(Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón)
A Chronology
It will or should be noted by the reader that following graphic below these comments are prepared in the most Spartan sensibility.....perhaps a Jack Webb / Sergeant Friday moment. We think it best to use such a "Just the facts, Ma'am" approach so as to avoid the fixation people tend to have with stereotypes concerning the gloriousness of despots with fancy uniforms. We might allow that Lopez de Santa Anna is possibly the most audacious and self-absorbed of all the high names and personalities of the New World. He is most certainly among, at the very least, the top fifty.
The wonder is most certainly that he could come and go, approach and sit upon the Throne of Mexico, and then abandon said throne long before any programme....economic, national infrastructural, criminal and civil law, foreign relations....could ever be adequately put into place and action.
He has been pictured to the public as a slight man, of short stature. We see him, at times, compared to Napoleon Bonaparte....who was short....thereby explaining Antonio's peacockery and posturing as a product of the inferiority complex that he derived from being short. But...he was not short. For his day, in fact, he was "high-moderate" or "low-tall". His height was normally estimated to be what would now be 5 foot 10 inches and his weight no more or less than 145 pounds....without his formal 20 pounds of uniform, epaulets, medals and medallions, and boots and headdress. Travis, Bowie, Sequin, de Zavala would have been "body doubles" in the dark.
It is probable that he had a form of mild epilepsy, not because he was in the habit of taking opium and/or cocaine, and significant amounts of the powder 'lithium carbonate; along with wine of the very best European and Mexican and New World vintages. But, we must remember that such prescriptions were commonly rendered by the physicians at that time, especially for patients who had money and position. Hear these comfortable words of Wikipedia concerning lithium:
In 1843, lithium carbonate was used as a new solvent for stones in the bladder. In 1859, some doctors recommended a therapy with lithium salts for a number of ailments, including gout, urinary calculi, rheumatism, mania, depression, and headache. In 1948, John Cade discovered the antimanic effects of lithium ions. This finding led lithium, specifically lithium carbonate, to be used to treat mania associated with bipolar disorder.
Lithium carbonate is used to treat mania, the elevated phase of bipolar disorder. Lithium ions interfere with ion transport processes (see “sodium pump”) that relay and amplify messages carried to the cells of the brain.[8] Mania is associated with irregular increases in protein kinase C (PKC) activity within the brain. Lithium carbonate and sodium valproate, another drug traditionally used to treat the disorder, act in the brain by inhibiting PKC’s activity and help to produce other compounds that also inhibit the PKC.[9] Despite these findings, a great deal remains unknown regarding lithium's mood-controlling properties.[citation needed]
Use of lithium salts exhibit a number of risks and side effects, especially at higher doses. Lithium intoxication affects the central nervous and renal systems and is potentially lethal.
The site of the old Hacienda Manga del Clavo
While this above analysis speaks to a date of 1843 as being the time of the "coming out" of Lithium, it had been used in Europe, especially for titled people, and the wealthy, and others of the endowed classes since the earliest part of the 18th Century....especially in France, and the German principalities. It might have been used even earlier in Turkey and Persia.
The Hacienda El Lencero - Lopez de Santa Anna's Favourite property....only a few miles from Manga del Clavo, which was destroyed by the American Military during the Mexican - American War
Concerning this chronology, below-included, we urge the reader to understand that each time His Excellency would decide to either abandon or re-occupy the Presidential Throne, it was a matter of an extremely arduous journey.....from low to high altitude....bananas that produced year around and elhechos arboleras (ferns the size of large trees).....and crossing into or back out of places that have known no month without significant snowfall. From Manga del Clavo at 2,000 feet above sea level, crossing mountain passes at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, either way arriving to or leaving from the City of Mexico at 7,600 feet elevation, the journey could take ten days or a month or perhaps even more. If the rains were to be extremely heavy during the two rainy seasons, it might require a couple of months, at times, to travel the 140 mile distance, (in those times) . To-morrow, we shall try to put an end to some of this wistful and pointless eulogy to a Supreme Narcissist. There are two two or three telling points about this individual that will help further compound the perplexity he causes and also cause the reader to wonder why someone did not take him out back and do humanity a favour.
Born 1794 or 1795 in Jalapa; died 1876 in Mexico City.
Began military career in 1810; promoted to brigadier general in 1822. Offices and honors include: governor of Yucatan (ca. 1825 and 1829), governor of Veracruz (1828), benemérito de la patria (1829), and benemérito en grado heróico (1835).
Santa Anna was first named president of Mexico on March 30, 1833, which position he repeatedly abdicated and resumed until leaving the office for the final time in 1855.
He led Mexican forces in 1835 and 1836 in the campaign against Texas independence, and in 1847 in the war with the United States. During the latter he served alternately as president and as military commander.
