On March 13, 1836, the Texan army at Gonzales under the command of General Sam Houston began a long retreat after hearing about the fall of the Alamo. For over a month, Santa Anna chased the smaller Texan army which continued to retreat across East Texas. To keep up, Santa Anna had to splinter his army into three different groups so they could find the Texans and move more quickly. On April 19th, Houston learned that the part of the army led by Santa Anna was isolated from the other two branches. That was the condition Houston needed for one of greatest victories in the history of warfare.

After months of retreating, Houston led his army directly to the enemy. After hearing that Santa Anna had received reinforcements, Houston ordered Erastus Smith to destroy a bridge behind the enemy lines that would prevent them from receiving additional troops and also prevent them from retreating. Houston had surprise in his favor, so he arrayed his troops while hidden by tree cover and the slope of the battlefield. At 3:30PM, during the Mexican siesta, the Texans attacked with cries of “Remember the Alamo” and “Remember Goliad.” The Mexicans were caught completely by surprise and were defeated in less than twenty minutes. The Texans continued shooting while the Mexican army was in complete route and took many prisoners.

In all 630 Mexicans were killed and 730 were taken prisoner. The Texans, on the other hand, lost only 9 men with 30 wounded. One of those that the Texans took prisoner was Santa Anna himself. He had disguised himself as a common soldier and the ruse had worked until some of his soldiers saluted him. An observant Texan saw this and realized that the anonymous soldier was actually the ruler of Mexico. Although many wanted to kill him then and there, General Houston insisted that his life be spared. In exchange, Santa Anna gave up Mexico’s claim to Texas and ordered his men back south into Mexico.

The negotiations continued until May 14 when Santa Anna and Texas President David G. Burnet signed a treaty which stipulated that the Mexican army would leave Texas and that the Mexican government would give up any claims to Texas. It also called an end for the state of war between Mexico and the new Republic of Texas. The treaty was largely ignored, however, and a state of war existed between the Republic of Texas and Mexico for much of the time that Texas remained an independent nation. In 1845, Texas became a state in the Union.