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This striking Mexican military uniform was said to have belonged to General Morales. |
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San Jacinto Museum of History © 2003 |
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Juan Morales was born in Puebla, Mexico. His first military service was as a cadet in the Batallón de la Libertad, serving Augustín de Inturbide in the fight against the Spanish in 1821. Later, he joined Santa Anna in his political rise and revolution against the Federalist government.
In the Texas Revolution, Morales was a colonel of the largest units in Gen. Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma's Vanguard Brigade under General Santa Anna. Morales led a column of men against Texians at the Alamo, cutting through Crockett's Tennessee volunteers, and destroying the Alamo's final defenses with cannon fire.
After the fall of the Alamo, Morales was ordered to Goliad as reinforcement for General José de Urrea in his fight against Texian fighters under James Fannin. Morales helped negotiate the terms of surrender with Fannin, and was then ordered to take the nearby town of Victoria in command of General Urrea's second brigade.
When Santa Anna was captured in the Battle of San Jacinto, Morales and his men were eager to march on the troublesome rebels and unleash the wrath of their new nation's might. But, resentfully, he and Urrea retreated to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande under Santa Anna's direct orders.
Morales continued to serve as a soldier in the Mexican army in the Federalist Wars and the Mexican War until falling out of favor with Santa Anna in 1847.
