Antonio de Padua MarÃa Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón ( 21 February 1794 â 21 June 1876), usually known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, was a Mexican politician and general. His influence on post-independence Mexican politics and government in the first half of the nineteenth century is such that historians of Mexico often refer to it as the “Age of Santa Anna”. He has been called “the Man of Destiny”. Although initially in the post-independence period he identified as a federalist and participated in a coup that ousted the conservatives in 1833, he became increasingly conservative. Elected President in 1833, López de Santa Anna declined to serve and retired to his home state and power base of Veracruz, a pattern that was to repeat itself until his ouster in 1855.
In 1835 the Anglo-American settlers in Texas were not paying taxes to Mexico so López de Santa Anna marched north to bring Texas back under Mexican rule.
At the Battle of the Alamo, López de Santa Anna’s forces killed 189 Texan insurgents on 6 March 1836 and executed more than 342 Texan prisoners at the Goliad Massacre on 27 March 1836. These executions were conducted in a manner similar to the executions he witnessed of Mexican rebels in the 1810s as a young soldier.
In the fall of 1835, a free African-American woman from Connecticut named Emily D. West signed a one-year contract with Colonel James Morgan to work as a housekeeper in New Washington (later known as Morganâs Point), a small settlement in Texas. In mid-April 1836, Mexican troops commanded by General Antonio López de Santa Anna arrived at New Washington. After looting and burning the settlement, Santa Anna and his soldiers forced Emily West to accompany them when they left several days later. According to legend, West was in Santa Annaâs tent on April 21, when Sam Houstonâs Texian Army charged the Mexican camp in the Battle of San Jacinto. The Texans defeated the Mexicans in just 18 minutes. Some believed West was acting as a Texian spy, and had intentionally helped the rebel cause by keeping Santa Anna occupied before the attack.
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