Santa Anna was a wonderful war hero and was even called "the Napoleon of the West." With this confidence and his experience as a leader and war hero, it was a surprise to everyone when he lost the Battle of San Jacinto against the Texicans. Many factors were at play in this defeat. If Santa Anna had been smarter and more careful in his leadership and war strategies, his loss could have been avoided; the battle could even have been avoided. Many factors led Texicans to declare their independence. The declaration was due to the lack of tolerance towards religion, the repeal of the 1824 constitution, an unstable government with an unstable president, and the closure of the Mexican Legislative Assembly, a nine-person congress having declared Texas independent from Mexico, followed by a formal vote. declaration of March 2, 1836. After the declaration, General Samuel Houston was named commander in chief of the Texican government. Immediately after the declaration, hostilities between Mexico and Texas began. Santa Anna returned Texas, but the Texicans fought them with bows and spears (Mckeehan). Santa Anna's first mistake was his decision to march into Texas with 10,000 men behind him, without any intention of mercy. Once Santa Anna crossed the Rio Grande River, he immediately charged into battle. Santa Anna defeated the Texicans at the Battle of the Alamo. Any Texan soldiers who survived the battle were sent to execution, a tactic Santa Anna likely adopted from his training with General Joaquin Arrendondo as a child (Mckeehan). After the massacre, Santa Anna felt like his work in Texas was done, but he wanted to deal one last blow to the Texicans – a damaging mistake. Because of San...... middle of paper ...... account of Santa Anna's capture is unclear as it has been described in many different ways, each with a location and details of the totally different events. Once captured, Santa Anna billed himself as “the Napoleon of the West” (McKeehan, W). Santa Anna was eventually sent home after a council man declared, "We are at war with Mexico, and it is our duty to do everything." we can harm him. Santa Anna tyrannized his country for several years and almost ruined it. Let's free him, he will return there and in a few years Mexico will be too weak to cause us any trouble. But when Santa Anna returned, he was no longer president of Mexico (Mckeehan, W.). Between his poor government, his hateful war tactics, and his lack of caution during his time in Texas, Santa Anna lost the Battle of San Jacinto. He only had himself to blame.