This Day In Texas History - April 21

[joe817]

1836 - Texas forces won the battle of San Jacinto, the concluding military event of the Texas Revolution. Facing General Santa Anna's Mexican army of some 1,200 men encamped in what is now southeastern Harris County, General Sam Houston disposed his forces in battle order about 3:30 p.m., during siesta time. The Texans' movements were screened by trees and the rising ground, and evidently Santa Anna had no lookouts posted. The Texan line sprang forward on the run with the cries "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!" The battle lasted but eighteen minutes. According to Houston's official report, the casualties were 630 Mexicans killed and 730 taken prisoner. Against this, only nine of the 910 Texans were killed or mortally wounded and thirty were wounded less seriously.

For the previous month, Houston led his forces across the Coastal Plains with Santa Anna in pursuit. The Texas army left nothing for the Mexican Army, burning bridges, villages, and other opportunities for Santa Anna's troups to resupply. Many of their heavy weapons were left behind and had not made it to the battle field. The small Texas Navy managed to capture, deter or scuttle vessles that might have resupplied Santa Anna's army in his march across Texas.

The Texas ship Liberty, having captured the Mexican ship Pelican off Yucatan, was able to provide an ample supply of captured war making materials from the Mexican vessel. Although the victory earned Texas its Independence from Mexico, the Mexican Navy continue to blockade the Texas coast, and make trouble along the southern border of Texas. General Houston, injured in the battle, was taken by ship to New Orleans for medical treatment, arriving there to cheering crowds

1836 - As legend has it, Emily Morgan, a mulato slave girl (the Yellow Rose) captured by the Mexican Army, was brought to Santa Anna's tent near San Jacinto, and "distracted" him throughout the day of the final battle for Texas Independence. With Santa Anna occupied, the Texas forces, under General Sam Houston, were able to sneak up on the Mexican army and launch a surprise attack, quickly overwhelming and defeating the Mexican army in a matter of minutes. Emily Morgan, the Yellow Rose, was actually a free-born black lady named Emily D. West, who worked as a housekeeper at the New Washington Association's hotel. It is likely that the story of her seducing Santa Anna is a fable, however it still made for a good story.

1836 - This day saw the battle of San Jacinto and the securing of fame for the Twin Sisters. That afternoon near the banks of Buffalo Bayou the Texas army struck at Santa Anna's unsuspecting troops. The Twins were probably near the center of the Texans' line of battle and ten yards in advance of the infantry. Their first shots were fired at a distance of 200 yards, and their fire was credited with helping to throw the Mexican force into confusion and significantly aiding the infantry attack. During this battle the Twins fired handfuls of musket balls, broken glass, and horseshoes, as this was the only ammunition the Texans had for the guns. Among the crews serving the guns were several men who later made prominent names for themselves in Texas history, including Benjamin McCulloch, a future Confederate general who helped bring the Twins back from oblivion in 1860. In 1840 the Twins were reported to have been moved, along with other military stores, to Austin, where on April 21, 1841, they were fired in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto. When Sam Houston was inaugurated as president of the republic that year, the twins were fired as Houston kissed the Bible after taking the oath of office.

1836 - General Sam Houston’s weapon during the battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, was a sword given to him by his friend, Joseph Bonnell. Bonnell holds a unique distinction in Texas history as the only individual who was a regular army officer in both the United States Army and the Texas Army at the same time.

1846 - Capt. Samuel H. Walker's company of Texas Mounted Rangers, was mustered into federal service to assist in the Mexican War.

1873 - The Texas state legislature repealed the law authorizing the State Police. At least thirty-six State Police members became Texas Rangers.

1873 - San Jacinto Day, which is now celebrated as the unit's organization day for the Houston Light Guards, one of the oldest national guard companies in the state, became the first uniformed militia company in post-Reconstruction Houston.
[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qjh02 ]

1888 - The Texas State Capitol in Austin opened to the public. Construction was not complete at the time of the opening.

1906 - Frank Hamer enlisted in the Texas Rangers. Hamer, born in Fairview in 1884, was recommended for a position with the Rangers after capturing a horse thief while working as a cowboy in 1905. In 1908 he resigned from the force to become marshal of Navasota and then a special officer in Harris County. He rejoined the Rangers in 1915 and patrolled the South Texas border from the Big Bend to Brownsville. He was criticized for his use of force, and legislator José T. Canales accused Hamer of threatening him in 1918. In 1934 Hamer became a special investigator for the Texas prison system and was assigned to track down outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. After a three-month search, he and his men shot and killed them near Gibsland, Louisiana. Congress awarded Hamer a special citation for stopping the pair. Hamer retired in 1949 and lived in Austin until his death in 1955.

1921 - The Department of Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars was officially founded.

1933 - The "LIBERTY OR DEATH" flag, brought to Texas by Sidney Sherman, and used at the the Battle of San Jacinto, was presented to the state on April 21, 1933, and placed in the House of Representatives chamber behind the speaker's rostrum.
[for a fascinating read of the Flags of the Texas Revolution: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/msf02 ]

1941 - Following the death of Senator Morris Sheppard on April 9th, Governor O'Daniel appoints the 87 year old son of Sam Houston, Andrew Jackson Houston on this date in 1941, to fill the remaining term.

1942, the first group of internees--456 Germans, 156 Japanese, and 14 Italians--arrived at the Kenedy Alien Detention Camp on the outskirts of Kenedy, Texas. The United States Border Patrol had entered into an agreement to lease a former Civilian Conservation Corps camp for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The lease was made for the purpose of establishing an internment camp for aliens from the United States and Latin America who were considered dangerous to the public safety. At the outset of World War II, when conditions were bleak for the Allies, the U.S. undertook to protect its national interests by entering into agreement with Latin-American countries to arrest and intern all resident aliens or citizens of German, Japanese, or Italian descent who could possibly aid the Axis war effort.

1993 - The first episode of "Walker, Texas Ranger" aired on CBS.