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