H.R. No. 330

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, Each year on April 21, people throughout the Lone Star State commemorate San Jacinto Day in honor of the decisive battlefield victory that brought about the independence of the Republic of Texas; and

WHEREAS, On that date in the year 1836, the Texan forces led by General Sam Houston faced a crucial moment in their revolutionary struggle against the rule of Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna; over the course of the previous six weeks, Texan forces had been defeated at both the Alamo and Goliad, and General Houston's army had retreated steadily to the east; meanwhile, the Mexican troops commanded by General Santa Anna were determined to follow up their earlier victories by seizing the seaports along the Texas coast; by mid-April, the two armies were within a few miles of one another in the bayou country near the San Jacinto River; General Houston decided that the time for attack had arrived; and

WHEREAS, Moving into position on the afternoon of April 21, the Texans formed their battle lines, and with cries of "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!," they surged toward the Mexican encampment; when the guns went quiet less than 20 minutes later, the Mexican army had been routed, with more than 600 of its troops killed and more than 700 taken prisoner; only nine Texans were killed or mortally wounded in the fighting; and

WHEREAS, The following day, General Santa Anna was captured and, after meeting with General Houston, agreed to order all Mexican troops to leave Texas; later, he agreed to the Treaties of Velasco, which recognized the independence of Texas; with these steps, Mexican rule in Texas effectively came to an end, and the Republic of Texas was established; and

WHEREAS, Individuals from a range of backgrounds contributed to this epic battlefield victory; among them were a company of Tejano troops who served bravely under the command of the prominent revolutionary leader Juan Nepomuceno Seguin and are representative of the many Hispanics who took up arms in the independence movement; another Latino member of the Texan army was Lorenzo de Zavala, Jr., the son of the republic's vice president; as an aide to Sam Houston, he acted as a translator in the general's negotiations with Santa Anna; and

WHEREAS, Soldiers young and old were part of the fight for the Texans; there were teenagers such as 15-year-old William P. Zuber, 16-year-olds Thomas O'Conner and Cornelius DeVore, and 19-year-olds Alfonso Steele and Elijah Votaw; on the other end of the spectrum were James Curtis, Sr., and John S. Menifee, both 57 years old, and Asa Mitchell, the oldest person in the battle at age 60; in addition, General Houston's forces contained troops who had earlier taken part in the fighting at Goliad as well as individuals who had been present at the Alamo but had been ordered to leave the fort before its fall to carry out various missions; after surviving those engagements, they were able to assist in vanquishing the enemy force that had killed so many of their fellow Texans; and

WHEREAS, Demonstrating the courage and determination that are so much a part of the Texas character, the valiant members of Sam Houston's army charged across a grassy battlefield in April of 1836, intent on securing liberty and avenging their fallen comrades; their steps set in motion a series of events that have made the State of Texas into the prosperous land that we enjoy today, and the momentous events of that day indeed deserve to be remembered and celebrated; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas Legislature hereby commemorate San Jacinto Day in the year 2013.

Price Branch

______________________________ Speaker of the House

I certify that H.R. No. 330 was adopted by the House on February 18, 2013, by a non-record vote.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House