There is no doubt the Texas soldiers were a group of individuals and not a real army. The fact that they followed any one man is a testament to Houston’s ability to command. Just holding that group together was a job in itself.
We can also second guess his strategy of retreat or who actually led the fight at San Jacinto? The bottom line whatever Houston did worked and he took out a professional army with a much smaller group of untrained men, and did so in spectacular fashion.
It is easy to pick and choose quotes from those who opposed him and even a quote or two of his own out of context to make him look like a poor general. The facts are he led a small group against a well trained large group, and won, and won handily.
Was he a good man by today’s standards, meaning a liberalized, civilized, government dependent wimp like most men today? Probably not. All I can say is that I am glad he was in charge when he was in charge and he gets my vote for one of the top military generals. Otherwise we would already be speaking Spanish, rather than just moving in that direction.
|