Commemorating the 190th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto.

89(R) HCR 163 - Introduced version - Bill Text

89R20816 KSM-D

By: Lowe

H.C.R. No. 163

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On April 21, 2026, Texans will commemorate the 190th

anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive

confrontation of the Texas Revolution; and

WHEREAS, Following their defeats at the Alamo and the Battle

of Goliad, the "Texian," as Anglo residents were called at the time,

army retreated in March 1836, and Texas President David G. Burnet's

provisional government was forced to flee from General Antonio

López de Santa Anna's advancing Mexican combatants; General Santa

Anna's pursuit shifted his focus away from the troops led by Major

General Sam Houston, and after General Santa Anna's soldiers

reached Harrisburg--now part of the present-day city of

Houston--General Houston directed his men to press forward to face

them, delivering an eloquent speech in which he called upon them to

"Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!"; while en route, they

intercepted Mexican couriers, who informed them of the location and

strength of General Santa Anna's forces; and

WHEREAS, On April 20, 1836, the Texians and Tejanos--as

Hispanic supporters of Texas independence were known--engaged

General Santa Anna's army in a brief skirmish, but the Mexican

leader, surprised by the rebels' presence, opted to delay a full

battle in favor of waiting for reinforcements; the following

afternoon, General Houston issued orders to attack; although the

approximately 900 Texians and Tejanos faced a numerically superior

force of around 1,300 Mexican troops, General Santa Anna had made

the ultimately disastrous decision to allow his soldiers to rest as

he expected that fighting would commence the next day; and

WHEREAS, The Texians and Tejanos capitalized on that

miscalculation, catching their adversaries off-guard and clinching

victory in just 18 minutes; virtually the entire Mexican army was

conquered in the aftermath, with 630 of their troops killed, 730

captured, and 280 wounded; by contrast, only 9 colonists lost their

lives in the battle, and 34 were left wounded; once he had been

located, General Santa Anna was compelled to order his troops to

withdraw completely from Texas and to never return; and

WHEREAS, The two Treaties of Velasco ended the hostilities

and brought about the formal recognition of Texas as an independent

territory; the era of the Republic of Texas drew to a close nearly a

decade later with Texas' annexation by the United States in 1845,

and the ensuing war between the U.S. and Mexico resulted in the

Texas borders expanding to the Rio Grande River and the subsequent

U.S. acquisition of present-day California, Arizona, New Mexico,

and portions of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado; and

WHEREAS, As the culminating engagement of the Texas

Revolution, the Battle of San Jacinto marked the conclusive defeat

of Mexican forces and paved the way for the birth of a sovereign

Texas, and it remains a symbol of the indomitable spirit that has

defined and shaped the destiny of the Lone Star State throughout the

nearly two centuries that followed; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas

hereby commemorate the 190th anniversary of the Battle of San

Jacinto and honor the sacrifices of all those who took up arms to

secure Texas independence in 1836.