Santa Anna spent repeated periods of exile in the Caribbean.
Upon one return to Mexico in February 1864, he promptly was deported by General Achille Bazaine for failing to abide by the terms of the agreement allowing his reentry. Santa Anna was imprisoned in 1867 then exiled until 1874, when he returned to Mexico under a general amnesty.
He died in poverty in Mexico City on June 20, 1876.
Chronology
21 Feb 1794/5
born in Jalapa, Veracruz
6 July 1810
entered the Veracruz infantry as a cadet
13 March 1811
went with his regiment to Tampico to suppress insurgents working for the separation of Texas
1813
returned to Veracruz, promoted for bravery to first lieutenant
1814
made aide to General Dávila, royalist commander of Veracruz
March 1816
promoted to captain
March 1821
given command of troops in Veracruz, sent to rescue Orizaba and Córdoba from pro-independence forces
23 March 1821
arrived in Orizaba, defeated the insurgent Miranda
29 March 1821
General Herrera arrived, as did dispatch from Viceroy making Santa Anna lieutenant colonel as reward for Miranda's defeat; Santa Anna joined Herrera in support of Iturbide
25 April 1821
July 1821
surrounded Veracruz and suggested that his old protector General Dávila surrender to him; Dávila successfully resisted
21 July 1821
27 Sept 1821
Trigarante army entered Mexico City
28 Sept 1821
Regency established
25 Oct 1822
16 Nov 1822
suspicious of Santa Anna, Iturbide arrived in Jalapa, removed Santa Anna from his command, ordered him to join the Junta de Guerra in Mexico City; Santa Anna instead returned to Veracruz
2 Dec 1822
in Veracruz, Santa Anna proclaimed ?la República,? declared Iturbide's reign ?invalid,? demanded new Congreso Constituyente
1 Feb 1823
Plan de Casa Mata signed
19 March 1823
5 June 1823
mid-1824
25 April 1825
30 Dec 1826 (23 Dec 1827?)
Vicente Guerrero sent to put down Montaño's rebellion at Otumba; Santa Anna offered his services to Guerrero
7 January 1828
1 Sept 1828
Congress declared Pedraza president and Vicente Guerrero vice-president
12 Sept 1828
Santa Anna demanded that presidency be given to Guerrero
3 Dec 1828
Pedraza fled the presidency
8 Dec 1828
Guerrero named secretary of war
1 April 1829
27 July 1829
Spanish under Barradas took Tampico
11 Sept 1829
4 Oct 1829
Santa Anna returned to Veracruz
4 Dec 1829
refused to administer the Plan of Jalapa with Bustamante against Guerrero
3 Jan 1830
renounced his politico-military duties
2 Jan 1832
March 1832
Santa Anna defeated by government forces
5 Oct 1832
Pedraza returned from the U.S.
24 Dec 1832
Pedraza assumed presidency in Puebla
3 Jan 1833
Pedraza and Santa Anna entered Mexico City
30 March 1833
Santa Anna named President, with Gómez Farías as vice-president
1 April 1833
Gómez Farías became president as Santa Anna pleaded ill health; Farías'policies proved unpopular
16 May 1833
Santa Anna resumed presidency
3 June 1833
5 July 1833
Santa Anna pursued Arista
12 Oct 1833
defeated Arista in Guanajuato
27 Oct 1833
Santa Anna resumed presidency
15 Dec 1833
left presidency, requesting from Congress 6 months' leave because of his health
24 April 1834
Santa Anna resumed presidency
27 Jan 1835
Santa Anna left presidency
11 May 1835
26 Feb 1836
entered Texas, attacked Alamo
6 Mar 1836
attacked presidio of Espíritu Santo
21 Apr 1836
defeated by Houston at San Jacinto
18 Jan 1837
interviewed by U.S. President Jackson
21 Feb 1837
returned to Veracruz by boat, to the cheers of the populace
27 Nov 1838
French fired on San Juan de Ulúa, Santa Anna defended
5 Dec 1838
lost leg
20 March 1839
Santa Anna succeeded Bustamante as interim president
30 April 1839
defeated federalists Mejía and Urrea at Acajete
10 July 1839
surrendered presidency to Nicolás Bravo
10 Oct 1841
Santa Anna resumed presidency
26 Oct 1842
returned presidency to Bravo
4 March 1843
4 Oct 1843
surrendered presidency to Canalizo
4 June 1844
Santa Anna took oath as constitutional president
7 Sept 1844
obtained leave of absence from presidency
19 Nov 1844
3 June 1845
Santa Anna left Veracruz for Havana
4 Aug 1846
Paredes y Arrillaga removed from office
22 Aug 1846
Santa Anna returned to Veracruz, proclaiming the reestablishment of the Constitution of 1824
6 Dec 1846
26 Jan 1847
Santa Anna attacked Taylor
23 Feb 1847
declared victory at Buena Vista and withdrew from the field
21 March 1847
Santa Anna resumed presidency
2 April 1847
20 May 1847
16 Sept 1847
surrendered presidency, escaped via Guatemala or the U.S., sailed to Jamaica then to Turbaco, Colombia
1 April 1853
returned to Veracruz
19 April 1853
made triumphal entry into Mexico City
20 April 1853
Santa Anna resumed the Presidency
16 Dec 1853
Council of State gave Santa Anna "facultades omnímodas,"(omnipotent faculties) and title of "alteza serenísima" (Most Serene Highness)
1 March 1854
Plan of Ayutla against Santa Anna
