Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Antonio López de Santa Anna , 1794-1876, Mexican general and politician. He fought in the royalist army, but later joined Iturbide in the struggle that won independence for Mexico (1821). Santa Anna then entered upon a long and tortuous political career. His actions were governed by opportunism rather than by any fixed principle, and he shifted his allegiance from party to party, his fortunes rising and falling with bewildering rapidity. He led the revolution against Iturbide (1823); aided, then revolted against, Vicente Guerrero ; and turned against Anastasio Bustamante after helping him to power. His victory over the Spanish when Guerrero was in power gained for him a popularity which he turned into political capital; he was ever afterward "the hero of Tampico." Elected president for a term beginning in 1833, he struggled with the vice president for power and established himself as a reactionary dictator in 1834. He went to Texas to crush the revolution there and became a sort of ogre in American eyes because of the slaughter at the Alamo and the brutality of the massacre at Goliad, which was carried out under his orders. His defeat and capture by Samuel Houston at San Jacinto (1836) put a temporary halt to his political career in Mexico, but his shrewd political sense, aided by the accident of losing a leg in an attempt to repulse the French at Veracruz (1838), restored his prestige. Driven from power after a wasteful, corrupt presidential administration (1841-44), he returned from exile—with U.S. aid apparently—and again became president (1846-47). He commanded in the Mexican War, but his defeats at Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, and Puebla and the loss of Mexico City sent him again into exile. He returned and ruled (after Dec., 1853) as "perpetual dictator" until the revolution of Ayutla again drove him into exile (1855) and brought Benito Juárez to the fore. After several attempts, he was allowed to return to Mexico (1874).

Bibliography: See his memoirs, Mi historia militar y política (1905); his autobiography (ed. by A. F. Crawford, 1988); biographies by W. H. Callcott (1936, repr. 1968) and O. L. Jones (1968); R. G. Santos, Santa Anna's Campaign Against Texas 1835-1836 (1968).

San Jacinto, Battle of (1836).The Battle of San Ja cinto, fought near present‐day Galveston, Texas, on 21 April 1836, was shaped to a large degree by the mistakes of Mexican president and general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who after his costly victory at the Battle of the Alamo divided his remaining forces into four units. Driven by an incautious determination to capture the Texas government's leaders, his command pursued ahead of his army's other branches. He missed his political adversaries by a few hours on 19 April.

Emboldened by his numerical advantage, Texas Gen. Sam Houston and his 900 men at last turned toward the enemy's advance units and began skirmishing on 20 April. The encamped Mexican forces, trapped by a swamp to their rear, had been reinforced to twice their previous numbers and were lulled into unpreparedness by that and the lateness of the hour. Houston's order of battle in the late afternoon the next day was a thin line, supported by artillery in the middle and cavalry on its right. The assault turned into a mad rush of hand‐to‐hand combat; the engagement lasted for fewer than twenty minutes, followed by several hours of individualized killing dominated by revenge‐seeking Texans. Santa Anna was captured, along with about half of his force of over 1,300. Houston and thirty others in the army were wounded; only nine of the Texans died in battle.

San Jacinto became a turning point when the Mexican president's retreat orders were obeyed by his next in command. It proved to be the decisive battle of the Texas revolution (San Jacinto Day is a Texas holiday) as the captured Santa Anna signed a treaty pledging recognition of an independent Texas.
[See also Mexican Revolution, U.S. Military Involvement in the.]

Paul D. Lack

Santa Anna, Antonio López de (1794–1876) Mexican general and dictator. He was the dominant political figure in Mexico from 1823 to 1855, sometimes as president, sometimes unofficially as the result of a coup. In 1836, Santa Anna led the forces that captured the Alamo but failed to subdue the rebellion in Texas. He regained power following gallant action against a French raid on Vera Cruz (1838). After his failure in the Mexican War (1846–48), he went into exile. He returned to power in 1853, but was overthrown in 1855.