[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H4554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SAN JACINTO DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, growing up in Houston, Texas, I always 
liked this day, April 21, because it was a school holiday. I believed 
there was no school because it was my mother's birthday. She never told 
me differently. I was proud to be the only kid that had a mother with a 
school holiday.
  It was only later that I came to find out that the holiday also 
represented the most important military victory in Texas history, one 
that occurred near my hometown of Houston. It was a unique holiday for 
Texas called ``San Jacinto Day.''
  It all started when Texas declared independence from Mexico on March 
2, 1836. Texans held off the invading Mexican army at a place called 
the Alamo. They were led by a commander by the name of William Barret 
Travis, a 27-year-old lawyer from South Carolina. The 187 volunteers 
held out for 13 days and inflicted vicious casualties on the invaders. 
But Santa Anna, dictator of Mexico, was able to storm over the Alamo 
walls on March 6, 1836, and killed all the remaining defenders. He went 
looking for the rest of the Texans that wanted independence from 
Mexico. General Sam Houston had been building the Texas army, and Santa 
Anna's three armies from Mexico were giving chase. The Texans and their 
families fled east in what historians call the ``runaway scrape.''
  Finally, near the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou at Lynch's 
Ferry near Houston, Texas, they stopped to fight. Houston and his army 
of 700 faced Santa Anna and his army of twice that number on the marshy 
plains of San Jacinto. Scout Deaf Smith was ordered to burn the only 
bridge and trapped both armies on the peninsula between the river and 
the marshes.
  It was April 21, 1836. General Sam wanted to charge into battle the 
next day at dawn, but after discussions with his troops, he decided not 
to wait any longer. So in the middle of the afternoon, General Sam and 
the boys marched in a single line in broad daylight with little cover 
toward the Mexican army.
  The outnumbered Texans were an odd, terrifying-looking bunch. Without 
regular uniforms, they were dressed in buckskins, with pistols in their 
belts, bowie knives, long muskets, and tomahawks. They came from 
numerous States and foreign countries like Germany, England, Scotland, 
and Mexico. The Tejanos, Mexicans loyal for independence, were led by 
Captain Juan Sequin. So as not to confuse these Tejanos with Santa 
Anna's army, General Sam had Captain Sequin put a playing card in the 
headband of each Tejano so they could be easily recognized as Texans 
and not the invaders.
  This was General Houston's first Texas battle. Santa Anna's veteran 
army had yet to lose any conflict after they invaded Texas. The Texans 
charged down the hill yelling ``Remember the Alamo,'' ``Remember 
Goliad.'' They carried a flag of a partially nude Miss Liberty, and the 
fife played a bawdy house song called ``Come to the Bower.''
  Santa Anna's army was caught napping and was routed. Most of the 
enemy were killed or wounded. The rest were captured or disappeared. 
The victory was stunning. The Texans wanted Santa Anna hung because of 
the Alamo and for murdering Colonel Fannin and his 13 volunteers at 
Goliad after they had surrendered. Wise and politically astute, Sam 
Houston would have none of the lynching and spared Presidente Santa 
Anna for later bartering power.
  Texas became a free and independent nation that day and claimed what 
is now Texas but also parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, 
and Idaho, all the way to the Canadian border. It was one of the 
largest land transfers in world history as a result of one battle. The 
latter land was sold to the United States to pay for Texas' war debts. 
But Texas was a free independent republic for 9 years and then was 
admitted into the United States in 1845 by one vote. A Louisiana 
Senator changed his mind and voted for admission for the State of Texas 
to become part of the Union. Some now wished the vote had gone the 
other way.
  Texas still has the right, Mr. Speaker, to divide into five States. 
It also has the absolute right to fly the Texas flag at the same level 
of the United States flag because Texas was a country once. In 1936 
Texans built the San Jacinto Monument in honor of the Texas War of 
Independence and General Sam's victory. It looks like the Washington 
Monument but it has a star on top. But, of course, Mr. Speaker, it's 
taller than the Washington Monument.
  Today the bugles are silent and the battlefield is surrounded by 
petrochemical plants. Not much is said about Texas Independence or San 
Jacinto Day. It's not a school holiday anymore. But once again this 
year, proud Texans were at the San Jacinto battleground today to honor 
the few brave Texans and Tejanos that made Texas a free nation. We 
remember our past, knowing we were a nation once, and sometimes we 
still act like an independent country. I have a grandson who was named 
in honor of William Barret Travis and Sam Houston. His name is Barret 
Houston. I flew the Texas Lone Star flag today proudly on this San 
Jacinto Day. But, also, Mr. Speaker, I sent my mom a bunch of flowers 
remembering that this glorious day was a school holiday to celebrate 
her birthday.
  And that's just the way it is.

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