The Battle of San Jacinto

• The Mexican troops were led by the dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The Texans were commanded by General Sam Houston. Texans were massacred in Goliad and the Alamo battles. General Houston gathered his small army to defend the Texans and with the help of cannons donated by the people of Cincinnati, managed to face a stronger Mexican army. The battleground was San Jacinto near the Texas coastline in Houston. After much deliberated retreats and preparations, the General led his men to victory in a battle that was over in less than eighteen minutes. More than 600 Mexican troops were killed and about nine Texans lost their lives in this battle that is considered a landmark in world history.
  
  

The Tallest Monument of San Jacinto

• Marking the centennial of the battle of San Jacinto, the construction of a towering monument commenced in the battlefield of San Jacinto in 1936. The monument was completed by 1939. Houston-based architect Alfred Finn designed this limestone structure. A star weighing 220 tons sits mounted atop the monument which is 570 feet tall, 15 feet greater in height than the Washington monument. An octagonal shaft runs through the length of the monument whose base is engraved with events marking the Texas revolution and the battle of San Jacinto. This is the tallest war memorial in the world. The American Society of Civil Engineers certifies the monument as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
  
  

The Earliest Monument of San Jacinto

• A marble shaft was erected in memory of the soldiers who died at the San Jacinto battle on 21st April 1836 and the soldiers who were fatally wounded in the battle. This first war monument is often unnoticed due to the towering presence of the limestone monument at the San Jacinto battlefield park. The marble monument marks the place where eight Texan soldiers lost their lives or were fatally wounded. It was built in 1881. Prior to the erection of this marble shaft; the soldiers' graves had only wooden boards to mark their sacrifice. The monument brings dignity to their graves. It bears the engravings of Thomas Rusk's words hailing Texas independence. Thomas Rusk was the first secretary of war in independent Texas. He was also a soldier in the battle of San Jacinto.
  
  

The San Jacinto Museum

• The mention of monuments of San Jacinto is not complete without speaking of the San Jacinto Museum. There is a historical museum at the base of the limestone monument and visitors are taken through guided tours of the monument and museum which also houses a library of war history. The museum is home to unique historical artifacts (like the personal dictionary of Sam Houston) that mark the 1836 battle at San Jacinto and is a symbol of friendship between Texas, Spain, France and Latin America. It is a visual, educational and cultural treat set in the battlefield park of San Jacinto.