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We start with a look at the troops fighting on both sides. On the Texian side we have a mix of frontiersmen, farmers and volunteers including many from the United States. On the Mexican side we have a regular army, but one with rather poorly trained conscript infantry.
The battles chosen all come during the Mexican counter attack of 1836, and as you would expect include the Alamo and San Jacinto.
The biggest surprise for me about the Alamo is just how short the siege was, and how short the final battle was. The entire siege only lasted just over one week, the final assault just over an hour. Mexican losses were surprisingly low for a force attacking a fortification where the defenders had had months to prepare for an attack.
The second clash, at Coleto Creek, came during Santa Anna’s advance across Texas, which saw him come very close to defeating the Texan rebels. The clash itself saw rather more even numbers involved – 382 Texians vs 500 Mexican cavalry and 200 infantry. The Texians formed a hollow square, a familiar image from Napoleonic warfare, but increasingly rare by this period. On this occasion the Texians were able to hold out for a day, despite repeated Mexican attacks, but were forced to surrender on the following day when Mexican artillery reached the scene.
We finish with the battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle of the war. After the earlier defeats the Texian government was on the run (end up on an offshore island), and the surviving army under Sam Houston was in retreat. However Houston picked his ground well, Santa Anna became overly complacent, and the resulting battle was a smashing Texian victory. We get a good account of this two day battle, supported by two maps that help make sense of the terrain of the battlefield.
Chapters
The Opposing Sides
The Alamo
Coleto Creek
San Jacinto
Analysis
Author: Ron Field
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 80
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2023