March 21, 1836 - The Battle of Goliad

"...(I) ask that He who buildeth up and pulleth down nations will, the mercy preserve and unite us. For a Nation divided against itself cannot stand. I wish, if this Union must be dissolved, that its ruins may be the monument of my grave, and the graves of my family." - Sam Houston. These were the final words of a very worried Sam Houston; a man who raised up Texas and got her into the United States of America only to watch her go down in the flames of Civil War in March of 1863. One of the most important acts which he brought about was the the Battle of Jacinto which took place on today's date, April 21 in 1836. It once and for all settled the question of whether the Lone Star Republic would be a part of the United States... it would. A detailed, first-hand account of the battle was written by General Houston from the headquarters of the Texan Army in San Jacinto on April 25, 1836. Numerous secondary analyses and interpretations have followed. What follows is the best that I could manage, based on on-line and separate sources not to mention the recent book by Brian Kilmeade. Lorenzo de Zavala had opposed Santa Anna's power grab in Mexico wherein he openly supported the Democratic reforms. To Santa Anna, Zavala was a traitor and needed to be arrested, along with his supporters. Unfortunately, Santa Anna missed the government at Harrrisburg when they bolted town some several hours ahead of the strutting martinet. Santa Anna did get there in time to destroy all of the government's printing equipment;

General Houston (right) arrived a few days later. He was a man of strongly-held opinions; there was something reminiscent of George Washington in the man, and this was likely what got him named major general of the army at the beginning of the Texas Revolution. When he arrived at Harrisburg he found the town had been wrecked. After their long March most of the Texians wanted to settle and make Camp. But Deaf Smith* (*- so named because of a childhood disease that made him lose his sense of hearing) was determined to take a few of his men and go looking for these men who had made such a Mess of Harrisburg. "They were of one mind,"one colonel said,"to march down and fight the enemy!"

At this point on that same day, a Mexican courier carrying intelligence on the locations,and future plans of all of the Mexican troops in Texas was captured and dragged into camp with Spanish language documents in their saddle bags. These were quickly translated and showed that the Mexican forces in the area were much smaller than the Texians. About 1500 to the nearly 3,000 Texians. Sam Houston realized that his army was ill-trained. So Houston continued to retreat to the great displeasure of so many of his officers. Houston was keenly aware of how untrained they were, hence the reason for the continual retreats. They had moved back by 120 miles. On March 31 they paused and began training together. And at this time they were joined by Secretary of War Thomas Rusk and Preident David G. Burnet, as well as Secretary of War Samuel Carson. Houston convinced these men that his plans were legitimate, and they should retreat to the Sabine river. They moved through the town of Harrisburg, and that the Mexicans had about 600 men in Texas. Realizing that this showed the Mexicans those who had commited the massscres at the Alamo and at Goliad were now in smaller numbers and not far away.Also there were copies of the Texas Declaration of Independance around.The steamboat "Cayuga" had moved out with the Government members who Santa Anna had been looking to catch up with. When Houston showed up at Buffalo Bayou three days later (8/17/1836)they found that Santa Anna had already been there and left that place a mess. But they now knew that man - Santa Anna - who had ordered the massacres at the Alamo, and Goliad was within reach. The two armies were now within striking distance of each other. With his army standing in formaton. He spoke of meeting their opposites and glory and victory, but when he got right down to one thing that would fire all of their hearts: "Some of us may be killed; remember the Alamo, the Alamo, The Alamo!!" His army then raced as fast as it could towards Lynchburg.The area was filled with Oak Groves and marshes; quite at home for the Texians, but strange as could be imagined for the Mexicans. Houston's 900 man force arrived in the morning of April 20, Santa Anna's 700 mn force a couple of hours later. The Houston group set up camp near the banks of Bufallo Bayou which gave them decent cover, but little room to get away if needed. The set-up of Santa Anna's forces caused Colonel Pedro Delgado to write later "the camping ground of His Excellency's selection was in all respects, against military rules. Any youngster would have done better." Over

