Publisher's Synopsis
Drawing upon Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy's Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, Texas historian Clarence Wharton defined the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto-when Mexican Emperor Santa Anna and his army were driven out of that huge southern region-as the sixteenth most decisive battle in world history.
Set against the backdrop of the defense of the Alamo by William Travis, and the subsequent Mexican massacre of American prisoners at Goliad, this work tells the story of the forty fateful days between the retreat from Gonzales and the epic battle at Lynchburg, now called San Jacinto.
Wharton points out that Creasy's stipulations for a "decisive battle" as those in which a contrary result "would have essentially varied the drama of the world."
As the author points out, had "the Mexican Commander consolidated his forces, the battle of San Jacinto could not have been won by the Patriot Army. Had he carefully selected his camp site and kept a diligent watch, the thin line of seven hundred and twenty odd infantry which surprised his camp in the mid-afternoon could not have reached the crest of the hill.
This new edition has been completely reset, and contains the entire text and all 41 illustrations-including three maps-which were included in the original work. It also has, for the first time, a complete index.