9 Aug 1855
27 Feb 1864
Santa Anna returned to Veracruz, promising Bazaine not to be politically active, but continued seeking support
12 March 1864
Bazaine deported Santa Anna from Veracruz
Jan 1866
Santa Anna visited by U.S. Secretary of State Seward on island of St. Thomas
3 June 1867
Santa Anna returned to Veracruz, claiming U.S. endorsement
4 June 1867
Santa Anna taken with U.S. help to Sisal, Yucatán, and imprisoned
30 July 1867
2 Nov 1867
Santa Anna sailed to Havana, then to the Bahamas
1874
Santa Anna allowed to return to Mexico by Lerdo de Tejada under a general amnesty
20 June 1876
died in poverty in Mexico City _____________________________ More later, El Gringo Viejo
When he [Santa Anna] approached Houston, the general was lying wounded under a large oak tree, standing on the bank of the bayou, and hanging as though decorated with great beards of grey moss. A short dialogue ensued, a son of de Zavala acting as interpretor. When he saw young de Zavala, he (Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna) embraced him, and proclaimed himself his father's friend, though in fact the elder de Zavala was then a fugitive on Galveston Island, along with the remainder of the fleeing government, and would have no doubt been shot two days before, had his excellency laid hands on him. He threw himself on Houston's mercy, advising in a patronizing way that since Houston had conquered and captured the Napoleon of the West, he could afford to be merciful. To this Houston replied that Santa Anna had not shown any mercy at the Alamo or Goliad. He sought to justify himself by the refusal of the defenders of the Alamo to surrender, which made the storming of the place necessary, and invoked the act of congress against persons found in arms against the government as the excuse for Goliad. But General Houston replied, Fannin's men were surrendered under conditions which were violated. To this El Presidente replied in much warmth that if this were so, Urrea had deceived him, that this was the first he had heard of a conditional surrender, that he would look into it, and if found true, the most awful punishment would be meted out to Urrea. The ad interim government of Texas now assumed negotiations with the captive president, and pending them, he sent a dispatch to General Filisola to retire to Victoria, advising:
(EL GRINGO VIEJO VIGOROUSLY.....ADAMANTLY.....DENIES THAT GENERAL de BRIGADA URREA DECEIVED ANYONE.....HE WAS, LAMENTABLY....LIKE ROMMEL....HE SERVED AND COMPLIED WITH ORDERS. HE ADMIRED THE TEXIANS AND HE BEFRIENDED THEM AND TOLD HIS CADRE TO HONOUR THEM AS VANQUISHED, BUT HONOURABLE, ENEMIES.
"I have agreed with General Houston for an armistice until matters can be so regulated that the war will cease forever."
Two treaties were speedily concluded with him, known as the treaties of Velasco. An open treaty which provided:
"That all hostilities would cease, and that he would not exercise his influence to cause arms to be taken up against the people of Texas during the present war for independence."
The secret treaty provided:
"That he should be sent home at once via Vera Cruz, and that he would prepare things in the 'Mexican cabinet so that a commission sent by the Texas government should be received, and that by means of negotiations all differences between Texas and Mexico should be settled and independence of Texas acknowledged. The Rio Grande was agreed upon as the boundary."
These bargains arranged, El Presidente and his suite embarked on a schooner at the mouth of the Brazos on June 3, 1836, bound for Vera Cruz. He was quite happy at having traded these treaties for his life, and issued a felicitous farewell address to the Texas people. There was a tremendous sentiment in Texas at this time for his execution, and the provisional government had great difficulty in keeping a semblance of order, and carrying out its program with him, and it was with much relief that President Burnet and his advisers saw him on board the Invincible, which was to carry him home. A few hours before the schooner sailed, a vessel came into the Brazos from New Orleans, bearing a company of soldiers mustered in the States for the war in Texas. The news of the atrocities at the Alamo and Goliad had aroused great feeling in the States, and when San Jacinto's tidings were spread, there was a rush of adventurous persons who would participate in the war, and these newcomers determined that the Mexican President should be detained. They defied the provisional government, and boarded the Invincible before it could set sail, and forcibly took possession of El Presidente with the avowed purpose of having him tried and shot. He was taken up the Brazos river to the Phelps plantation, about 30 miles from Velasco, and kept there during the summer and autumn.
