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[♪ sentimental music ♪]
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-[Burnet] General Houston, sir,
the enemy are laughing you to scorn.
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You must fight them.
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You must retreat no further.
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The country
expects you to fight.
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The salvation of the country
depends on your doing so.
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-David Burnet,
President of Texas
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-[Yarborough]
After the Alamo fell,
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and Santa Anna ordered
all prisoners shot,
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he had said he was
going to kill everybody
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that's opposing the
Mexican government.
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There's a terrific panic
over the country,
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and uh, every family that could
got their belongings together
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in a buggy or a wagon or
whatever they had-- horseback--
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some didn't have
any vehicle.
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Walk and carry what you could,
drag it, put it on a mule,
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and then the families
just abandoned their homes.
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And that was called
the Runaway Scrape,
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and they were trying to
get across the Sabine River
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to get into New Orleans
before they got killed.
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-[narrator] The fledgling
government of Texas
-
retreated to the
little town of Harrisburg.
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There, they demanded that
Sam Houston stand and fight,
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but Houston kept
his own counsel,
-
poring over Caesar's
commentaries on war,
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gnawing on the raw ears of corn
with which he filled his saddlebags.
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-[Houston] Had I consulted
the wishes of all,
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I should have been like the ass
between two stacks of hay.
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I consulted no one.
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I held no counsels of war.
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If I err, the blame is mine.
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[military drumming]
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-[narrator] Houston
and his small army
-
were in full retreat,
zig-zagging across Texas,
-
keeping just out of range
of the advancing Mexicans.
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Rumors spread that alcohol
had undercut his courage.
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Settlers jeered him
from the roadside.
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-[Yarborough] The men under him
said he was a coward,
-
and Sidney Sherman, the colonel,
tried to replace him.
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Sam Houston said, "Anybody that tries
to remove me from this command,
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"I'll execute him
on the spot."
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[drumming]
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-[narrator]
For more than a month,
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Santa Anna pursued
Houston's elusive army.
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Then the Mexican general
made a mistake.
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He divided his troops
and veered off
-
in hopes of capturing
the provisional government.
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Houston slipped up
behind him
-
in a bend in a river
called the San Jacinto.
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-[man] April 21, 1836.
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We are in preparation
to meet Santa Anna.
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It's the only chance
of saving Texas.
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We go to conquer.
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It is wisdom growing out of necessity
to meet the enemy now.
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-[narrator] Santa Anna's army was
surrounded by water on three sides.
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Houston's 800 men moved
into position on the fourth.
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-[Yarborough]
There were trees there.
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Houston had men up in
those trees watching him,
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and calling down
to him what to do,
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and he says the cavalry over there
have taken their saddles off;
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they're taking their
horses to drink.
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This is siesta time.
It's about 3:30,
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and most of the Mexicans
is having their siesta.
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Houston immediately
ordered them to line up.
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[horse neighing]
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[military drumming]
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-[narrator] "Trust in God and fear not,"
he told his men.
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"Remember Goliad.
Remember the Alamo."
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[cannonfire]
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-[narrator] Houston led the charge
himself, swinging his saber.
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His horse fell,
hit five times.
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Houston climbed onto
another horse.
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It too was killed,
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and this time Houston's right leg
was splintered by a musketball.
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[gunfire,
horse neighing]
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But Santa Anna's army
was on the run.
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The Texans and the company
of Tejanos under Juan Seguín
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were right behind them.
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The fighting lasted
just 18 minutes,
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[horse neighs,
gunfire]
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but the slaughter went on
for another hour.
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[♪ sentimental music ♪]
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When it was all over,
600 Mexican soldiers lay dead.
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Nearly 700 more
had surrendered.
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The surprise had been so complete,
the blow so sudden,
-
that only six Texans died
during the Battle of San Jacinto.
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Santa Anna himself
was made Sam Houston's prisoner,
-
and forced to sign a piece of paper
ceding Texan independence.
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Now there were three independent
republics in North America:
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Mexico,
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the United States,
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and, under President Sam Houston,
the new Republic of Texas.