Bill Greenwood wrote:
Anyone who is down Houston way and who has not been there should go see the Battleship Texas. It is located just east of downtown Houston, just a few miles north of the Gulf freeway, Hwy 45, that goes from Houston to Galveston. I think Pasadena might be the closest town.
One other good thing to see at the same location is the San Jacinto Monument, museum and battle grounds. They are right next to where the Texas is docked.
For those, or should I say youse guys, not fortunate enough to be born in Texas and may not know of San Jacinto, here is a quick history. In the Early 1800s Mexico controlled Texas and invited settlers in from the states. Some who came were peaceful farmers,but some were spirited frontier types like Davy Crockett and above all Jim Bowie, famous for his large knife, ( like the one in the Crocodile Dundee movie)and his large appetite for whiskey, and their spokesman was the fiery William Barrett Travis, who was one of those independence minded types not to be walked on. Mexico then decided to clamp down , but too late, the genie was already out of the bottle, or for Bowie the cork out of many bottles. Mexico was run by a dictator, Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who was about as big an ass as any we have now. He brought an army of about 5000 into Texas to San Antonio where the Texans were in an old mission, the Alamo. It was pretty one sided several thousand against 187, but the Texans had some cannon and were great marksman and they held out for 13 days of the siege. Finally the Mexican cannon knocked down the north wall and they got inside the fort, killing all but a few women and kids. The Texans took a huge toll of Santa Annas army perhaps at thousand or more dead or dying of wounds. Gen. Cos said of his main brigade that led the battle, "We brought 800 of the finest soldiers here and we left 660 of them dead on the ground." Santa Anna was not used to being defied and he called it, "a small affair", as it was for him since he stayed well behind the fighting. There were so many bodies that most were burned or thrown in the river, not buried.
Santa Anna moved east, toward other Texas forces and govt., as Gen Sam Houston retreated. At San Jacinto, the Texans had enough of running. Their force of about 800 attacked Santa Anna's army of twice that size. Many of the Mexican soldiers threw down their weapons and ran. There had also been a massacre of 400 Texas prisoners who had surrended at Goliad. The Mexican soldiers yelled "Me no Alamo, Me no Goliad". The Texans were not in a mood to take prisoners,and it was all over in 45 minutes. The "Napolean of The West" tried to disguise as a private, but was captured. Houston let him live when he signed the treaty. Texas was now a free nation. That is San Jacinto and the monument to it it there. Go see them both, you can do it in half a day.
Bill, You are awesome! You must be a history fanatic like me.
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