Mexican soldiers divide and lose Texas.
Outnumbered six to one, there was no way Texas should have defeated Mexico in Spring 1836. But, despite the defeat at the Alamo and other losses, they soundly routed them all because of one tactical error.
Texas had declared its independence just five days before the Alamo, which was the worse defeat in the fledgling state’s brief history. Twenty-one days later, an even worse defeat, the Goliad Massacre left 342 men dead. Between the Alamo falling and the death of Colonel James Fannin and his men, Texas also suffered defeats at the battles of Coleto and Refugio. They knew they couldn’t face the Mexican Army with the forces they had.
An additional problem faced was that the Mexican Army fought in a European style, using battle lines. The depleted, irregular Texan troops did not have the discipline nor experience to stand up to them. General Houston knew this, and it worried him. In one battle he allowed his men to be backed up to the Colorado River before ordering a retreat.
The retreat began what became known as the Runaway Scrape. Texas troops completely withdrew. They faced a merciless, ignoble death at the hands of the Mexican troops who viewed them little better than criminals. The Mexican army followed burning farms, ranches, and settlements, pillaging as they went. The civilian population followed the defeated troops., cities, and pillage were acceptable tactics. Terror and death and wet, wet roads awaited the civilian population as they fled before the Mexican Army. The only thing that saved the revolution was the Mexican general’s impatience.
With victory in sight, it was then that Santa Anne, the Mexican general made his fatal mistake. Sure of his victory and impatient to complete it, Santa Anne allowed his troops to divide. He may have felt that the near defeated Texas rebels would be unable to face even a divided force. But his move allowed Houston to corner one faction between the Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River. Houston’s troops were victorious and finally, the tide turned to the Texan’s advantage.