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The Battle of San Jacinto

Certified Copies of Letters on the Sherman Flag by Edward Miles and Carrie Sherman Menard

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Letters on the Sherman Flag

(2) 

 

I was then under 20 years old unshaven [sic] of

light & delicate build[,] say 5 feet 5 in.[,] black hair,

Gray eyes. A Photographer in Galveston 1879, took

a good many of our pictures[.] I was in citizens dress,

a few of us had at that time the U.S. over-coat[.]

We were encamped along the South bank of (1)

the Buffalo Bayou in a grove of timber, opposite

Old River Mouth and about 400 yards above its junc-

tion with the San Jacinto on the opposite side. The

timber here was at the upper end of our line only

a few feet wide, bluff bank on the river and very

near the main road widening to about 400 yards ris-

ing gradually to the edge of the prairie (it was at

this point we buried our dead & near this also we

had the Mexican Prisoners who were the first to

identify Santa Anna as he was brought into Gen 1

Houston' Camp on the 22d April

The sun shone on us from the right side

in our rear

[(1) The bayou at the camp ground runs nearly north

hence they were on the South East]

The enemy were encamped in a small grove

very near a lake in their rear was also a marsh- a

prairie in front[.] [T]he ground in their front being

a little higher & covered with high serge grass and

some hog wallow[.] This lake of water connected with

the San Jacinto Bay & widening still to an arm of the

Galveston and between the Lake and the enemy's camp

was a deep grove of timber.

We advanced in a course East of South to

the attack taking advantage of the ground-forming

in line of battle out of reach of the enemy our

company acting as skirmishers[.] [W]hen about 70 yards

we delivered the fi[r]st fire and continued to advance-

The Enemy's shots passed over us like hail-This was

only however of short duration[.] [H]e became panic strick-

en leaving many of his dead and wounded on the ground-

in this boggy marsh in his rear the slaughter was great

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Certified Copies of Letters on the Sherman Flag by Edward Miles and Carrie Sherman Menard, The Battle of San Jacinto Notebook, The McArdle Notebooks, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.



Page last modified: June 2, 2016