Antonio López de Santa Anna

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Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876) was a 19th century Mexican General and dictator.

Early years

Antonio López de Santa Anna was born in 1794 in Xalapa to lower-middle class parents. His father (from Spain) may have been a minor official in the Spanish colonial bureaucracy, though it is also possible that his father could've been a member of a well-off Creole family. Unfortunately, there are so many different accounts of his origins that we may never know the truth. Little else is known about Santa Anna's early years, though his later life is well documented.

Military career 1810-1829

In 1810, the same year that Mexico declared its independence from Spain, the sixteen-year-old joined the Spanish military under commanding officer, Jose Joaquín de Arredondo, who taught him much about dealing with rebels. In 1811, Santa Anna was wounded in the arm by a Chichimeca arrow while on campaign against northern indian tribes. In 1813, Santa Anna fought in Texas at the Battle of Medina River, where hundreds of rebel prisoners were executed. At the age of 19, he had risen to the rank of first lieutenant.

During the few years in which the war for independence reached a stale-mate, Santa erected villages for displaced citizens near Veracruz. He also pursued gambling, a vice that would follow him all though his life.

In 1821, Santa Anna switched sides and declared his loyalty to insurgent leader "El Liberator": Agustín de Iturbide. He rose to prominence by driving the Spanish forces out of the vital port city of Veracruz in 1821.

Iturbide rewarded him, after Santa Anna declared his loyalty to the Emperor, the rank of General, yet in 1823 Santa Anna was among the military leaders supporting the Plan de Casa Mata to overthrow Iturbide and declare Mexico a Republic. Santa Anna would play important roles in replacing presidents Manuel Gómez Pedraza and Vicente Guerrero .

In 1824, Santa Anna was appointed Governor of the state of Yucatan. On his own initiaitive, Santa Anna prepared to invade Cuba, but lack of funds and international preassure against the expedition, doomed the plan.

In 1829, Spain made its final attempt to retake Mexico in Tampico with a invading force of 2600 soldiers. Santa Anna marched against the Barradas Expedition with a much smaller force and defeated the Spaniards, many of whom were suffering from yellow fever. Santa Anna was declared a hero, which he relished, and from then on he styled himself "The Victor of Tampico" and "The Savior of the Motherland".

Politics

Santa Anna declared himself retired, "unless my country needs me". He decided he was needed when Anastasio Bustamante led a coup overthrowing and killing President Vicente Guerrero. Santa Anna was elected president in 1833. At first he had little interest in actually running the country, giving a free hand to his vice-president Valentín Gómez Farías, a liberal reformer.

Gómez Farías worked hard to root out corruption, which stepped on some powerful toes among the military and wealthy landowners and Catholic church. When these voiced their displeasure, Santa Anna dismissed Farías, declared the Constitution suspended, disbanded the Congress, and worked to concentrate power in the central government. This was applauded by some conservatives but met with considerable disapproval from other sectors. Several states went into open rebellion; San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Yucatán, Jalisco and Zacatecas. The Zacatecan militia, the largest and best supplied of the Mexican states, led by Francisco Garcia, was well armed with .753 caliber British 'Brown Bess' muskets and Baker .61 rifles. After two hours of combat, on 12 May 1835, the "Army of Operations" defeated the Zacatecan militia and took almost 3,000 prisoners. Santa Anna allowed his army to ransack the city for forty-eight hours. He planned on putting down the rebellion first in Zacatecas before moving on to Coahuila y Tejas. By this time, Santa Anna had relinquised the presidency four times. When the drums of war beat, he appointed a successor, and went off into battle. But as he marched north into Texas, it was acknowledged that Santa Anna was indeed, the ruler of Mexico.

Texas

The Texas department of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas went into rebellion in late 1835 and declared itself independent on 2 March 1836 (see Texas Revolution and Republic of Texas); Santa Anna marched north to bring the rebellious province back under his control. His forces killed all 187-250 Texan defenders at the Battle of the Alamo (February 23 - March 6, 1836) and executed 342 captured Texans at Goliad Massacre (March 27, 1836). Santa Anna was soon defeated by Sam Houston's soldiers at the Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836) with the Texan army shouting "Remember Goliad, Remember the Alamo!" A small band of Texas forces captured Santa Anna the day after the battle on 22 April. Acting Texas president David G. Burnet and Santa Anna signed the Treaties of Velasco .."in his official character as chief of the Mexican nation, acknowledged the full, entire, and perfect Independence of the Republic of Texas." In exchange, Burnet and the Texas government guaranteed Santa Anna's life and transport to Veracruz. Before Santa Anna could leave Texas, 200 angry volunteer soldiers from the United States threatened to remove him from his boat and kill him as it was leaving the port of Velasco. Back in Mexico City, a new government declared that Santa Anna was no longer president and the treaty thus null and void.

Redemption, Dictatorship, and Exile

After some time in exile in the United States, and after meeting with US president Andrew Jackson in 1837, he was allowed to return to Mexico to retire to his magnificent hacienda in Veracruz, called Manga de Clavo.

