In what famous battle did the Texans finally defeat the army of General Santa Anna and and gain their freedom?

Answer 1

On April 21, 1836, the Battle of San Jacinto, General Sam Houston and the Texas Army defeated General Santa Anna and his army in an extreme manner: while only 9 Texans were killed, about 640 Mexican soldiers were killed, 200 or so wounded and over 700 Mexican soldiers were captured. General Santa Anna, who was also President of Mexico at the time, was captured the very next day and became a prisoner of war. Not 3 weeks later, General Santa Anna signed peace treaties dictating the Mexican Army leave Texas territory and for General Santa Anna to lobby in Mexico City for recognition of the Texas Territory as a sovereign nation, free of Mexico rule.

However, that only tells part of it. The Battle of San Jacinto was decided by an arguably stupid error on General Santa Anna's part. He decided that his army would have their afternoon siesta and compounding the error, failed to have guards posted during his army's siesta.

Shortly before 5pm, General Sam Houston and the Texas Army silently moved on the Mexican Army after burning a bridge that denied both armies an easy retreat, and launched a surprise attack that caught the napping Mexican Army by complete surprise. General Manuel Fernandez Castrillon tried to mount a counterattack and was killed. The unprepared Mexican Army were routed after Catrillon's troops panicked after his death and fled causing the quick defensive line to collapse.

The battle became a slaughter as the Mexican troops were simply caught too unaware to be ready for General Sam Houston's well organized surprise attack, the death of General Catrillon, the fleeing of his troops, and the collapse of any kind of real defense or organized resistance.

So the answer would actually be, "The Battle of San Jacinto"