4:00 PM, April 21, 1836?- General Houston, atop a dappled?gray, gives the order, ¡°Trail arms! Forward!¡±
Some?900 men, unwashed, underfed, caked with mud and?dressed in rags, begin a long walk through knee-high?grass. They have been pushed to the edge, run from?their homes, their
crops and houses burned.
They don¡¯t?know whether their families have found safety.?They've?lost kin and good friends at the Alamo and at Goliad.?They want a fight and are about to get it.
At the far left of this parade line is the Second Regiment?of Volunteers, 330 men under Colonel Sherman.?To their right, at the center of the Texian force, is Colonel?Burleson¡¯s
First Volunteers, 386 men strong.
Next?are the 32 men of Colonel Hockley¡¯s Artillery Corps.?They man two iron cannons, six-pounders called the Twin?Sisters, gifts from the people of Cincinnati. To the right?of
the artillery are 92 men of the Regular Army under?Lt. Colonel Millard.
At the extreme right is the Cavalry,?62 mounted men commanded by Colonel Mirabeau?Lamar, just yesterday a private.
All advance in perfect?silence.
4:30 PM -?The Second Volunteers under Sherman,?having traveled swiftly through the oaks on the Texian?left, fire on the surprised men of General Cos¡¯ command.?The
Battle of San Jacinto has begun. The Mexican?forces return fire, but they are soon on the run. Sherman,?leading the pursuit, is the first to shout, ¡°Remember?the Alamo! Remember Goliad!¡±
The main body of?the Texian forces crest a slight rise. They are 200 yards?from the Mexican breastworks, a four foot barricade of?cut brush, saddles and baggage. Houston,
riding thirty?yards in front of the First Regiment, orders, ¡°To the?charge! To the charge!¡±
Musicians strike up a bawdy?march on fife, drum and fiddle. General Castrill¨®n directs?his cannon fire on Lamar¡¯s advancing cavalry. The?Twin Sisters, at the ready with canister?shot,
hail hot?metal at the alarmed Mexican troops. A small force advances?on the Texian artillery, but is repulsed.
4:35 PM -?Havoc reigns on the enemy left as the Texian?Cavalry attack their stunned counterparts with slashing?sabers. Burleson¡¯s First Volunteers are upon
the breastworks?engaging Matamoros Battalion. To their right?Texian regulars assault Aldama Battalion with equal ferocity.?
Stampeding behind the lines, riderless Mexican?horses bring terror to the breastworks defenders, who?now believe they are being attacked from the rear. The?Second Volunteers
drive Cos¡¯ panicked men rearward?into Colonel Almonte¡¯s Guerrero Regiment, pushing?them all nearly two hundred yards.
4:40 PM -?Almonte attempts to rally any men who?can still be commanded, but it is too late. Matamoros?and Aldama Battalions turn from defense of the breastworks?in
wild retreat. The First Volunteers and Texian?Regulars are over the breastworks, pursuing with savage?intent. The resistance at the Mexican cannon position?is overcome and the gun seized. Any Mexican cavalry?able to mount up flee toward Harrisburg, Santa Anna?among
them.
4:45 PM -?Sherman¡¯s Second Volunteers chase Cos and?Almonte¡¯s men into a small bayou to the Texian left.?The First Volunteers force Matamoros Battalion into?the
marsh at the rear of the Mexican position and into?Peggy¡¯s Lake. Some try to surrender, pleading for their?lives, crying, ¡°Me no Alamo! Me no la Bahia!¡± There is?no mercy.
Many Texians fire only once and don¡¯t waste?time to reload. They turn their rifles around and swing?them as war clubs, breaking many off at the breach in?the act of shattering
a skull. The air is filled with the?acrid smell of gun powder and the stench of feces as?dying men void their bowels.
4:48 PM -?The Battle of San Jacinto is over, but not the?killing. Behind the Texians are the enemy dead. To their?front, in marsh, lake and bayou, those Santanistas
still?living try in vain to escape or plead for their lives. The?Texians calmly, but briskly reload, time and again. Each?shot means the end for another of Soldado.
Sundown -?A guard is set on the Mexican camp to?keep the men from looting. The spoils are to be divided?among them as war booty. Mexican soldiers who escaped?the slaughter
are being rounded up and marched?to the oak stand on Buffalo Bayou from which the Texians?set out barely two and a half hours ago. They will?be held in a pen made of split logs, rope and anything?else that lends itself to the job.
The Texians wander back?to camp, singly and in small groups. Some talk about?deeds of the day, others sing songs, laugh and trade?cheers across the prairie. Still others just
walk, their?thoughts their own until the end of their days.
If the Alamo is called Texas¡¯ Thermopylae, then San?Jacinto is her Agincourt. Of the Texian forces there are?but seven killed. Twenty-nine are wounded, including?General Houston,
his ankle shattered by a copper ball?from an escopeta. Of those wounded four will die.
The?Mexican dead number 630. The prisoners tally 730, of?which 208 are wounded. The events of this day will?mean perpetual freedom for Texas, as a republic for?now, and in
ten years as one of the United States. History?will show that the soldiers of San Jacinto had set?the keystone in the arch of Manifest Destiny.