A rumor was spread that an attempt was to be made to effect his rescue, and indeed such a plan was in progress, and he was put in irons and chained to a live oak tree, which is still standing at the site of the Phelps home. His further confinement under these circumstances weighed so heavily upon him that he became melancholy, and attempted to poison himself, but Dr. Phelps managed to neutralize the effect of the poison, and saved him for a long and varied career. On one occasion, a band of ruffians came to the Phelps home to assassinate him, and Mrs. Phelps first pleaded with them and when they made an effort to harm him, she threw her arms about him, and by a mixture of courage and entreaty caused them to desist.
According to the Handbook of Texas, James Aeneas E. Phelps (1794 or 1800-1847) was one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists from either Mississippi or Hartford, Connecticut. His wife was Rosetta Abeline Yerby. The family arrived in the colony on the schooner Lively in 1822, in the census of 1826 he was listed as a a physician with wife, two sons, two daughters, one servant, and fifteen slaves which he brought with him from Mississippi. Phelps was a Mason and helped organize in Texas. He represented Brazoria at the Convention of 1836. He was attached to the Medical Staff at San Jacinto with Anson Jones, on April 22 he established a hospital in the home of Lorenzo de Zavala near the battlefield.
Phelps owned Orozimbo (Orizaba) Plantation where Santa Anna was held prisoner and treated. In 1842 after his return to power in Mexico, Santa Anna expressed his gratitude by saving Phelps's son, Orlando, from execution as a member of the Mier expedition.
From Joseph Milton Nance's Dare-Devils All: The Texan Mier Expedition 1842-1844: After the arrival of the Texans at Santiago Prison from Salado, Orlando C. Phelps was brought before the president, who had seen his name on the list of Texan prisoners. His father, the jovial Dr. James A. E. Phelps, hospital surgeon of the Texan Army at San Jacinto, had three times frustrated Santa Anna's efforts to commit suicide while under house arrest in their home. Santa Anna asked if he were related to Dr. Phelps of Orozimbo, and Orlando replied that he was his son. "I thought I recognized the name, Orlando, but you were a very small boy when I was in your home. You have grown much." Santa Anna instructed his secretary to order the boy's release and that he be furnished with clothing and money to get to the United States. Santa Anna sent an aide-de-camp with him [Orlando] into the city, and purchased two to three suits of clothes for him, and gave him a room in his palace. "I was informed of all this," said Waddy Thompson, "and as there was an American ship of war at Vera Cruz, about to sail to the United States, I wrote a note to Santa Anna, offering young Phelps a passage. He replied, thanking me for the offer, but declined it, saying he felt himself fortunate in having it in his power to return, in some degree, the kindness of Doctor Phelps to him, when he was a prisoner in Texas, and that he preferred sending his son home at his own expense; which he did, giving him also a draft in his favor in Vera Cruz, for whatever sum of money he might ask for." The release of Phelps, commented Thomas Jefferson Green, "shows that the President of Mexico is not wholly destitute of gratitude." The reaction among some of the prisoners to Orlando Phelps' release, however, was not so kind. "I have made mention of this fortunate animal [Phelps] . . . [elsewhere in this diary, wrote Canfield, and] further notice is unnecessary except that he is not worth the powder that would blow him to any place." Phelps stayed at Santa Anna's palace until he left Mexico City by stage coach for Vera Cruz about May 5. He stopped at Perote Castle about lockup time on May 8 to bid his friends goodbye and receive letters to be carried to Texas. He reached New Orleans aboard the schooner Architect from Vera Cruz on Monday, May 22, and was interviewed the next day by the editor of the Picayune. sdct
(Wharton, 1926, continued) While he [Santa Anna] was in confinement at the Phelps plantation, he was visited by a gentleman who bore him a message from Mr. Poinsett at his home in South Carolina. When Poinsett was minister to Mexico in 1824, he was a great apostle of republican ideas, and had a happy acquaintance with the young leader who had just overthrown the empire, and was the avowed champion of popular government.
"Say to General Santa Anna that when I remember how ardent an advocate he was of liberty ten years ago, I have no sympathy for him now, that he has gotten what he deserves."
