[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 65 (Wednesday, May 20, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING VINCE'S BRIDGE IN PASADENA, TX

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 20, 1998

  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the site of Vince's 
Bridge in Pasadena, Texas, as it is rededicated on May 24, 1998, to the 
memory of the men and women who participated in the struggle for Texas 
Independence. In addition, this rededication is a tribute to Pasadena's 
Our Neighborhood Association and its President, Nona Phillips, who not 
only spearheaded this rededication, but also conducted painstaking 
historical research in an effort to document the bridge's role in the 
Battle of San Jacinto.
  At the Battle of San Jacinto, Texas Army General Sam Houston made a 
surprise attack on the Mexican Army near the mouth of the San Jacinto 
River, defeating the Mexican Army under General Santa Anna. This battle 
ended the war, and Texas earned its independence from Mexico. According 
to the research conducted by Nona Phillips and her neighbors, as well 
as other historians, Vince's Bridge played a critical role in this 
victory.
  General Sam Houston and the meager Texas Army retreated eastward 
after the fall of the Alamo in the spring of 1836. The troops were 
increasingly impatient and demoralized by the time they reached Buffalo 
Bayou, a few miles southeast of present day Houston.
  On April 19, the Texans crossed over and marched down the right bank 
of Buffalo Bayou to within half a mile of its confluence with the San 
Jacinto River. Here, the Texas Army prepared their defenses on the edge 
of a grove of trees. Their rear was protected by timber and the bayou, 
while before them was an open prairie.
  The main forces of the Texas Army totaled about 750 men. They faced a 
force of 1,500 of the Mexican Army, confident because of their recent 
successes against the Texans.
  Early in the morning of April 21, 1836, Sam Houston sent Erasmus 
``Deaf'' Smith, the celebrated Texas scout, along with John Coker, 
Denmore Reves, John Garner, John Rainwater, Moses Lapham, and Y.P. 
Alsbury, to destroy Vince's Bridge over which the Mexican Army had 
passed, thus cutting off their only available escape. The stage set for 
battle, General Houston gave his long-awaited order to fight, and after 
only 18 minutes and shouts of ``Remember the Alamo,'' the Texans were 
victorious. Santa Anna, who was taken prisoner, signed a treaty that 
granted Texans their independence and ended the war. The battle for 
Texas was won.
  Vince's Bridge was, by most historical accounts, a relatively small 
wooden bridge spanning one of the many estuaries of Buffalo Bayou. 
While the San Jacinto Monument, which today is a museum housing 
artifacts of the battle, attests to the Texan victory, only a small 
granite marker along Texas 225, a seldom-travelled, two-lane road, 
denotes the location of Vince's Bridge. The marker, laid in the early 
1900s by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, has almost been 
forgotten, the message nearly illegible from time and salt.
  Longtime residents and members of Pasadena's Our Neighborhood 
Association believe the site deserves more recognition since the bridge 
was instrumental in the Texans' victory. So on May 24, 1998 they will 
rededicate the marker at the site of Vince's Bridge.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Nona Phillips and Our Neighborhood Association 
for their unrelenting efforts to carry out this project. Over the 
years, the bridge has maintained its own identity and symbolism. In the 
Association's words, ``it was built with love and hope and dreams. It 
was destroyed to protect those dreams. It comes back to life at a time 
when our children are sorely in need of dreams and example.'' It is 
fitting that we rededicate the Vince's Bridge marker to the women and 
men who participated in the struggle for Texas independence and helped 
the dreams survive.

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