Houston, Santa Anna, and Cos

An imaginative portrayal (with overt propaganda value) of an event in the Texas war of independence --the surrender of Mexican commander Santa Anna and his brother-in-law General Martin Perfecto de Cos, to American leader Samuel Houston after the Battle of San Jacinto in late April 1836. Santa Anna (center) bows and offers his sword to Houston, saying, "I consent to remain your prisoner, most excellent sir!! Me no Alamo!!" His subordinate follows suit. Houston, clad in buckskins and holding a musket, says, "You are two bloody villains, and to treat you as you deserve, I ought to have you shot as an example! Remember the Alamo and Fannin!" The print reflects the intensity of anti-Mexican feeling in the United States after Santa Anna's massacre of American defenders at the Alamo mission in February 1836 and the slaughter at Goliad, Texas, a month later of American colonel James Fannin and his surrendered troops.