the next couple of hours skirrmishes broke out, with the Texians forcing the Mexicans to withdraw from a spot near the (above, Santa Anna surenders to Sam Houston)center. Then Mexican Dragoons then forced the Texians out of the area. Houston was unhappy that the Mexicans got a better look at his forces. Some of the men were unhappy that a full battle hadn't occurred. Genral Cos arrived in the morning with @540 reiforcements. But these men were all untrained and green. Santa Anna allowed his men to rest and relax. During this interval Houston ordered the destruction of Vinces Bridge thus blocking off the only escape for the mexicans. As this morning lingered on and there was no attack, the Texicans got busy. The Texican cavalry was initially dispatched to the Mexican forces' far left, and the artillery advanced through the tall grass to within 200 yards of the Mexican breast works. "The Twin Sisters" (cannons brought from Cincinnati)opened the battle at 4:30. After this opening salvo the Texians broke ranks and began swarming all around the mexican lines yelling "Remember the Alamo! Remember tha Alamo" to initiate hand to hand combat with the Mexicans, who were taken completely by surprise. Santa Anna snd his officers issued conflicting orders while trying to lead some kind of defense. But it wasn't working. The Texian infantry forces charged on without halt until they had control of the woodland and the Mexican breastwork. The right wing of Burleson's and the left wing of Millard's forces had taken possession of the breastwork. Within 18 minutes, Mexican soldiers abandoned their campsite and fled for their lives, The killing lasted for hours. Many Mexicans tried to go through the marshes of Peggy Lake while shooting at anything that moved. But they had fallen prey to these Alamo/Goliad Avengers. The totals at the end of the day left Mexican soldiers killed and 300 captured. Eleven Texians died, with 30 others, including Houston, wounded. Santa Anna had escaped towards Vince's Bridge. Finding the bridge destroyed, he hid in the marsh and was captured the following day, wearing the uniform jacket of a private. But this failed when his own men recognized him as such and pointed him out to the Texian authorities. His Excellency was brought before Houston's own boys wanted him hung on the spot.He had escaped towards Vince's Bridge. Finding the bridge destroyed, he hid in the marsh and was captured the following day, wearing the uniform jacket of a private. But this failed when his own men recognized him as such and pointed him out to the Texian authorities. His Excellency was brought before Houston whose own boys wanted him hung on the spot. In what historian Davis calls "one of the most one-sided victories in history",650 Mexican soldiers were killed and 300 captured. Eleven Texians died, with 30 others, including Houston, wounded. Eventually dealing with Santa Anna became a matter between one country and another. In 1874, he took advantage of a general amnesty issued by President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada and returned to Mexico, by then crippled and almost blind from cataracts. Santa Anna died at his home in Mexico City on 21 June 1876 at age 82. He was buried with full military honors in a glass coffin in Panteón del Tepeyac Cemetery. *********** ************** ******* ***************** ***** ___________________________________________________________________________________ SOURCES = "Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers"by Brian Kilmeade,Large Print, New York, Penguin Random House https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto, https://www.history.com/topics/mexico/battle-of-san-jacinto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamo

February, 1917 : The Zimmermann Telegram

February 1917: When Britain and France had gotten to Autumn of 1917, they found themselves at the end of a rope financially speaking. They had spent a lot of money to prosecute the war against the Germans. And the Germans were preparing to announce to the world that they were about to re-start their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. This meant that they would proceed to sink any ship of either the Allies, or their friends, any place that the found them. The Germans had come to figure that if the Americans were tied up with the Germans in submarine combat on one hand and had to deal with combat with the Mexicans on their southern boarder, then the Germans might prevail. The brits were frankly desperate to bring the the americans into the fray on their side.

Alfred Zimmerman,(right) the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs during a portion of Kaiser Wilhelm's reign, thought that this idea of dragging the Americans into the European war might just be the trick that would put them over the top against the Allies. The man who received the coded message, Ambassador Heinrich von Eckardt, was really hot to make this happen for his side. It would really shut down the Allies The text of the telegram read in part: "We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace. Signed, ZIMMERMANN" This document was being reviewed by the director of British naval intelligence, Rear Admiral William Reginald Hall, the director of Naval intelligence. Hall

was a hot-tempered maverick who blinked his clear blue eyes so regularly that his colleaugues called him "Blinker." An American who worked with him called him the most cold blooded proposition there had ever been. His interrogations of German P.O.W.s were as ruthless as anything the Old Bailey had ever seen. ,,,,,To Bell, secretary of the United States Embassy in Britain it seemed at first incredible, and he thought that it was a forgery. But when he was convinced, Bell sent a copy to United States Amb. Walter Hines Page.

Page who then reported the story to President Woodrow Wilson (right) "Good Lord!" he yelled. "Good Lord!" One would think he had much more by way of anger, but whtever he felt he kept it to himself until any doubts as to the authenticity of the telegram were done away with by Zimmermann himself. At a press conference on 3 March 1917, he told an American journalist, "I cannot deny it. It is true." On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917.

