Sam Houston gathered a force of about seven hundred rebels in 1836. General Antonio López de Santa Anna had a force of several thousand troops. Santa Anna felt that with his superior force if he could only engage the rebels he would destroy them. He sought Houston's army. Sam Houston, supreme strategists that he was, retreated into the interior of Texas. Santa Anna pursued and, to increase his forces mobility, reduced his strike force to about fifteen hundred. Santa Anna pursued and Houston retreated. It was called the Battle of the Runaway Scrape.

At San Jacinto, Houston felt he had the right location. Santa Anna also realized that Houston was ready to engage in a showdown. It was here that Santa Anna's overwhelming conceit did him in, as it would do so many times in the future. He believed the rebels would attack at dawn so he kept his men up all night building defensive works. The attack did not come at dawn. Santa Anna's troops were exhausted enough from the pursuit in the Runaway Scrape. A night without sleep pushed them to their limits. Ten o'clock came and still no attack. Noon passed. Then about the traditional siesta time when Santa Anna's troops were dropping from exhaustion the attack came in devastating force. In the course of about twenty minutes Houston's troops killed about seven hundred of Santa Anna's troops and captured the other eight hundred. So many were killed in such a short time that there would not have been enough time to reload the rifles. Many, or most, must have been killed by bayonet or bludgeoning. The massacre at Goliad, without question, resulted in retaliatory brutalities.

General Santa Anna tried to escape. He changed out of his general's uniform but kept his blouse. He was captured posing as an ordinary soldier. When his captors noticed that the buttons on his blouse were diamond studded they knew their captive was not an ordinary soldier.

Santa Anna was brought before Sam Houston, who had been wounded in the battle. Santa Anna ultimately signed, as President of Mexico, two treaties. One treaty, which was supposed to be kept secret, recognized Texas as an independent country. The second treaty stipulated that Mexico was to withdraw its troops south of the river known in the U.S. as the Rio Grande but in Mexico as the Rio Bravo del Norte.

President-General Santa Anna was returned to Mexico by way of Washington, D.C.