Together Again
The San Jacinto Battle Flags
Texas won its independence from Mexico on April 21, 1836, at the Battle of San Jacinto. For the first time since that 18 minute epic encounter, the five known San Jacinto battle flags remaining in Texas were brought together at the Bullock Museum in the spring and summer of 2016.
A battalion’s flag was the standard to which troops rallied and a source of pride, a visual reminder of what the men were fighting for. Four of the flags are Mexican, taken following the battle by Texas troops. The capture of a flag could leave a regiment’s morale devastated. For the victor, the flag became a war trophy, proof that the enemy had been vanquished.
All four Mexican battle flags were based on the design of the Mexican national flag, honoring Mexico’s past, present, and future. Although differing in size and shape, each featured green, white, and red stripes, along with the eagle and snake. Celebrating Mexican independence from Spain, the green stripe symbolized independence and hope. White represented the purity of the Catholic faith. Red stood for the Spanish who joined the revolution and the blood spilled by Mexican heroes. To represent the past, Mexico placed an eagle devouring a snake, balanced on a prickly pear cactus, in the center. Centuries ago, an Aztec god was said to have shown the people the exact location to found their empire — where they saw an eagle perched in the middle of a Lake Texcoco. There the Aztecs created canals and islands to build the city of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.
Matamoros Battalion Flag, 1823
The Matamoros Battalion flag was flown at all three key 1836 Texas Revolution battles: the Alamo, Coleto Creek, and San Jacinto. Embroidered with “Batallon Matamoros Permanente,” it was carried by the Republic of Mexico’s standing — or permanent — army. The battalion was named for Father Mariano Matamoros, a military commander during Mexico’s revolution against Spain.
During the Texas Revolution, the Matamoros battalion attacked the south wall of the Alamo, both inflicting and suffering heavy losses. Then the unit and flag marched east to fight the Texian army during the battle of Coleto Creek. At San Jacinto, the battalion was stationed in the middle of the Mexican camp. Colonel José María Romero, leader of the Matamoros Battalion, was arrested following his defeat and this flag captured.
Mexican Tricolor Guidon, ca. 1836
A guidon is a small banner or streamer carried during battle as a guide for marking troop placement, identification, and signaling.
This guidon, made of silk and linen, was carried into battle by men of the Permanente Tampico and Guanajuato Territorial regiments. The Tampico regiment guarded Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Upon the Mexican Army’s defeat at San Jacinto, the flag was taken from outside Santa Anna’s tent by a member of General Sam Houston’s staff, Percy Henry Brewster. Brewster was a Texas Army volunteer from South Carolina. After working for Houston, he found continued success as a prominent Texas statesman, Confederate Colonel, and San Antonio attorney.
Toluca Battalion Flag, 1830s
The Toluca Battalion, 400 men strong and one of the most prestigious fighting units in the Mexican army, fought under this flag. While positioning themselves to storm the north wall of the Alamo just before daylight on March 6, 1836, the battalion woke the Texian army. The Mexicans were fired upon point blank and suffered heavy losses. After losing their leader to injury, the unit regrouped and scaled the north wall into the Alamo compound to victory.
Because of its elite fighting status, General Santa Anna then ordered the Toluca battalion to accompany him as he pursued General Sam Houston’s retreating army. On April 20, the Toluca advanced into the woods near Lynch’s Ferry on the San Jacinto River to disrupt the Texian troops who had found cover there. In retaliation, Houston ordered the first firing of the Twin Sisters cannons, which had only arrived nine days earlier. The Toluca Battalion retreated. The next day, it was decimated by hand-to-hand combat. This silk flag, badly damaged in the fighting, was captured.
Guerrero Battalion Flag, 1833
This light-weight silk Mexican flag is inscribed with the words “Pe. Batallon Guerrero.” “Pe.” is abbreviated from “Permanente,” signifying a standing or regular army. In addition to the standard red, white and green stripes with an eagle, the flag᾽s design also includes oak and laurel branches symbolizing strength and victory. Named for the Mexican revolutionary hero, Vincente Guerrero, the battalion became part of the Republic of Mexico’s national army in 1823. By the time of the Texas Revolution, it had become a fierce fighting force.
In 1836, the Guerrero Battalion was part of the Second Infantry Brigade, sent to reinforce General Santa Anna’s army following its heavy losses at the Alamo. The battalion arrived at the San Jacinto camp on the morning of April 21, 1836 after a 24 hour forced march. Exhausted, the men were resting when, at about 4:30 p.m., bugles sounded the alarm that General Sam Houston’s army was attacking. The fighting lasted only 18 minutes. Most of the men of the battalion were killed and this flag, reported to be drenched in blood, was seized.
Rains pounded Texas during the spring battles of 1836. As flags like this one became wet and bloodied, damage occurred. To make silks heavier and stiffer, during the 1800s they were often soaked in mineral salts. Absorbed into the fabric, the salts made it brittle, speeding the deterioration process over time. This flag has undergone conservation treatment to preserve as much of the original silk as possible.
Newport Rifles Company Battle Flag, ca. 1835–36
This is the only existing flag carried by the Texian army at the Battle of San Jacinto to remain in Texas. The charging Lady Liberty with sword drawn and “Liberty or Death” emblazoned on her sash originally had a blue background. The Newport Rifles of Kentucky, a 52-man company of volunteers carried the flag into battle. Before their departure for Texas, the unit received the flag from the ladies of Newport, Kentucky who had the painting of Liberty done by the 22 year old artist, James Henry Beard.
Led by Captain Sidney Sherman, the volunteer soldiers’ journey to Texas was not easy. They left Kentucky aboard the steamer Augusta on December 31, 1835 in the middle of a snowstorm. They traveled down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, then up the Red River to Natchitoches, Louisiana. The unit reached Texas later in January and proceeded to San Felipe, Texas. There, the Newport soldiers became part of the First Texas Regiment. As the number of volunteers grew, Sherman quickly rose to the rank of Colonel and received command of the Second Regiment of Texas Volunteers. It was Sherman who began the attack at San Jacinto, and who is credited with shouting the battle cry, “Remember the Alamo!”
After the battle, the Newport volunteers returned this flag to Sherman and his family. His three daughters gave the tattered silk to the State of Texas on August 8, 1896. Usually displayed in the Texas House of Representatives when it is in session, the San Jacinto battle flag has undergone several conservation treatments since the 1930s. Little remains of the original flag, but it has a place of honor as a Texas treasure.
Though the flags are no longer on display at the Museum, you can continue to access information about them and more than 100 other artifacts in our online artifact gallery.
