Santa Anna Loses Texas and Rises Again on One Leg
Mexico's most durable caudillo is captured at San Jacinto, loses a leg fighting the French, and returns to power eleven times
Quick facts
- Battle of San Jacinto
- 21 April 1836, lasted c. 18 minutes
- Santa Anna's presidencies
- Multiple terms, 1833-1855
- Lost leg
- Battle of Tampico, 1838, against French forces
- Final exile
- 1855
What happened
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who had joined the independence cause under the Plan of Iguala in 1821, led Mexican forces against Texian rebels in 1836, winning the Battle of the Alamo on 6 March but suffering a catastrophic defeat at San Jacinto on 21 April, where Sam Houston's army routed his forces in eighteen minutes. Santa Anna was captured and, to save his life, signed the Treaties of Velasco recognizing Texan independence, an agreement the Mexican government refused to honor. He returned to public life after losing a leg fighting a French invasion at Tampico in 1838, becoming a national hero once more, and went on to serve as president on separate occasions between 1833 and 1855, described by contemporaries as Mexico's quintessential caudillo, a strongman who moved between liberal and conservative politics as his fortunes required.
Why it matters
Santa Anna's repeated returns to power, despite presiding over Texas's loss in 1836 and Mexico's defeat in the war with the United States a decade later, illustrate how unstable early republican Mexico's politics were: no single defeat, however severe, permanently ended a caudillo's career if he retained a regional power base like Santa Anna's in Veracruz.
How we know
Mexican and Texan military records document the Alamo, San Jacinto, and the Treaties of Velasco; Santa Anna's subsequent presidencies are documented in Mexican government records through his final exile in 1855.
Sources
- The Mexican Revolution and the United States exhibit, Library of Congress. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (1794-1876) · Primary sourceloc.gov · The domain "loc.gov" is on our Primary source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas. The Texas Revolution · General sourcetshaonline.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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