Over the course of February 22–24, 1847, the
Mexican forces charged heroically but were
beaten back and finally routed by the artillery
of Capt. Braxton Braggand the Mississippi
Rifles under Col. Jefferson Davis. Santa
Anna then sullenly withdrew back to Mexico
City, having sustained 1,500 casualties—and a
corresponding drop in reputation.
Mexico’s anguish was only just beginning.
On March 9, 1847, Gen. Winfield Scott landed
his 10,000-strong army at Vera Cruz without
the loss of a man and proceeded marching on
Mexico City. By dint of his skills as a rabble-
rouser, Santa Anna energized fellow citizens,
scraped together a new army of 25,000 men,
and marched to meet the invaders. However,
he was repeatedly bested in a series of hard-
fought engagements at Cerro Gordo and Cha-
pultepec, and the capital had to be aban-
doned. Santa Anna then struck out at Scott’s
supply lines by advancing upon Puebla with
8,000 men. That town was garrisoned by 400
soldiers and 1,400 invalids under the com-
mand of Col. Thomas Childs, who mounted a
vigorous defense. After a 28-day siege, the
Mexican leader conceded defeat and with-
drew. Worse, for having signed the Treaty of
Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848, Santa Anna in-
duced the Mexican republic to cede nearly
half of its territory to the United States in ex-
change for $15 million. The general’s reputa-
tion now plummeted to its lowest ebb. Con-
sidered by most Mexicans to be a vile traitor,
he quickly resumed his status as a political
exile.
After three more years in Cuba, Jamaica,
and St. Thomas, Santa Anna was summoned
home to restore stability to a crumbling Mexi-
can polity. He was elected president once
again in 1853 and served despotically for two
years. This time his rule had all the trappings
of a monarchy (having adopted the title “Most
Serene Highness”), and he stifled repeated
calls for liberal reform with repression. To fill
the national coffers, he sold additional land to
the United States, the Gadsden Purchase that
covered a large part of the western United
States, which only increased animosity to-
ward him. Evicted once again in 1855, he was
exiled a third time. From then on, Santa
Anna’s political influence waned. He spent the
next decade trying to scheme his way back
into power, and he even tried allying with the
hated French-imposed Emperor Maximilian
in 1864. This earned him six months in jail and
yet another stint in exile. It was not until 1874
that the tottering old man, the once proud
caudilloof Mexico, was allowed home. Santa
Anna settled in Mexico City, penned his mem-
oirs, and lived the rest of his days in quiet
poverty. He died there on June 21, 1876, hav-
ing wreaked havoc as an incubus within the
Mexican polity for 50 years. On occasion,
Santa Anna had in fact served as a rallying
point for his people in times of crisis but,
bereft of any fixed political beliefs beyond
self-enrichment, always left the country
worse off than when he found it.See also
Bragg, Braxton; Davis, JeffersonBibliography
Cole, David A. “The Early Career of Antonio Lopez de
Santa Anna.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Uni-
versity of Oxford, 1977; Depalo, William A. The Mex-
ican National Army, 1822–1852.College Station:
Texas A&M University Press, 1997; Eisenhower,
John S.D. So Far from God: The U.S. War with Mex-
ico, 1846–1848.New York: Random House, 1989;
Fowler, Will. Tornel and Santa Anna: The Writer
and the Caudillo: Mexico, 1795–1853.Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press, 2000; Hedrick, Larry. Rogue’s
Gallery: America’s Foes from George III to Saddam
Hussein.Washington, DC: Brassey’s, 1992; Holt,
Thaddeus. “Checkmate at Mexico City.” MHQ2, no.
3 (1990): 82–93; Huffines, Alan C. Blood of Noble
Men: The Alamo Siege and Battle.Austin, TX:
Eakin Press, 1999; Lynch, John.Caudillos in Span-
ish America, 1800–1850.New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1992; Nofi, Albert A. The Alamo and
the Texas War for Independence, September 30,
1835 to April 21, 1836: Heroes, Myths, and His-
tory.New York: Da Capo Press, 1992; Olivera, Ruth
R.Life in Mexico Under Santa Anna, 1822–1855.DESANTAANNA, ANTONIOLÓPEZ