ECW Weekender: San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site

San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site is best known as the site of the birthplace of Texas independence, but there’s a little something there for Civil War buffs, too.

The park preserves the site of the April 12, 1836, battle where Texan forces under Sam Houston captured Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his army. The 1,300-acres battlefield is dominated by the 570-foot-tall San Jacinto monument commemorating Texas’s independence. Inside the base of the monument is a visitor center, orientation film (narrated by Charlton Heston), and the San Jacinto Museum of History.

And there, you’ll find a display highlighting some of the Lone Star State’s participation in the Civil War.

Highlights on display include:

• Uniform coat and forage cap of Colonel Walter L. Mann of Galveston, who commanded a cavalry regiment that defended the Texas coast for most of the war
• A Sharp’s breach-loading percussion carbine that belonged to veteran Henry Hoyt Russell
• Brooches, badges, medals, and an assortment of medical equipment

There are highlights about the various actions around Galveston and the obligatory mention of John Bell Hood’s Texas Brigade.

It was a neat summation of Texas’s involvement in the war as told through artifacts and period artwork. You can search the museum’s collection online.