Texas Rising is a 10 hour miniseries about the Texas
Revolution against Mexico. It was told in five parts on the History Channel. It
starred Bill Paxton as General Sam Houston, Olivier Martinez as General Santa
Anna, the “Napoleon of the West,” and Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Emily D. West.
Many, many more historical figures of the Texas Revolution are featured. The
Texas Revolution took place October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836. Everyone remembers
the Alamo, Texas Rising attempts to bring more of the story to light and reveal
the people who fought for independence.
“From the Ashes” (Part 1) begins with the aftermath of the
defeat at the Alamo. After receiving the news of the Alamo, Houston and the
Texan troops vow revenge and Houston orders Colonel Fannin (played by Rob
Morrow) to leave the Goliad fortress in order to combine forces. Fannin refuses.
“Fate and Fury” (Part 2) begins as Colonel Fannin finally comes to his senses
and orders the retreat, only to be ambushed by the Mexican army lead by General
Urrea (played by Alejandro Bracho). Emily West leaves the safety of the Texans
camp, gets close to Santa Anna and becomes a spy feeding information to Houston
through another spy in the Mexican army. “Blood for Blood” (Part 3) is the
story of the final push to San Jacinto as Houston finally has the army’s trust
and support. “Vengeance is Mine” (Part 4), April 21, 1836, the Battle of San
Jacinto. Houston puts his plan into action as his troops surprise the Mexican
Army and catch them unaware. When Santa Anna discovers that his army has lost,
he tries to run and disguise himself as an ordinary solider. However, he is
soon discovered and brought before Houston. The final part “Rise of the Republic” portrays
the aftermath of the Texans victory. Santa Anna is sent to Washington to meet
with President Andrew Jackson (played by Kris Kristofferson). The Texans,
riding high on their success, move forward to create their new republic.
As with any film, there are a few historical facts that were
portrayed correctly and some that were not. First, Emily D. West was never at
the Alamo. She was actually kidnapped by Santa Anna on April 16 at Morgan’s
Point, Texas. She is, in fact, a Texan heroine. She is thought to be identified
with the folk song, “The Yellow Rose of Texas” for her bravery. The song was refers to a beautiful “sweetest
rose of color.” The song was extremely popular during the Civil War (1861-1865)
and the lyrics have been charged without the years. Many historians still
believe that the song refers to Emily D. West. Second, Santa Anna was surprised
by the attack at San Jacinto because he was otherwise engaged and left the
Texans would never attack, let alone defeat him. He also disguised himself as
an infantryman. What gave him away was his mean saluting him and referring to
him as “el presidente.” Lastly, Santa Anna, I feel, was portrayed fairly
correctly. He was referred to as the “Napoleon of the West” and he had an air
of confidence about him that lead to his downfall. Napoleon had Waterloo and
Santa Anna had San Jacinto.
Despite the historical inaccuracies and liberties taken for
dramatic purposes, Texas Rising was an entertaining adventure about important
events in Texas history. While some will debate about what did or did not
happen, I viewed this miniseries as entertainment about a historical event.
Even though you’d expect better accuracies from The History Channel, it still gave
insights to what happened after the Alamo and the road to Texan independence. Most
movies I’ve seen end with the Alamo or jump ahead to San Jacinto and ignores
the events in between. I had never heard of Goliad and the events which
happened there. I recommend Texas Rising to anyone who enjoys historical
storytelling and old Western gunfights with hero saving the day.
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