To this very unkind message, El Presidente made this deliberate reply:
"Say to Mr. Poinsett that it is very true that I threw up my cap for liberty with great ardor, and perfect sincerity, but very soon found the folly of it. A hundred years to come my people will not be fit for liberty. They do not know what it is, unenlightened as they are, and under the influence of a Catholic clergy, a despotism is the proper government for them, but there is no reason why it should not be a wise and virtuous one."
The first congress of the Republic of Texas assembled at Columbia on the Brazos in October, and the fate of the captive president was a great theme which was debated in both houses. The leaders in congress were loud for his life, and if the matter had been left to a vote, he would no doubt have lost. But General Houston, who had been elected President of Texas in September, 1836, was a man of great firmness, and had determined that to spare his life was the politic thing to do. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, had written Houston, urging that he be released. In November, while the congressmen at Columbia were debating the fate of the "illustrious prisoner," President Houston cut the debate short by sending him to Washington with an escort. He was accompanied by Messrs. Hockley, Patton, Bee, and Almonte. Well mounted, the party left the Brazos on the 25th of November, 1836, and rode toward the Lynchburg crossing of the San Jacinto, and near the sunset hour on a November day they rode across the battlefield.
The Texan escort rode ahead, and he and Almonte dropped behind as they came upon this familiar scene. No word was spoken while the five horsemen moved slowly over the hill slope and down toward the ferry. Just at sunset, they crossed the river, and in the lengthening shadows, El Presidente turned and cast a long meditative look at the scene of his greatest disaster. He did not want to go to New Orleans, for the Texan sentiment was so strong there that he feared for his life, and they rode through northern Louisiana to the Mississippi River, where they took a passing steamboat up the 'Mississippi to the Ohio, and up the latter river to Louisville, Ky., which place they reached on Christmas day, 1836. News that the Mexican president was passing through the country excited lively interest, and crowds were gathered at each stopping place for a look at him. Everywhere he was treated with the utmost courtesy and curiosity. The genial Almonte, who spoke English perfectly, made himself a favorite with every group. Though many of the men shot at Goliad were from Kentucky, there was not the slightest indignity offered him anywhere in the State, and when the party stopped at Lexington, they were accorded marked attention, and many members of the Kentucky legislature came over from Frankfort to pay their respects.
As they went through Maryland, they stopped a day at Frederick, where a military court was in session, trying General Winfield Scott, of the United States army for alleged misconduct in the late Florida campaign, and El Presidente and General Scott were made acquainted, and exchanged greetings, and parted to meet another day. Lieutenant Hitchcock, who in May before had carried the news of San Jacinto to Washington, was an attendant at this court of inquiry, and wrote in his diary,
"The officers of the court and attendants adjourned and called at Robusto Hotel and paid their respects to the distinguished stranger. He is a Spaniard, a slight figure, about 5 ft. 10, of very commanding, dignified appearance, graceful manner and benign countenance. He smiled at his misfortunes, and for my life I could not believe he ever gave the order for the massacre at Goliad."
In Washington, he visited President Jackson, and as speedily as possible set sail for home. He was sent to Vera Cruz on the United States frigate Pioneer, as the guest of the American Navy, and in the latter days of February, he and his faithful Almonte, standing on the deck of the Pioneer, saw the sentinel outlines of Cofre de Perote, the first glimpse of his native land after an absence of an eventful year.
The real story of Santa Anna's trip to Washington has never been widely known. There was a determined fight in the American Congress, which convened in the autumn of 1836, upon the recognition of Texas' independence. Jackson's administration was coming to a close and he was to be succeeded the following March by Van Buren and the new administration was very conservative about the recognition of Texas, or any other act that would bring on war with Mexico. Houston, who became President of Texas in September, 1836, sent William H. Wharton, Minister to the United States, to negotiate for annexation. President Houston conceived that it would materially help the situation if Santa Anna would go in person to Washington and say to President Jackson that Mexico did not intend to make an effort to reconquer Texas. This would be an answer to the critics in Congress who were urging that the recognition of Texas would be considered an unfriendly act by Mexico. It was one of the conditions of Santa Anna's release that he should do this, and though he was authentically liberated when he left Texas under a military escort, in fact he was a quasi prisoner until he left Washington. He carried out his part of the bargain and in private conversations with President Jackson gave the message that he had been sent to deliver and this was a powerful aid to the recognition of Texas which was accomplished during the last hours of the Jackson administration. sdct
The most interesting chapter in Santa Anna's memoirs is his account of the Texas campaign. These memoirs were written nearly forty years after, and many of the details had escaped him, yet he is not faithful in his relation of major events. The following is an abstract of the 7th chapter of "My Memoirs, Written in My Last Exile":
I assembled and organized the expeditionary army of Texas at Saltillo. The filibusterers who believed that we would not return to Texas were greatly surprised at seeing us, and ran frightened to the Alamo. On that day, the fortress had a garrison of six hundred men, whose commander was named N. [W.] Travis, of great renown among the filibusterers. The so-called General, Samuel Houston, in a letter which I intercepted, said to the famous Travis:
'Take courage, and hold out at all risk; I am coming to your aid with 2000 splendid men, and eight well mounted cannons"
The filibusterers defended themselves obstinately, and gave no sign of surrender, and died fighting. Not one was left alive, but among us they put out more than a thousand.
