A private recalls the Battle of San Jacinto

Alfonso Steele, a Kentucky-born volunteer who joined the Texas cause in late 1835 at age 18, left one of the most vivid personal narratives of the Texas Revolution’s climactic battle. His account, later published and preserved in pamphlets and newspapers (including references to a 1917 Houston Chronicle piece), combines his direct experiences with the broader campaign. What follows is a realistic reconstruction grounded in historical records, Sam Houston’s official report, other veteran accounts, and established timelines while centering Steele’s voice and perspective for the personal, on-the-ground reality. 

The Long Road to San Jacinto (Late 1835 ~ April 20, 1836): In November 1835, Steele joined Captain Ephraim M. Daggett’s company of volunteers in Louisiana and crossed the Sabine River into Texas. They reached Washington-on-the-Brazos on New Year’s Day 1836. With independence not yet declared, the company disbanded. Steele stayed on, working at a hotel and grinding corn on a steel mill to make bread for the delegates who would soon sign the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2. 

A small force under Captain Joseph L. Bennett soon formed to relieve the Alamo. Steele joined them, but news of the Alamo’s fall reached the group at the Colorado River. They turned east and linked up with General Sam Houston’s retreating army near Beeson's Crossing. Bennett became lieutenant colonel; Steele served in Captain James Gillespie’s company under Colonel Sidney Sherman’s 2nd Regiment of Texas Volunteers. The army continued its strategic retreat eastward, shadowed by Santa Anna’s forces. 

Houston’s men crossed the Brazos River at Groce’s Landing using the steamboat Yellow Stone. They camped in the Brazos bottom opposite Groce’s, while Santa Anna’s troops were nearby at San Felipe. Scouts reported Mexican movements toward Harrisburg. The Texans marched on, crossing to the north side of Buffalo Bayou. Santa Anna had burned Harrisburg and moved ahead. At Harrisburg, the Texans left a guard (including William P. Luker) to protect civilians and property. The main force crossed the bayou, picked up Santa Anna’s trail, and marched through the night after crossing Vince’s Bayou. 

Steele recalled: “We crossed the bayou in a little old leaky boat, got on Santa Anna’s trail, and followed it till after we crossed Vince bayou, marching all night. About sunup we were halted to get something to eat...” 

Scouts warned that the enemy was just over the ridge. The Texans pressed on to the junction of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. While cooking beef, a Mexican force in a nearby grove fired harmlessly. Two Texans captured a Mexican sailboat loaded with flour, meal, and salt, the first bread many had eaten in days. They roasted dough in tin cups or ashes. 

In the afternoon of April 20, Sherman’s cavalry skirmished with Mexican horsemen; one Texan was wounded. The Mexicans brought up infantry, but Houston ordered a withdrawal to avoid a general engagement. That night and into April 21, the armies positioned themselves. Around 9 a.m. on the 21st, General Martín Perfecto de Cos arrived with about 500 reinforcements, bringing Santa Anna’s total to roughly 1200 to 1400 men. The Texans numbered about 900. 

The Battle: April 21, 1836 (afternoon)The Texan camp lay near the present-day San Jacinto Battlefield, with Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River to their rear and east. Santa Anna’s camp was about three-quarters of a mile away, protected by a breastwork of baggage and a grove of timber where his artillery was placed. His right wing extended into thicker woods.

Around 3:30–4 p.m., Houston ordered the advance. The Twin Sisters (two six-pound cannons) moved in the center, with cavalry on the right and Sherman’s regiment, including Steele’s company, on the left. Houston instructed the men to hold fire until close range. As they neared, the cry went up: “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!”

Steele described the decisive moments: “When we got pretty close Houston sent word to Sherman to attack this point and we were ordered to move forward and hold our fire until word was given to shoot. When we came up within fifty or sixty yards, we were ordered to fire and all discipline as far as Sherman’s regiment was concerned was at an end. We were all firing as rapidly as possible... I got my gun loaded and rushed into the timber and fired again.” 

The Mexican line crumbled under the surprise volley at close range. Discipline broke as Texans reloaded and advanced on their own initiative. The battle became a chaotic, ferocious melee lasting only about 18 minutes of main combat, followed by pursuit. Mexican resistance collapsed; many fled toward water or tried to surrender. Texan casualties were remarkably light, about 9 killed or mortally wounded and 30 wounded, while Mexican losses were devastating: roughly 630 killed and hundreds captured. 

Steele was hit in one of the early volleys, shot through the body (likely the chest or lung). “When the second volley was poured into them, they broke and ran, and I, having reloaded my rifle again, ran a little ahead of our men and threw up my gun to shoot, when I was shot down. Dave Rusk was standing by me when I was shot and told some of his men to stay by me, but I said, ‘No, take them on.’” 

Bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth, Steele couldn’t speak. A passing Texan took his pistol. After a time, Steele sat up, drank from his ever-present gourd to stem the bleeding, tried to walk, but went blind from blood loss. He sat on a dead Mexican soldier. A Texan regular nearly bayoneted him amid the chaos of finishing off wounded enemies, but General Tom Green of the artillery intervened. Steele was later helped onto a horse that carried him back to camp. Houston himself had ridden Steele’s gray horse during parts of the campaign and battle until it was shot from under him. 

Aftermath and Legacy: Santa Anna was captured the next day (April 22), and the victory secured Texas independence. The short, lopsided fight ended the active phase of the revolution. Steele recuperated for weeks, first at Lorenzo de Zavala’s home and then on Perkins Island. He was discharged, later receiving land grants for his service, and settled into farming and ranching life in what became Limestone County. He married Mary Ann Powell in 1838, and they raised ten children. 

Steele remained active in veterans’ groups, revisited the battlefield in 1907, and was honored by the Texas Legislature in 1909 as one of the last two living San Jacinto survivors. A life-sized portrait of him hangs in the Texas State Capitol. He died on July 8, 1911, near Kosse, the last combat veteran of the battle, and is buried in Mexia City Cemetery. 

His straightforward, unvarnished recollections capture the raw experience of a young volunteer in a ragtag army: the hardships of the march, the opportunistic capture of supplies, the sudden explosion of close-quarters fighting, and the personal cost of a wound that could easily have been fatal. Combined with Houston’s broader strategy of retreat, intelligence, and timing the attack when the Mexicans were resting and reinforced but unprepared, Steele’s story helps bring the 18-minute battle that changed history to life.