In 1838, Santa Anna discovered a chance to redeem himself from his Texan loss, when French forces landed in Veracruz, Mexico in the Pastry War. The Mexican Government gave Santa Anna control of the army and ordered him to defend the nation by any means necessary. He engaged the French at Veracruz and, as the French retreated after a failed assault , Santa Anna was hit in the leg and hand by cannon fire. His ankle was shattered and resulted in the amputation of his leg. He ordered the limb buried with full military honors, and Santa Anna used his wound to resurface into Mexican politics, returning as a hero of his nation.

Soon after Santa Anna, once again, was asked to take control of the provisional government as Bustamente's presidency turned chaoltic. Santa Anna accepted and became president for the fifth time. Santa Anna took over a nation with an empty treasury. The war with France had weakened Mexico, and the people were discontent. Also, a rebel army, led by General's Jose Urrea and General José Antonio Mexía, were marching towards the Capitol, at war against Santa Anna. The rebellion was crushed in Puebla, by an army commanded by the president himself.

Santa Anna's rule was even more dictatorial than the first. Anti-Santanista newspapers were banned and dissidents jailed. In 1842, a military expedition into Texas was renewed, with no immediate gain.

His demands for ever greater taxes aroused ire, and several Mexican states simply stopped dealing with the central government, Yucatán and Laredo going so far as to declare themselves independent republics . With resentment ever growing against the president, Santa Anna once again stepped down from power. Fearing for his life, Santa Anna tried to elude capture, but in January 1845 he was apprehended by a group of Indians near Xico, Veracruz, turned over to authorities, and imprisoned at Perote prison. His life was spared, but the dictator was exiled to Cuba.

US-Mexican War

In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico. Santa Anna wrote to Mexico City saying he no longer had aspirations to the presidency, but would eagerly use his military experience to fight off the foreign invasion of Mexico as he had in the past. President Gómez Farías was desperate enough to accept the offer and allowed Santa Anna to return. Meanwhile, Santa Anna had secretly been dealing with representatives of the USA, pledging that if he were allowed back in Mexico through the US naval blockades, he would work to sell all contested territory to the United States at a reasonable price. Once back in Mexico at the head of an army, Santa Anna reneged on both of these agreements. Santa Anna declared himself president again and unsuccessfully tried to fight off the United States invasion.

In 1851, Santa Anna went into exile in Kingston, Jamaica, and two years after moved to Turbaco, Colombia. In April 1853, he was invited back by rebellious conservatives, with whom he succeeded in retaking the government. This reign was no better than his earlier ones. He funneled government funds to his own pockets, sold more territory to the United States (see Gadsden Purchase), and declared himself dictator for life with the title "Most Serene Highness". The Ayutla Rebellion of 1854 once again removed Santa Anna from power.

Despite his generous pay-offs to the military for loyalty, by 1855 even his conservative allies had had enough of Santa Anna. That year a group of liberals led by Benito Juárez and Ignacio Comonfort overthrew Santa Anna, and he fled back to Cuba. As the extent of his corruption became known he was tried in absentia for treason and all his estates confiscated. He then lived in exile in Cuba, the United States, Colombia, and St. Thomas. During his time in New York City he is credited as bringing the first shipments of chicle, the base of chewing gum, to the United States, but he failed to profit from this since his plan was to use the chicle to replace rubber in carriage tires, which was tried without success. The American assigned to aid Santa Anna while he was in the US, James Adams, conducted experiments with the chicle and called it "Chiclets," which helped found the chewing gum industry. Santa Anna was a passionate fan of the sport of cockfighting. He would invite breeders from all over the world for matches and is known to have spent tens of thousands of dollars on prize roosters.

In 1874 he took advantage of a general amnesty and returned to Mexico. Santa Anna died two years later, on 21 June 1876, in poverty and obscurity in Mexico City. His last years were lonely and unhappy. Crippled and almost blind from cataracts, he was ignored by the Mexican government when the anniversary of the Battle of Churubusco occurred.

Personal life

Santa Anna was a devoted collector of Napoleonic artifacts, and also considered himself the "Napoleon of the West." His nickname, though, was "The Eagle."

Santa Anna married Inés García and fathered five children. She died in 1844. After a month of mourning, the 50-year-old Santa Anna married 15-year-old María Dolores de Tosta and fathered several more children by her. Santa Anna is rumored to have wed the very young Melchora Barrera during his occupation of San Antonio de Béjar in 1836. He sent her back to Mexico City where he provided for her and their child.

In 1897, Santa Anna's grandson by his second marriage, Santa Anna III (1881–1965) entered the Jesuit order.

Presidential periods

Santa Anna held the office a total of 11 times:

May 16 1833 / Jun 1 1833
Jun 18 1833 / Jul 5 1833
Oct 28 1833 / Dec 4 1833
Apr 24 1834 / Jan 27 1835
Mar 18 1839 / Jul 9 1839
Oct 9 1841 / Oct 25 1842
Mar 5 1843 / Oct 3 1843
Jun 4 1844 / Sep 11 1844
Mar 21 1847 / Mar 31 1847
May 20 1847 / Sep 15 1847
Apr 20 1853 / Aug 9 1855

External links