Santa Anna's Surrender
After the battle, General Santa Anna was among the few Mexican soldiers who avoided death or capture. Houston sent scouts to round up the fleeing Mexicans. He realized that if Santa Anna managed to escape he might lead the 3,000 to 4,000 Mexican troops still west of the Brazos River against the Texans.
Before noon, Texans under Sergeant James Sylvester, captured a man wearing a Mexican private's uniform near the site of Vince's Bridge, just north of present day Pasadena. When this man was brought, under guard, past some of the 700 other Mexican prisoners, the Mexicans saluted and referred to the private as "El Presidente!", revealing the new prisoner to be General Santa Anna. General Houston had been stuck in the ankle by a Mexican musket ball and was unable to walk.
He was lying beneath a live oak tree near this site when General Santa Anna was brought before him. Santa Anna agreed to cease hostilities and order his remaining troops to withdraw from Texas.
