MEASURED BY ITS RESULTS, SAN JACINTO WAS ONE OF THE DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE WORLD. THE FREEDOM OF TEXAS FROM MEXICO WON HERE LED TO ANNEXATION AND TO THE MEXICAN WAR, RESULTING IN THE ACQUISITION BY THE UNITED STATES OF THE STATES OF TEXAS, NEW MEXICO, ARIZONA, NEVADA, CALIFORNIA, UTAH, AND PARTS OF COLORADO, WYOMING, KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA. ALMOST ONE-THIRD OF THE PRESENT AREA OF THE AMERICAN NATION, NEARLY A MILLION SQUARE MILES OF TERRITORY, CHANGED SOVEREIGNTY. Brigham Monument DEAD ON THE FIELD OF HONOR Prior to the erection of the present great shaft, the principal memorial on the battlefield was a plain square spire monument of Rutland variegated marble, fifteen and one-half feet high, which with the base stands seventeen feet. After its dedication it was placed at the grave of Benjamin R. Brigham, one of the nine Texans who were killed or mortally wounded in the battle, and whose bodies, with one exception, were buried on the ground on which the Texan army had camped April 20. Board markers had been placed at all of the graves but when in 1879 Judge J. L. Sullivan of Richmond, Texas, began to raise funds by public subscription to erect a joint monument where their bodies lay, the grave of Brigham was alone recognizable. The monument was unveiled at Galveston with fitting ceremonies August 25, 1881, Temple Houston, youngest son of General Sam Houston, being the orator of the occasion. On April 23, 1883, the Eighteenth Legislature purchased for $1,500, ten acres of land surrounding the monument. This was the beginning of the present San Jacinto State Park. Carved on the east front of the monument is: “DEAD ON THE FIELD OF HONOR” Below which, in bold relief is a Lone Star, surrounded by a wreath of oak and laurel leaves. Beneath the star: “B. R. BRIGHAM” On the base: “SAN JACINTO” Near the top of the shaft is a polished band, upon which are cut two stars on each front and one above the band on the east front. These represent the nine who fell in the battle. [Illustration: Brigham monument, marking the graves of eight of the nine dead at San Jacinto.] [Illustration: Marker at site of Santa Anna’s surrender at San Jacinto.] On the north front, beneath the heading: “TWO DAYS BEFORE THE BATTLE” is recorded the statement of General Houston: