general sam houston captured santa anna at the battle of san jacinto.
general sam houston captured santa anna at the battle of san jacinto.
who captured santa anna at the battle of san jacinto?
general sam houston
there has existed for many years the story or myth that general santa anna, captured on 21 april 1836 after the defeat of the mexican army after the battle of san jacinto, was able to save himself from execution by giving secret "masonic signs" when he was captured, and again when he was brought before general sam houston. texas historian james d. carter recorded in his book, "masonry in texas", that "texas masons contemporary with [the battle of] san jacinto stated emphatically that santa anna 'filled the air' with masonic signs after his capture and had given a masonic grip to houston." c.r. wharton, in his book, "el presidente", stated that "santa anna, fearing for his life, gave the masonic distress signal to john a. wharton." santa anna probably knew the appropriate grips and signs, since he was a member of the scottish rite in mexico, which had become dominated by men devoted to mexican government centralization. within mexico, opposition to the centralists found itself organized around mexico's york rite establishment, although by 1833, both had mostly been displaced in popularity by a "mexican national rite", although santa anna kept his scottish rite associates around him. whether or not this specifically saved his life is not clear. what is certain is that santa anna was worth more to texas alive than dead. president andrew jackson, a member of the same masonic lodge as sam houston, cumberland lodge no. 8 at nashville, tennessee, wrote to houston and implored him to spare santa anna's life, reminding houston that "while he is in your power, the difficulties of your enemy, in raising another army, will be great... let not his blood be shed, unless imperious necessity demands it... both wisdom and humanity enjoin this course in relation to santa anna."
grand lodge of texas
though the provisional government, as well as many of his own subordinates, urged him to attack the mexican army, houston continued the retreat east, informing his soldiers that they constituted "the only army in texas now present ... there are but a few of us, and if we are beaten, the fate of texas is sealed." santa anna divided his forces and finally caught up to houston in mid-april 1836. santa anna's force of about 1350 soldiers trapped houston's force of 783 men in a marsh; rather than pressing the attack, santa anna ordered his soldiers to make camp. on the april 21, houston ordered an attack on the mexican army, beginning the battle of san jacinto. the texans quickly routed santa anna's force, though houston's ankle was shattered by a stray bullet. in the aftermath of the battle of san jacinto, a detachment of texans captured santa anna. santa anna was forced to sign the treaty of velasco, granting texas its independence. houston stayed on briefly for negotiations, then returned to the united states for treatment of his ankle wound.
sam houston