While flannelled fools disported themselves in Houston, those of more
serious purpose took ourselves off to the San Jacinto battlefield, some
twenty miles away.
The obelisk on the site is 570-feet high, 15 feet higher than the
Washington monument but, as the local guidebook says, 'this IS Texas'.
The battle of San Jacinto, which finally won Texan independence from
Mexico, took place here on 21 April 1836, when Sam Houston's small force
routed the army of Santa Anna, the Mexican dictator.
We
enjoyed the film show and the exhibits in the glass cases around us but
the highlight was the expert Bill Rudersdorf had organised for us. A
direct descendant of Captain Jesse Billingsley, a hero of the battle, he
arrived wearing the uniform of a Texan soldier from the period. He
looked magnificent. Slouch hat, full suit of fringed buckskin, long
flintlock rifle, foodbag slung over his shoulder, enormous Bowie knife,
large and small powder flasks - the full regalia. He took us through the
background of the period and the battle itself, pointing out where the
opposing forces had camped and the route of the Texan advance.
What
enthralled us most was his demonstration of what he wore and carried.
Selecting a sharp pointed stick, he asked one of our number to try and
force it though the buckskin he wore. A tentative embarrassed prod
turned into a less reluctant good hard push but the buckskin resisted
them both. (Unable to believe my eyes, I tried as well but to no avail.
The British army has been looking for material like this for centuries!)
He showed us the fearsome Bowie knife, the contents of his small pack
and demonstrated the loading drill of his long flintlock (fine powder
from the small powder-horn for the flash-pan; coarser powder, wadding
and ball for the barrel). With a rifled bore, and a surprisingly good
balance for its length, it was far more accurate than the smooth-bore
muskets used by the Mexicans and was lethal at four times their range.
It was a splendid trip and one Wodehousean at least went back to the
UK with a note to amend his various dictionaries of quotations. I have
known the famous battle-cry "Remember the Alamo" all my life
but none of my dictionaries could tell me who said it first. At San
Jacinto, I learned the answer - Captain Jesse Billingsley. A long way to
go to verify a reference, but worth every mile.
We
enjoyed the film show and the exhibits in the glass cases around us but
the highlight was the expert Bill Rudersdorf had organised for us. A
direct descendant of Captain Jesse Billingsley, a hero of the battle, he
arrived wearing the uniform of a Texan soldier from the period. He
looked magnificent. Slouch hat, full suit of fringed buckskin, long
flintlock rifle, foodbag slung over his shoulder, enormous Bowie knife,
large and small powder flasks - the full regalia. He took us through the
background of the period and the battle itself, pointing out where the
opposing forces had camped and the route of the Texan advance.
What
enthralled us most was his demonstration of what he wore and carried.
Selecting a sharp pointed stick, he asked one of our number to try and
force it though the buckskin he wore. A tentative embarrassed prod
turned into a less reluctant good hard push but the buckskin resisted
them both. (Unable to believe my eyes, I tried as well but to no avail.
The British army has been looking for material like this for centuries!)
He showed us the fearsome Bowie knife, the contents of his small pack
and demonstrated the loading drill of his long flintlock (fine powder
from the small powder-horn for the flash-pan; coarser powder, wadding
and ball for the barrel). With a rifled bore, and a surprisingly good
balance for its length, it was far more accurate than the smooth-bore
muskets used by the Mexicans and was lethal at four times their range.