It’s a day that has often been left in the shadow of the Alamo in the national historical consciousness, but April 21 is among the most important days on the calendar in the history of one of America’s most illustrious states, Texas.

It only took about 15 minutes but a volunteer force of an estimated 700 “Texicans” under Gen. Sam Houston surprised the numerically superior Mexican Army that only days before had wiped out the 182 defenders of the Alamo. The battle of San Jacinto resulted in the destruction of Mexican dictator Gen. Santa Ana’s army and confirmed the independence of the Republic of Texas. And the rest is history, as they say.