Sam Houston at San Jacinto: Stealth

On April 21, 1836, at the Battle of San Jacinto, General Sam Houston and his roughshod band of Texans used stealth to achieve a decisive victory over Santa Anna s Mexican Army and secure Texas s independence from Mexico.

Following a devastating defeat at the hands of Santa Anna at the Alamo on March 6, 1836, the Texan Army was beleaguered but hungry for vengeance. Given that he had only 783 men, most of whom were poorly equipped and without uniforms , Houston needed to choose the most opportune time and place to engage Santa Anna. That time and place came on April 20, on a small peninsula located a few miles from what would become Houston, Texas. Arriving shortly after their opponents, the Texans crossed the San Jacinto River and assembled in secrecy just three quarters of a mile to the north of the fifteen hundred Mexican soldiers. Noted Houston, Our situation afforded us an opportunity of making the arrangements preparatory to the attack without exposing our designs to the enemy. ^[6]

Figure 6.1: Sam Houston at San Jacinto, 1836

Houston knew he possessed the element of surprise and decided that a one-battle, winner-take-all strategy at San Jacinto was his best chance to win the War for Independence outright . ^[7] On the morning of April 21, he ordered his cavalry to destroy the only access to the marshy peninsula, Vince s Bridge, thereby isolating Santa Anna s army ”and his own ”on the peninsula.

At exactly 3:30 p.m., the invariable time of the Mexican siesta, Houston gave the order to attack. The Texans had to leave the cover of the stand of trees and march across a wide- open field, fully exposed to Mexican fire. To avoid signaling their approach, Houston s men held their fire until they were within arm s length of the sleeping Mexican army. Then crying, Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! the Texans opened fire at point-blank range.

The entire battle lasted only eighteen minutes; the Texans captured the 730 survivors and all of the Mexicans equipment, weaponry, and livestock. Santa Anna, found in the woods not far from the battlefield, was brought to Houston. Knowing that his scattered forces were leaderless, disorganized, and helpless without him and fearing for his own life, Santa Anna diffidently agreed to withdraw his army from Texas. His surrender thus marked the birth of the Republic of Texas, and Sam Houston later became the independent republic s first president.

Leadership Lessons

The essence of stealth, which enabled the Texans to overcome resource constraints and emerge victorious, is to attack an enemy who does not see a need to defend himself. Like the Egyptian Air Force in 1967, Santa Anna knew that he was at war, but he did not expect the Texans to appear when or where they did.

By delaying action that would announce his intentions until the last possible moment, Houston caught the Mexicans off guard. Almost totally unprepared for the arrival of Houston s troops and in a position that they believed to be secure, the Mexicans were unable to respond, defend themselves , or mount a counterattack. Furthermore, Houston s ability to maintain silence among his vengeful troops is a testament to his strong leadership capabilities and their discipline. One early shot, one overzealous war cry by a Texan soldier could have announced the attack to the Mexicans and allowed them to prepare a defense, thereby resulting in an entirely different outcome ”a slaughter of Houston and his men in the open field they had to cross. Finally, Santa Anna s inability to imagine that his weaker opponent would have the audacity to mount a winner-take-all attack made Houston s attack considerably more difficult to detect.

^[6] Houston, Sam, Official Battle Report of the Battle of San Jacinto.

^[7] Latin America and U.S. Relations website, Dr. Antonio de la Cova, Rose Hulman University.