James A. Sylvester's Official Report on the Capture of Santa Anna, Certified Copy from the Galveston Historical Society
Page 3 of 4
might have been retained by him.
At this juncture, a portion of my squad
came up, & as near as I can now recoll-
ect, consisted of Messrs Miles, Vermillion
& Thompson. Genl Santa Anna com-
plaining very much of fatigue, asked
to ride a portion of the way into Camp.
I think Mr. Miles proposed to dismount
& walk to a point of timber, while we,
with Santa Anna mounted on his
horse went around the head of the
ravine. When we again formed a junc-
tion, Mr. Miles requested him to dismount
and Santa Anna refused to do so, unless
I required it. I told him I had no
control over the horse, & he would have
to dismount, which he did.
I then took him behind me, & we all
proceeded to Camp, where I left him
with the Camp Guard. He was imme-
diately recognized by his own soldiers,
who were then prisoners in our Camp,
& was sent to Genl Houston’s Head Quar-
ters. When I returned to Camp (having
been sent for by Genl Houston) I was
ordered to report to Head Quarters in
person. I proceeded to the place — a wide
spreading Oak — & on presenting myself
to the General Houston, Gen. Santa An-
na immediately arose, & came forward
embraced me, & turning to Genl Hous-
ton & other officers returned me thanks
for my kindness while escorting him
into Camp, & told me I was his Savior.
The above is a brief synopsis of the
capture of Genl Santa Anna, from rec-
ollections of thirty-six years ago. There may
be some inaccuracies, but in the main,
the parts set forth are true.
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James A. Sylvester's Official Report on the Capture of Santa Anna, Certified Copy from the Galveston Historical Society, The Battle of San Jacinto Notebook, The McArdle Notebooks, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.