FEBRUARY 4, 1937 Walt Disney Premiers "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs."

In December 1937 Walt Disney (below), producer and the father of "Mickey Mouse" was in the mood for a great experiment. He had produced countless cartoon shorts over the years and found success in that area. But now he wanted to make a full length animated film. He had a ton of negative voices in Hollywood including his wife Lillian, telling him that no adult would sit through the entire feature-length cartoon about a lady and a bunch of dwarfs. But Walt was convinced it would work, so he stuck his neck out on up to borrowing 1.5 million dollars in order to get it done. So Snow White premiered in Hollywood on December 21, 1937, got a huge ovation for his work from his celebrity filled crowd which loved every minute of it. It was then released the following February 4 grossing 8 million - an unbelievably huge sum during a vast economic depression. This was most made by any film up to that time. Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901. In 1923 Walt joined up with the infant animation industry. All films came with a cartoon back then, and in 1928 Walt introcuced the world to Mickey Mouse in the first full length sound cartoon: "Steamboat Willie"(below) 1928. By 1934, Disney had won 4 Oscars for his cartoons, many in color. But he realized that the way to

really expand and diversify his product was with feature length cartoons. So one night in 1934, Walt took all of his best prodution men out to dinner and then brought them back to the studio. There, he related the entire "Snow White" story for them right down to the characters music that would play with them and some type of voice that they would have had. He really had it all laid it out of his mind. So the more the story took shape in Disney's head the more it took hold with his artists. The story had to be adapted storyboard form by the artists Dorothy Ann Blank, Richard Creedon, Merrill De Maris, Otto Englander, Earl Hurd, Dick Rickard, Ted Sears and Webb Smith. David Hand became the supervising director, and William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film's penetrating individual sequences. The story was based on a plot from Grimms fairy tales, and it went through any

number of changes while it was developed into a full blown story. For example staff writer Richard Creedon came up with the principal characters for the seven dwarfs, none of whom had names in the original story. Also the number of dwarfs went through several changes. But Disney wanted names that would express something about the indvidual characters of the dwarfs, hence "Doc", "Sneeezy", "Grumpy", etc.were born. Also there were changes in the character of the Evil Queen. Disney didn't want her to be crazy, or fat, but a "stately beautiful type" There were a number of changes in how the Queen was to have Snow White murdered. Eventually after many changes that had the Queen using a poison comb, it was decided that a poisoned apple was to be the weapon of choice, The object of the Queen's wrath was of course Snow White who was spoken and sung by 21 year old Adriana Caselotti (below). Adriana brought a very sweet voice to Snow White, both in

song and in dialogue, as a direct contrast to the darkness of evil Queen. Her version of "Some Day My Prince Will Come" by Frank Churchill was one of the hilights of the film. And I couldn't resist whistling along with "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Home From Work We Go" by Frank Churchill, and Larry Morey. Of course, there were artists all over the place on this one. The main concept artist in this production was Albert Hurter who had final approval on everything: from the look on each character to the animals to the rocks surrounding the dark castle had to be approved by Mr.Hurter before it went into the film. That is just a hint of what went into the production of this magnificent film. The main point is that Disney got his baby out to the public.The film premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater on December 21, 1937, to an audience which was very receptive, and which contained some of the people who were most critical of its production. An audience contaning the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton and Judy Garland gave it a standing ovation. The American publication Variety observed that "[so] perfect is the illusion, so tender the romance and fantasy, so emotional are certain portions when the acting of the characters strikes a depth comparable to the sincerity of human players, that the film approaches real greatness." Following successful intial runs in New York and Miami, the film was put into general release all around the United States on February 4, 1937. It became the most sucessful sound film of all time. Of course it was eclipsed in this by "Gone With The Wind" (1939), but it did remarkably well in foreign releases such as England and Australia. The film was re-released during the War, and it did so well that Disney began the practice of re-releasing every ten years. Eventually with VHS, and DVD technology, and all manner of special editions,"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" looks to be a permanent part of our cinematic firmament. ...Sources: = .............................................. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)...... https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs................. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/disney-releases-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs..........https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/disney-releases-snow-white-and-the-sevendwarfs.......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriana_Caselotti......https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Albert_Hurter......https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimms%27_Fairy_Tales