Santa Anna galloped off the field at San Jacinto on the fastest horse he could find. His destination
was Vince’s Bridge, which “Deaf” Smith and his fellow scouts had demolished earlier
that day. Unable to cross Sims’s Bayou—His Excellency could not swim and was deathly
afraid of water—he abandoned his horse and spent a miserable night hovering in the swamp.
On April 22, rebel search parties scoured the countryside for Mexican soldiers who had
escaped the battle. One of these discovered Santa Anna crouching in the weeds and took
him into custody. Because he had been careful to strip himself of all signs of rank, the
members of the search party could not know their prisoner’s identity. Not until they
observed other Mexican prisoners paying him deference, did the Texians realized they had
captured a high ranking officer. Only later did they learn that they had captured the
highest ranking Mexican of them all. Texian soldiers roughly hauled Santa Anna
before the wounded Houston. Through an interpreter, Santa Anna complimented his rival: “That
man may consider himself born to no common destiny who has conquered the Napoleon of
the West. And now it remains for him to be generous to the vanquished.”
Houston snarled: “You should have remembered that at the Alamo.”
Houston, however, did not execute Santa Anna—although, to be sure, many of his soldiers urged him
to. Ever the politician, he realized that a captive tyrant could be a powerful diplomatic
card. Furthermore, Houston feared that Generals Filisola and Urrea, who still greatly outnumbered
his force, might launch their own attacks. Texians has achieved a minor miracle; their
general doubted they could do it twice. In return for his life, Santa Anna dispatched
orders for Filisola to retire to Victoria. In consultation with his subordinates, Filisola
had already made that decision independent of Santa Anna’s orders. On April 23, news
of Santa Anna’s defeat and capture reached Filisola at Old Fort. On April 25, he called
a council of war at Elizabeth Powell’s tavern. Urrea and the other generals present agreed
to establish communications with the Mexican government. At that juncture, the movement
was a strategic withdrawal. Filisola had every intention of continuing the campaign after
the army had regrouped and refitted at Victoria. Now that the Mexican army was in full retreat,
Texas officials could take advantage of the opportunity that having the Mexican dictator
in their clutches provided. On May 14, 1836, ad interim president David G. Burnet and the
captive Santa Anna signed two treaties at Velasco. The parties agreed to release the
public treaty immediately. The other, a secret covenant, would go into effect only when both
sides had satisfied the terms of the public treaty.
The public treaty contained ten articles. They specified that:
•hostilities would cease •Santa Anna would never again take up arms
against Texas •Mexican forces would retire to a point
below the Rio Grande • Mexicans would return all Texian property
they had confiscated •the belligerents would exchange prisoners
on an equal basis •officials of the Republic of Texas would
return Santa Anna to Mexico with all convenient speed
• and, the Texas army would not approach closer than five leagues to the retreating
Mexicans. The Secret Treaty contained six articles.
They specified that: •the Texas government assure the immediate
release of Santa Anna with the understanding that he attempt to procure acknowledgment
of Texas independence from the Mexican government • Santa Anna swear never again to make war
against Texas, •Santa Anna give orders for withdrawal of
Mexican troops from Texas • Santa Anna work to have the Mexican cabinet
receive a Texas mission favorably •and Santa Anna would work for a treaty
of commerce and limits specifying that the Texas boundary not lie south of the Rio Grande.
On May 26, Filisola, in accordance with the public treaty, began the retreat of the Mexican
army toward Victoria. Yet, what awaited the Mexican soldados was worse than anything they
had experienced. During the march, it began to rain. By the time they reached the San
Bernard River the boggy ground made any kind of travel all but impossible. The Mexicans
recalled the area as the “Mar de Lodo”—the Sea of Mud. Men sank to their knees; each
step became an ordeal. The men began to jettison everything that weighed them down: shells,
round shot, canister, and even entire boxes of nails. To make matter worse, many came
down with dysentery. The Mar de Lodo sapped what morale the army had left. Filisola always
maintained that it was not the rebels who defeated the once proud Army of Operations,
but the “inclemency of the season . . . made still more unattractive by the rigor of the
climate and the character of the land.” Consequently, Filisola retreated not only
to Victoria, but across the Rio Grande. Many in the army condemned his actions, but there
was little doubt that he had made the prudent choice.
Fearing that President Burnet might release Santa Anna, rogue elements of the Texas army
took the dictator into their own custody. All of this against the orders of Burnet and
his cabinet. The army steadfastly refused to follow the command of the civilian authorities.
It became a real possibility that a military cabal might soon take control of the government.
The actions of theses firebrands prevented Burnet and his officials from carrying out
the terms of the secret treaty. But it was a moot point. On May 20 the Mexican
Congress declared all of Santa Anna's acts done while a captive null and void. Both governments
violated the Velasco treaties. Notwithstanding Santa Anna’s facile assurances, the government
of Mexico refused to recognize the independence of Texas Republic, nor acknowledge its southern
border as the Rio Grande. As far as Mexicans officials were concerned San Jacinto was merely
an unfortunate setback. Tejas was, they asserted, still part of the Mexican federation. A state
in rebellion perhaps, but nonetheless one they would reconquer as soon as circumstances
permitted. The war was over—at least for the moment—but hostilities were not.
The independence of the Texas Republic was far from secure.