"THE VOLUNTEERS"

Six weeks before the Battle of San Jacinto, and while the Alamo garrison was about to be overwhelmed, Texian volunteers from every direction were coming to Gonzales to form a new Texas Army. One of those was Jose Antonio Menchaca, a Tejano rancher from San Antonio, who was given orders by the Alamo command to evacuate his family out of harm's way thereby surviving the eventual carnage. Another Texian who arrived about the same time was Jesse Billingsley, the storied frontier captain of the Mina (Bastrop) Volunteers. As the crude army of citizen volunteers took shape, men like Menchaca and Billingsley would serve the cause in many ways including scouting, escorting civilian evacuees, and skirmishing with Santa Anna's advance troops long before the climatic battle. The volunteer corps was so diverse that one observer commented that many different languages could be heard as one walked through their camp.

"DESTINY"

On April 16, 1836, the Texas Army did something that changed the entire course of history. Coming to a fork in the road, the exhausted column of civilian soldiers, beaten down by the ravages of weather, starvation, and absolute desperation, decided to stop retreating and finally face their enemy. Their destiny, they believed, was choosing that time and place to finally shift the balance of war to their cause. Veering to the right and into the path of conflict, the little army trudged towards Santa Anna's forces. The Texian soldier depicted in the EpicArt mural is pointing to that very place--- the plains of San Jacinto--- where the battle cry "Remember the Alamo!' would become synonymous with Texas Independence. The Lone Star & Stripes in the background was the ubiquitous ensign flown during the most of the Texas Revolution.

"Two Storms Passing"

The two massive images represent a challenging and awkward moment just a few days before the Texas Army encountered Santa Anna's forces at San Jacinto. As the Texians marched on the muddy prairie roads, closer and closer to a confrontation that would occur just a few miles northeast of the Shell manufacturing site, a fiery Texian woman by the name of Pamelia Mann came riding up to General Sam Houston, seething with anger. The oxen pulling the cannon out of the mud were hers, and seemingly Houston had just broken a promise with her by marching the army, and her precious animals, into harm's way.

"General, you told me a damn lie," she yelled at Houston. "You said that you was going on the Nacogdoches Road. Sir, I want my oxen!" A widow, Pamelia Mann's oxen were a means to her survival. Willing to loan her precious farm stock to assist the army's march, she could not chance losing the animals in battle.

General Houston softly replied that the borrowed oxen couldn't be spared because the cannon was stuck in the mud. "I don't care a damn for your cannon," she roared. "I want my oxen!"

One soldier noted that Mrs. Mann was heavily armed when she slid down from her horse, unsheathed a large knife, and cut the rawhide tug holding the chain to the oxen. Reportedly, no one said a word. Mrs. Mann wheeled the oxen around and pulled them in the opposite direction, away from the cannon.

Despite the vocal concerns from his men about the impending hardships, General Houston jumped off his horse and announced, "Come on boys. Let's get this cannon out of the mud." About seven or eight other soldiers joined their commander and strained to get the cannon out of the quagmire.

"Spirit of Independence"

Those who took arms to join Sam Houston's ragged Texas Army in 1836 followed a particular energy that had been expanding as fast as the American nation from which they came. Fueled by the dreams of owning land on the Texas frontier, a wide variety of "soldiers" shouldered their muskets and rifles and fell into ranks on the fateful march to San Jacinto. Many were recent arrivals included raw civilians as well as "deserters" from the U.S. Army located on the other side of the Sabine --- who would be allowed to "desert" back into ranks upon the completion of the war. With the recent disasters at the Alamo and Goliad fresh on their minds, these new arrivals knew this venture came with incredible risks and no guarantees. Instead, a new Spirit of Independence guided this peculiar fighting force to its destiny, and that of Texas.

"The Discovery"

When the Texas Army made the decision to confront their enemy, it was also important to choose the best ground. The area surrounding the access to Lynch's Ferry now became the primary focus for both armies as they suddenly raced toward the area in order to claim a strategic hold of this important site. Operating with better military intelligence, Sam Houston's army pushed through the muddy prairie at a forced march. On the morning of April 20, 1836, with little sleep and food to sustain them, the rag-tag force reached the vicinity of what is now Vopak to discover they had indeed won the race. The new tank image captures the spirit of the lead column of the Texas Army at that exact moment.