San Jacinto Day and Aggie Muster - Today in History, April 21st

This Day in History:  April, 21 – San Jacinto Day, Aggie Muster

Today is a very cool day for me in several different ways – first as a Texan, second as an Aggie, and third as a nerd an amateur historian. 

As a Texan, April 21^st (1836) is a momentous day because it marks the victory at San Jacinto for Sam Houston and the Texas Army, effectively ending the Texas Revolution.  You should definitely read the full article on Wikipedia (it’s actually pretty good), which you can find here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto .  Just in case you’re more devoted to my blog than history, I’ll give you a brief run-down on what happened and why it's awesome. 

Mexico and ‘Texians’ (American settlers in the Mexican territory of Coahuila y Tejas) were increasingly at odds until armed conflict broke out at Gonzales (the ‘Concord and Lexington’ of Texas – google that if you don’t get what I’m talking about).  Anyway, the Texas Revolution begins a war of independence from October 1835 until April 1836.  After several conflicts of note, the Mexican army under their president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (several thousand soldiers) surrounded and besieged the Alamo at San Antonio de Bexar (modern day San Antonio) on February 23, 1836.  For thirteen days the small force of 180-200 men inside the Alamo held off the Mexican Army bombardment and small skirmishes, eventually losing a main assault early in the morning on March 6^th.  During that siege, a delegation of Texans drafted and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2^nd (Sam Houston’s birthday, coincidentally).

After the Alamo, Santa Anna split his force into several prongs in order to try to find and eliminate the Texas Army under Sam Houston.  Over the next month and a half, Houston continually retreated to the east (toward the Houston area) so that he could train his men and consolidate his ragtag military and engage the Mexicans on a good battlefield – this is what we know as the ‘Runaway Scrape.’  On April 20^th, two prongs of the Mexican Army (Santa Anna and Cos) caught up with the Texas Army at the San Jacinto River.  The Mexicans expected the Texans to retreat again and did not prepare to attack.  To their dismay the Texans mounted a surprise assault in the mid-afternoon on April 21^st and completely defeated the larger Mexican force in about 18 minutes.

Santa Anna disguised himself as a Mexican private and was captured immediately after the battle was over, hoping to escape the attention of the Texan leadership.  He was discovered and brought to Sam Houston who had suffered a gunshot wound in his ankle and was laying down at the time.  Houston exchanged Santa Anna’s freedom for Texas’ independence, ending the Texas Revolution and establishing Texas as a sovereign republic.  Therefore, April 21^st, 1836 is an awesome day for all Texans.

Now, as an Aggie, this day also holds a very special significance because it is the day on which we hold a celebration called ‘Muster’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muster_%28Texas_A&M_University%29).  On April 21^st (because of the immense importance of San Jacinto Day) Aggies all over the world get together to commemorate current and former students who have passed away in the previous year.  Loved ones gather during the ‘Roll Call of the Absent’ and as a list of the names of the deceased is read, their loved ones answer ‘here’.  It is a solemn time of celebration and remembrance, and one of the most moving traditions at A&M, of which there are many.  ‘Silver Taps’ is another similar tradition where students silently gather in the Academic Plaza on the A&M campus the first Tuesday of every month to honor current students who have died in the past month.  A special harmonized rendition of Taps is played and then a 21-gun salute is given for the deceased.

If you care to perpetuate the stereotype that A&M is a cult, please do so in an educated fashion by refraining from commenting until after you have studied up on what the traditions actually mean – you can find them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditions_of_Texas_A%26M_University .

Thanks, Gig ‘Em, and Remember the Alamo.

- nj