General Urrea completely defeated Col. Fancy [Fannin], who came out to meet him at Goliad with 1500 men. Urrea announced his triumph in a dispatch which ended: "Since the adventurers who entered Texas armed to further the revolution of the colonists are outside the law, the prisoners have been shot." General Sesma followed Houston's tracks and from the Colorado sent me a dispatch: "Nothing is happening. The filibusterer Houston, with his gang, is still on the other side of the river." The chief of the filibusterers, on hearing of the nearness of the Mexicans, disappeared. The campaign should come to an end before the spring floods, which made it necessary to advance rapidly. Between the enemy and me was the copious Brazos River, and five leagues beyond, in the little village of Arrisburg [Harrisburg], was located the government of the so-called Republic of Texas. I marched toward this place, with six companies of grenadiers, and a small cannon.
In one night we crossed the prairie, and were approaching the houses when a gun was accidently discharged, which aroused the dogs, and frightened the officials, who ran to hide themselves in a little steamer which as a precaution they had in the Arroyo del Bufalo, with engine fired. In the residence of I. Bonnen [David Burnet], the titular President of Texas, there was found correspondence from Houston, who was in low spirits. In one letter, he wrote: "My men are deserting in platoons, believing the cause lost. This obliges me to seek the protection on Galveston Island until a more opportune time. I will make use of the first vessel that enters the San Jacinto River." I immediately ordered Filisola, whom I had left at Thompson's Pass, on the Brazos, to march to me with all his strength. I had left him two written orders:
"First: That he should not send me anv written dispatches, nor any correspondence which the enemy could intercept. Second: That after the arrival of Urrea's brigade, he should force his marches, and overtake me. These orders, dictated with so much foresight and opportuneness, did not prevent the lamentable event which Filisola's disobedience was to bring about. He seemed to have deliberately determined to disgrace a happy campaign which was nearing its end. Appreciating the situation, I did not lose a single hour. I looked for Houston, and found him along the banks of the San Jacinto River, under the shelter of the forest, ready to retire to Galveston. I resolved to delay him, affording time for Filisola's arrival, and camped in sight.
I was awaiting impatiently, when Cos arrived with 300 men. Seeing my orders disobeyed, and foreseeing disaster, I determined to countermarch the same day, and try Filisola, and receive reinforcements. But it was already late. The evil was done. The disobedient Filisola had sent me information from Mexico by one of his aides, who before reaching my camp was intercepted, and when put to torture, told all he knew. Houston was then advised of the superiority of his forces, and decided to attack. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, April 21st, I had fallen to sleep in the shade of an oak, hoping that the heat would moderate, so that I could begin the march, when the filibusterers surprised my camp, with admirable skill. Imagine my surprise on opening my eyes, and finding myself surrounded by these people, threatening me with their rifles. The responsibility of Filisola was obvious, because he and only he had caused such a catastrophe by his criminal disobedience.
Samuel Houston treated me in a way that could not have been hoped for. His humane and generous conduct contrasted severely with that of Filisola. I have always recalled with emotions of gratitude how much I owed to this singular man, in the saddest moments of my life. Shortly afterward, Houston went to New Orleans for treatment, and left me in charge of a so-called general named Rox (Rusk). This wicked man was cruel to me, but when Houston returned, he characterized Rox's conduct as barbarous, and with touching words, bade me forget it. On taking leave of me, Houston said,
"General, you are no longer a prisoner. Before returning to your country, I ask you to visit President Jackson, my protector and friend. He will receive you well, for he desires to see you."
In that helpless state, and in despair of getting away from the filibusterers, any refusal seemed imprudent, and with good grace I complied with his wishes. He recounts his visit to Washington, and says President Jackson repeated:
"Mexico, on recognizing the Independence of Texas, will be indemnified with six million pesos."
I replied to him:
"To the Mexican Congress only belongs the right of deciding that question."
