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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Each year on April 21, people throughout the Lone |
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Star State commemorate San Jacinto Day in honor of the decisive |
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battlefield victory that brought about the independence of the |
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Republic of Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, On that date in the year 1836, the Texan forces led |
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by General Sam Houston faced a crucial moment in their |
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revolutionary struggle against the rule of Mexican dictator Antonio |
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Lopez de Santa Anna; over the course of the previous six weeks, |
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Texan forces had been defeated at both the Alamo and Goliad, and |
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General Houston's army had retreated steadily to the east; |
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meanwhile, the Mexican troops commanded by General Santa Anna were |
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determined to follow up their earlier victories by seizing the |
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seaports along the Texas coast; by mid-April, the two armies were |
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within a few miles of one another in the bayou country near the San |
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Jacinto River; General Houston decided that the time for attack had |
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arrived; and |
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WHEREAS, Moving into position on the afternoon of April 21, |
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the Texans formed their battle lines, and with cries of "Remember |
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the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!," they surged toward the Mexican |
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encampment; when the guns went quiet less than 20 minutes later, the |
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Mexican army had been routed, with more than 600 of its troops |
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killed and more than 700 taken prisoner; only nine Texans were |
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killed or mortally wounded in the fighting; and |
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WHEREAS, The following day, General Santa Anna was captured |
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and, after meeting with General Houston, agreed to order all |
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Mexican troops to leave Texas; later, he agreed to the Treaties of |
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Velasco, which recognized the independence of Texas; with these |
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steps, Mexican rule in Texas effectively came to an end, and the |
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Republic of Texas was established; and |
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WHEREAS, Individuals from a range of backgrounds contributed |
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to this epic battlefield victory; among them were a company of |
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Tejano troops who served bravely under the command of the prominent |
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revolutionary leader Juan Nepomuceno Seguin and are representative |
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of the many Hispanics who took up arms in the independence movement; |
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another Latino member of the Texan army was Lorenzo de Zavala Jr., |
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the son of the republic's vice president; as an aide to Sam Houston, |
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he acted as a translator in the general's negotiations with Santa |
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Anna; and |
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WHEREAS, Soldiers young and old were part of the fight for the |
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Texans; there were teenagers such as 15-year-old William P. Zuber, |
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16-year-olds Thomas O'Conner and Cornelius DeVore, and |
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19-year-olds Alfonso Steele and Elijah Votaw; on the other end of |
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the spectrum were James Curtis Sr., and John S. Menifee, both 57 |
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years old, and Asa Mitchell, the oldest person in the battle at age |
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60; in addition, General Houston's forces contained troops who had |
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earlier taken part in the fighting at Goliad as well as individuals |
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who had been present at the Alamo but had been ordered to leave the |
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fort before its fall to carry out various missions; after surviving |
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those engagements, they were able to assist in vanquishing the |
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enemy force that had killed so many of their fellow Texans; and |
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WHEREAS, Demonstrating the courage and determination that |
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are so much a part of the Texas character, the valiant members of |
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Sam Houston's army charged across a grassy battlefield in April of |
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1836, intent on securing liberty and avenging their fallen |
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comrades; their steps set in motion a series of events that have |
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made the State of Texas into the prosperous land that we enjoy |
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today, and the momentous events of that day indeed deserve to be |
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remembered and celebrated; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 88th Texas Legislature |
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hereby commemorate San Jacinto Day in the year 2023. |