Gen Antonio López de Santa Anna 1

Today in Texas History On the trail to Texas independence. Feb 16, 1836 – Santa Anna and his Mexican army, eventually growing to more than 8,000 troops, crossed the Rio Grande and moved toward San Antonio, a journey of about 150 miles. Unfortunately for Santa Anna's army, his logistical support was sparse. He apparently had hoped to supplement his supplies by living off the land, but the area south of San Antonio could not sustain him. Furthermore, the weather that spring was unusually cold and wet. Some of Santa Anna's troops, recruited from the Yucatán, died of hypothermia. Meanwhile, in San Antonio, the few Texans remaining retreated inside the confines of the Mission San Antonio de Valero, in time known simply as the Alamo. Portrait of Gen. Antonino Lopez de Santa Anna. Painting of the Mission San Antonio de Valero in 1836.