"El Presidente" landed at Vera Cruz on his return from Washington and the Texas campaign, February 23, 1837, after an absence of a little more than one year, and went directly to his plantation, where he announced his retirement from public life. He was received with every mark of respect, for his reverses seemed to have aroused more sympathy than censure among his fellow-countrymen, but he wisely sought a rest at Manga de Clavo, before venturing again into politics. When he went out in the Texas campaign, the year before, he had left General Barragan, his vice-president, as Chief Executive. Vice President Barragan died in March, 1836, while the Alamo was under siege, and Congress had named one Jose Corro Provisional President, pending Santa Anna's return, and this person was yet in authority when El Presidente came back. But while he was away, his old enemy, Bustamente, whom he had overthrown and sent into exile in 1832, had returned, and in June, 1837, while El Presidente was at his plantation, Bustamente was elected President of Mexico for a five-year term. El Presidente remained down on his plantation for the next two years, planning a repetition of his unseating of Bustamente. sdct
CAPTIVITY
Santa Anna: The Napoleon of the West by Frank C. Hanighen, 1934
Now follows one of the, most painful---and revelatory periods in our hero's life. In Mexico, enthroned in splendor as President or galloping about in the revolutions he emerges only as a pamphlet character---a stout hero to his partisans, a virile monster to his enemies. His military position, his quondam political offices, cast about him even in temporary defeat a mantle of grandeur, however tawdry. Balloon-like from the lips of the stiff figure emerge the lush, formal proclamations, the only recorded expressions of his thoughts. But vicissitudes among sharp analytical foreigners bring sketches and side-views---another dimension to make understandable his curious character.
After the battle, the dead for some reason---probably the almost boyish joy of the conquerors who could think of little else save their miraculous victory---were left on the field to decompose. The stench was so offensive and quite evidently so unhygienic that some measure obviously had to be taken. Santa Anna, eager to extenuate his behavior at the Alamo, suggested that the bodies be burned, maintaining that he always employed this method of disposing of the dead. But the Texans avoided the difficulty by moving their camp about nine miles north. The defeated President had good reason to volunteer excuses for his past policies for he came to realize now the true danger of his position. Relatives and friends of the Alamo and Goliad victims were clamoring for his execution of the fifteen men who escaped from the Fannin massacre "each one" as Caro the secretary puts it, "became a tiger in his persecution of us." Efforts were made to induce Caro to relate the true story of Urrea's and Santa Anna's exchange of notes in regard to the executions. If he had not kept loyally silent, his master might have faced a firing squad. Meanwhile Zavala, the Texan Vice-President, appeared and when his distinguished countryman attempted to start a cordial conversation with him, he not only administered a chilling snub, but informed him that he might expect the supreme chastisement for his crimes.
However, with the magnanimous Houston covering him with his protection and Rusk, the Minister of War, happy over his success in getting Santa Anna to order Filisola's retreat and eager for more concessions, His Excellency caught at the drifting straw of hope. As he later put it,
"in the critical position in which I was placed, this proposition was to me what the rays of lightning would be to a poor traveler, who having lost his way in a dark and stormy night, avails himself of the rapid flashes of light in order to trace an unknown path."
The proposition he referred to came from the zealous Rusk and stipulated that Texan independence should be recognized and the boundaries of the new republic should reach to the Rio Grande. Also, indemnities were to be paid to Texans for lives and properties lost, all prisoners to be exchanged, the Mexicans to leave the country and the United States to act as intermediary and referee to see that all these provisions be observed. Santa Anna should be held as an hostage until these terms should be fulfilled. Otherwise---execution. Harsh demands, but obviously open to modification and Santa Anna, scenting a chance to barter and haggle, brightened up. The party which had dealt with the retreating Filisola had come back bringing with them the Mexican General Woll who pretended that he wished to negotiate further about matters, but whose real purpose was to spy on the condition of the Texans. Houston, divining this and intending that the Mexican forces should not know the real nature and extent of the Texan strength, held him as a prisoner, just as he was about to return to his army.
General Adrian Wall, who was quite a personality, led a punitive expedition into San Antonio, in the autumn of 1842, with about 3,000 hand picked Guardia Nacional and regular army personnel. The Mexican force, politely put, destroyed the Texian resistance, entering andexitting. demanding and receiving massive amounts of gunpowder, cannon, and military gear. (El Gringo Viejo's observation)
But the negotiations went on and there was to follow an opportunity for Santa Anna to gain time and to give full scope to his ability at parleys. For on the 5th of May it was deemed best for the distinguished captive to go on board the steamship Yellowstone together with Houston, Rusk, Burnet and the whole Texan Government, and travel to Galveston Island. Finding accommodations bad there, they repaired to Velasco, principal port of the new Republic, a better stage for the diplomatic drama. One of the passengers gave a very good picture of him on this voyage---a revealing character sketch:
He indulged in a singular self-delusion in regard to his own infallibility; for when talking of his reverses of fortune, he attributed all to a blind and wayward destiny, a tyranny over which human wisdom and human power had no influence. 'For,' said he, 'the same troops who fled in terror and dismay at your first fire, only the day before, the united efforts of myself and others could scarcely restrain from attacking you. They were old soldiers, fought bravely with me in Zacatecas, were familiar with and had been fearless of danger in all its shapes. It was destiny.' After the armistice was entered into and he was permitted to hope that his life would be spared, his conversation assumed a tone of gaiety little to be expected in one who had suffered such a sad reverse….He displayed great diplomatic skill, firmly (at first) opposing every measure by which Mexico was likely to suffer, and Texas be benefited, declaring that he had no such power, but finally giving a reluctant assent.
