Dear Sam Houston,

Thank you for coming to our school. The reason we are sending you this letter with questions is we want to learn more about you. We're from Willie Brown Elementary in Mansfield, Texas in Mrs Ingram's 4th grade class.  Our names are Alisa Browning, Justin Lee, Jamie Ivens, and Christian Hitchcock.  These are our questions.  1. Why did you let Santa Anna go? 2. What was it like seeing your men die? 3. How was it like riding to Santa Anna's camp? Were you scared, nervous, or calm? 4. Who made the flag that said ''Come and take it''? 5. Did you have better supplies than Santa Anna? 6. How nervous were you when you almost won the battle against Santa Anna? 7. Were you frustrated when Santa Anna slaughtered your men? 8. Was it hard walking through the rain, sleet, and snow? 9. Why did your men disobey your orders by killing surrendering troops? 10. Were you as confident as your soldiers about winning the battle? 11.Why did you get your nickname? Did you like it? We are done with the questions we hope you  give us a lot of information so we can put this on our website about you and Stephen F. Austin.

                                                                         Sincerely,

                                                                    Jamie Ivens, Alisa Browning, Justin Lee, and Christian Hitchcock.

                                                              P.S. We worked really hard we hope you like our questions.    

Dear Jamie Ivens, Alisa Browning, Justin Lee, and Christian Hitchcock,

You sent some good questions.  Let me know how I can find your website.

1.  Why did you let Santa Anna go? 

A.  I did not let him go for a long time.  We kept him a prisoner in

Texas for seven months, and then sent him to the United States.  But I

would not let my men execute him, because he was so valuable as a

hostage.  As my prisoner, he ordered his other three armies to retreat

back into Mexico, thereby ending the fighting and insuring that the war

finally was over.

2.  What was it like seeing your men die?

7.  Were you frustrated when Santa Anna slaughtered your men?

A.  Fortunately I did not personally see that many of my men die.  About

two hundred Texians and Tejanos died with Travis and Bowie at the Alamo.

More than three hundred were executed with Fannin at Goliad.  But I was

not at either place to witness those tragic deaths.

                Still, just hearing about them made me very angry.  Many of

those men, especially Colonel James Bowie, were close friends of mine.

                Fortunately, at the battle of San Jacinto, only nine Texians

were killed, and only another twenty-five--including me!--were wounded.

3.  How was it like riding to Santa Anna's camp?  Were you scared,

nervous, or calm? 

6. How nervous were you when you almost won the battle against Santa

Anna?

A.  Of course I was nervous.  Maybe I was even scared.  But I had to act

calm while I was leading my men across that great, grassy prairie to win

the most important battle in Texas history. 

4.  Who made the flag that said ''Come and take it''?

A.  I had heard that some of the women in the town of Gonzales made that

flag just before the battle that occurred there on October 2, 1835.  It

was a minor battle that started the war for Texas Independence.  But

someone else told me that the flag was made by Colonel John Moore, the

man who commanded the Texian force at Gonzales.

5.  Did you have better supplies than Santa Anna?

A.  My supplies were not much better than his.  As we retreated

eastward, we took what we could from the towns and farms, and then

burned them behind us, so Santa Anna's following army could not benefit

from what we left behind.

                After the battle of San Jacinto, when Santa Anna was brought

before me as a prisoner, he asked me how I had been able to beat him.  I

showed him a partially eaten ear of corn, and told him, "Sir, do you

expect to conquer men fighting for freedom whose general can march for

four days with one ear of corn for his rations."

                I then gave that ear of corn to my men and told them to take a

kernel home and plant it.  "Call it San Jacinto corn," I told them, "for

it will remind you of your own bravery." 

8. Was it hard walking through the rain, sleet, and snow?

A.  It was Santa Anna's army that had to march through sleet and snow.

On February 13, 1836, as the Mexican Army of Operations was advancing

northward to recapture Texas, a terrible blizzard swept down upon them.

                I did not take command of a Texian army until March 11.  By then

most of the cold weather had ended.  But it turned into a very wet

spring.  The heavy rains flooded all the rivers and creeks which became

very difficult to cross. All the land turned into deep mud through which

we had to march and drag our wagons and cannons, so our progress was

very slow.    

9.  Why did your men disobey your orders by killing surrendering troops?

A.  Early in the war, when the Texians captured the Mexican garrisons at

Goliad and San Antonio, we treated the prisoners well and sent them all

back to Mexico.

                However Santa Anna did not believe in taking prisoners.  He

killed the men at the Alamo and Goliad.  The men who died at those

places were friends or family of many of the men in my army.  My men

were very angry at Santa Anna and his soldados.  Early in the battle of

San Jacinto it seemed that my men had learned from Santa Anna how not to

take prisoners.  About half of his army was killed at San Jacinto, and

almost all of the rest were taken prisoner. 

10. Were you as confident as your soldiers about winning the battle?

A.  At the battle of San Jacinto, I had about 900 men against Santa

Anna's army of nearly 1,500.  Despite those odds, prior to the battle I

told my men, "Our victory is certain."  I hope I believed that.

11.  Why did you get your nickname?  Did you like it?

A.  I had several nicknames.  Some, such as "The Raven" and "Old Sam

Jacinto" I liked.  But there were some other nicknames I did not care

for.

Regards,

Gen'l Sam Houston