. While General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s men were resting and refitting on 21 April 1836, General Houston and the Texas Militia decided to launch a surprise attack on the Mexican Army. The main attack lasted only approximately 18 minutes, the Texas militia overtook the Mexican Army and captured more than

His men were so badly beaten by the Mexican government that he had to fall back and reinforce his troops. While retreating slowly, his forces grew quickly picking up anyone he could recruit along the way. They finally crossed the Colorado River on March 26th. At this time, the Texas militia and also the President of the United States were becoming more critical of General Houston’s decision to keep retreating. General Houston believed he still needed more troops to win the battle though.

On 16 April 1836, General Houston had a big decision to make. With the Mexican Army on his trail, he had to decide which direction he wanted to travel. This was later named The Fork in the Road. General Houston had to decide if he wanted to head left on the road, heading more toward the United States boarder, or go right and head toward the Gulf of Mexico. He decided to head left toward the Gulf of

Stationed only a few hundred yards to the north of the Mexican’s armory, the Texas militia was well rested and ready to battle. Scout Deaf Smith of the Texas Militia snuck down and destroyed the Vince Bridge that went over Vince’s Bayou near the battleground around 2pm. This allowed no escape route for the Mexican Army. To the East of the battlefield was the San Jacinto River. General Houston first wanted to wait for the Mexican Army to attack him. When he noticed that the Mexican Army was sleeping and refitting, he thought it would be a perfect time to attack from the North and western flanks. The northern flank provided some tall grass and a slightly uphill terrain to cover their movement. To the western flank they could skirt the tree line using it for concealment. Overall, General Houston had the best terrain advantage to surprise the Mexican