San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site

When we were visiting the Sam Houston Memorial Museum, we learned about the nearby San Jacinto Battlefield Historic Site so the next day, we made our way there.

The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution.  Led by General Sam Houston, the Texas Army engaged and defeated General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's Mexican army in a fight that lasted 18 minutes.  

General Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, and General Martin Perfecto de Cos both escaped during the battle.  Santa Anna was captured the day after the battle, April 22, and Cos two days later.  After being held for about three weeks as a prisoner of war, Santa Anna signed the peace treaty that dictated that the Mexican army leave the region, paving the way for the Republic to become an independent country.  A detailed, first-hand account of the battle was written by General Houston from the headquarters of the Texan Army just 4 days following the battle.

The beginnings of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic site trace to the early 1880s, when the State of Texas purchased ten acres in preparation for the fiftieth anniversary of the Texas Revolution.  A prominent feature of the site is the San Jacinto Monument.

The Monument is 567.31 feet high and is topped with a 220-ton star that commemorates the site of the Battle of San Jacinto.  The monument, constructed between 1936 and 1939, is the world's tallest masonry column.  By comparison, the Washington Monument is 554.612 feet, which is the tallest stone monument in the world.

We were able to park close by.

A close up of the base.

We went inside to check out the museum and take the elevator to the top.

In 1848 during the U.S.-Mexican War, General Santa Anna fled his lodgings with such haste after learning that U.S. General Lane was approaching that he left many personal items behind, including this glove.

During the Texas Revolution, the Brutus, Independence and Liberty flew the flag of the 1824 Constitution and also the flag below called the Hawkins flag.  This flag, one of the first in which the "lone start" appears, was created by Charles Hawkins who was appointed as the first Senior Captain and Commodore of the Texas Navy.  Hawkins' flag was approved by Texas President Burnet in April, 1836 and ratified that December by the first Congress of the Republic.

 

This martingale is a piece of horse tack that belonged to Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.  It was auctioned to Sidney Sherman following the Battle of San Jacinto.

Thank goodness there was an elevator and not a flight (or 40) of stairs.  We went up.

There were spectacular views.

The Houston Ship Canal is one of the world's busiest ports and provides significant economic impact to the state of Texas and the country.  Approximately 9,000 ships and 200,000 barges traverse the channel annually. 

They had some dioramas on display - I found these interesting.

First capital at Austin, 1839-1853

Second Capital at Austin, 1856-1881

We'd had a recommendation to have lunch at Monument Inn so being the person who never misses a meal, we made the short drive there.

It was about 2:00 by that time and we were surprised to see it so crowded.  I guess lots of people had the same recommendation!

Bob and Ann Laws purchased the Monument Inn in June, 1990 and the restaurant has been in business since 1974.  Six months after the Laws acquired the restaurant, it burned to the ground and they re-opened at this current location just 10 weeks later.  Both hurricanes Ike and Harvey flooded the downstairs private rooms.  In both instances, they completely remodeled in a little over a month.  They serve about 80,000 pounds of shrimp and almost 25,000 pounds of catfish, crawfish, and fresh fish every year.  On a busy Saturday, the in-house bakers prepare over 1,000 cinnamon rolls.

We had a table right by the window looking out onto the canal and had fun watching the activity.

The most interesting activity was watching the ferries taking vehicles back and forth to a small island across the channel.

That's our truck on the left facing the water

I had no idea there was a battleground in Houston - I'm glad we visited.