His conversation, afterwards, turned upon matters indifferently, in the discussion of which he displayed a strong and versatile mind, and very general historical and political information. He never spoke of military matters, or the relative merits of his officers, except on one or two occasions, referring very contemptuously to General Cos (Martin, as he called him). He professed a warm admiration of female character, and said 'women were the gravy of society.' In passing down the bayou from San Jacinto to Patrick's he made a great many observations upon the scenery along the river and seemed sensibly alive to the force of natural beauty. It was his invariable custom to send his compliments to General Houston and to inquire into the state of his wound every morning.
Well he might, for it was Houston who stood as a protector between Santa Anna and the bloodthirsty horde yelling for vengeance. His protection of the Mexican President and his support of the treaties which Rusk was drawing up seems to have been an attitude representing a combination of generosity and policy. It is perhaps improbable that he placed much reliance on Santa Anna's promises to recognize Texan independence or his power to enforce such measures if he could do anything about them. More likely is it that the shrewd old Indian fighter deemed it silly to kill this famous man and so to draw down on the young republic European and American censure when there was a bare possibility that some bargain might be made out of the preservation of his life. Rusk drafted two treaties, one a severe and drastic document for public consumption, the other a secret one which Santa Anna was to sign and stand by. The first required that hostilities should cease, that the Mexicans should retire beyond the Rio Grande, that property taken should be returned (a modification of the indemnity demand which undoubtedly Santa Anna had gained in the parleys). More important in the eyes of the suspicious Texans who would peruse this treaty, Santa Anna should agree not to take up arms against the Texans in the future and should be sent to Vera Cruz "as soon as may be thought proper."
The secret treaty which the illustrious prisoner was to sign made no mention of property but required the Mexicans to retire beyond the Rio Grande. Other provisions reveal how much the sharp Mexican had obtained in concessions from his captors. Instead of recognizing the new Republic, Santa Anna was to "prepare" things in the cabinet at Mexico for the reception of a Texan mission to negotiate a treaty. But most important of all for the impatient captive, "The present return of General Santa Anna to Vera Cruz being indispensable for the purpose of effecting his solemn engagements, the Government of Texas will provide for his immediate embarkation for said port."
But at this point our hero overstepped himself. Having regained some of his old confidence and nourishing this on the fuss which Rusk and other officials were making to get him to sign, he became insolent and balked at placing the signature to the secret treaty, alleging that his word of honor and good faith were sufficient. This produced uproar in the Texan cabinet and instead of impressing them as Santa Anna had meant, it made them all very angry at the troublesome captive and strengthened the proponents of execution. Seeing how matters lay, His Excellency yielded and affixed his florid rubric to the document. But he had lost the good will of most of his protectors. Together with Nuñez, Almonte, and Caro, he was now lodged not in the state-rooms of the steamboat but in a small room in Velasco with a sentinel outside whose presence suggested, under the circumstances, less detention than protection from mob violence. For it was only after the utmost difficulty that the moderates prevailed and made arrangements to place him on a ship in the harbor, the Invincible, preparatory to sending him to Vera Cruz. But on the morning of June 1st, just as he was to be taken on board, the soldiery rebelled and Rusk had to devote several hours to pacifying them. In the afternoon a storm came up---ominous threat of what was to follow---and Santa Anna was hurriedly taken on board, aided by Zavala who had by this time begun to have his troubles with the Texans and was then about to be ousted as Vice-President.
Perhaps mindful of this situation he became conciliatory towards his former enemy and aided him in his plans. On board the Invincible our hero, his impressionable soul moved, dictated a premature proclamation to the Texans expressing gratitude:
"My Friends: I have been a witness of your courage on the field of battle, and know you to be generous. Rely with confidence on my sincerity and you shall never have cause to regret the kindness shown me. In returning to my native land, I beg you to receive the sincere thanks of your grateful friend.
Farewell! Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna."
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You all will see that this is neither an anti or pro-Mexican missive, nor is it at this printing designed to evoke sympathy for a tyrant, the equivalent of Pol Pot or Chou En Lai. To-morrow we shall delve into the Life after Texas of this disgusting demagogue.
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