Saturday, April 21, 2007

Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!






Coffee: Juan Valdez's

Mug: The last in the series of four Texas History Movies Sesquicentennial mugs. Chinese promo-mug of a non-offensive design. Two-finger handle design. This is the final mug in my Texas History Month series of coffee mugs.

Note: The Battle of San Jacinto was one of history's (and especially American history's) most decisive battles. The entire political shape of the North American continent was changed in less than an hour by this conflict between roughly 2,000 armed men. It was a battle with mythic elements that are true nonetheless:

Extreme bravery and courage (Texian general Sam Houston was shot off his horse while leading the attack, one of only 30 Texians hit by enemy fire),

Brutality (as Mexican soldier's pleaded for their lives by pleading "Me no Alamo! Me no Goliad", they were ruthlessly slaughtered by men who were drunk with vengeance... over 600 Mexican soldiers died in the battle),

Cowardice (General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna put on a private's tunic and hid in the weeds until captured), and...

Chivalry (Houston received the captured the General and spared his life from those who would have shown Santa Anna the same mercy he showed to Col. Fannin and his men at La Bahia... execution).

These are the things of myth, but being mythical does not always mean it is untrue.

1 comment:

Ed Darrell said...

This would be a good entry in the next Fiesta de Tejas! blog carnival, don't you think?