San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site
Located in La Porte on the Buffalo Bayou that is now the bustling Ship Channel you will find a site that preserves one of the most important battles in North America. The Battle of San Jacinto took only 18 minutes but its results ultimately gained the United States nearly half its land and a country that went from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This Battle was Sam Houston and the Texans trying to create their own nation against Santa Anna and the Mexican Forces. After defeats at the Alamo and Goliad where Texans made heroic stands but ultimately were all killed by Santa Anna’s troops the main Texan army under General Sam Houston and civilians had been retreating in what is known as the Runaway Scrape. Santa Anna was after the new independent Texas Government but barely missed them as they got away on a boat. Santa Anna then turned towards the Texans who were camped in woods near Buffalo Bayou. After a small skirmish on April 20, 1836, the Texans lead a surprise attack against the sleeping Mexican forces that overwhelmed their lines. After 18 minutes the Texans had defeated the Mexicans to the cries of “Remember the Alamo, and Remember Goliad”. The slaughter continued for an hour or more. The Texans had 9 killed and around 30 wounded. The Mexican forces had over 600 killed, and several hundred wounded and captured. One of those captured the next day was Santa Anna himself. After negotiations with a wounded Sam Houston, Santa Anna surrendered Texas and it became a new independent Nation. After Texas joined the Union in 1845 and shortly after the Mexican American War the United States gain a tremendous amount of land. That first bit of land was claimed at San Jacinto.
At the San Jacinto Battleground and historic site you can do a small driving tour of the Texan camp that has replicas of the Twin Sisters Cannons and markers at each camp site and you can tour the Mexican camp where the fighting took place. There are interpretative markers that give details about what happened at that spot during the battle. At the center of the battlefield is a 567 foot tall masonry monument and museum that is the tallest masonry monument in the world. Its topped with a 220 ton Texas star. Inside is a great museum that has exhibits about the people of the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas history afterwards. There is a temporary museum space that has rotating exhibits. There is a around 20 minute long film narrated by Carlton Heston that does an excellent job describing the Texas Revolution. There is an elevator that will take you up to the observatory where you can see the Battlefield and great views of the busy Houston Ship Channel and beyond. The monument itself is made of Texas Limestone where you can see fossils in the stone. On the outside of the monument are carvings depicting parts of Texas History. behind the monument is a nice marshland trail where you can see some preserved marshland. For the moment the Battleship Texas is still moored at the Battlefield but is not open for visitors as it prepares to be moved for repairs. The Battleground is a must see spot to learn about Texas history and get out into nature for a bit. Give it a visit!
