Site of Thompson's Ferry
Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Where a part of the Mexican Army under command of General Antonio López de Santa Anna crossed the Brazos on April 14, 1836 en route to an engagement with the Texans * This occurred one week later at San Jacinto. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On April 14, 1836, part of the Mexican Army under General Antonio López de Santa Anna crossed the Brazos River here at Thompson's Ferry as it pursued the Texan forces during the Texas Revolution. Just one week later, that campaign ended in stunning fashion at the Battle of San Jacinto, where the Texans won their independence. The State of Texas placed this marker in 1936 for the revolution's centennial.
Why it matters
This river crossing was a pivotal step on the road to San Jacinto, the battle that birthed the Republic of Texas.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the spring of 1836, Texas was at war. Anglo-American settlers and Tejanos had risen against the Mexican government, and on March 2 delegates declared Texas independent. Days later, the Alamo fell, and soon after, hundreds of Texan prisoners were executed at Goliad. The revolution seemed close to collapse.
As General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army advanced eastward, terrified settlers fled ahead of it in a desperate flight known as the Runaway Scrape. Families abandoned homes and crops, crowding the roads and river crossings in the spring rains. Sam Houston's small Texan army retreated as well, trying to buy time to train and gather strength.
In that landscape, rivers mattered enormously. The Brazos, broad and swollen in spring, was a major barrier, and a ferry crossing was a strategic prize. Whoever could cross it controlled the route deeper into the settled heart of Texas.
People & events
On April 14, 1836, part of the Mexican Army under Santa Anna crossed the Brazos here at Thompson's Ferry. Santa Anna was the president of Mexico as well as its commanding general, and he was moving swiftly, hoping to crush the rebellion by catching its leaders and its army before they could regroup.
After crossing the river, Santa Anna pressed on eastward with a portion of his forces, outpacing much of the rest of his army. That decision, meant to bring the war to a quick end, left him with a smaller force far from his reinforcements.
Just one week later, on April 21, Sam Houston's army caught that force at San Jacinto. The Texan attack was sudden and overwhelming, and the battle was over quickly. Santa Anna was captured soon afterward, and Texas won its independence. The crossing at this spot was one of the final steps on the road to that defeat.
Its place in the American story
The Battle of San Jacinto created the Republic of Texas, an independent nation that lasted nearly a decade before joining the United States in 1845. That annexation helped set off the U.S.-Mexican War, which ended with Mexico ceding a vast territory across the Southwest. The crossing at Thompson's Ferry is a small link in a chain of events that redrew the map of North America.
The Texas Revolution's legacy is also complicated. Independence brought new opportunities for many settlers, but it also strengthened slavery in Texas and changed the lives of Tejanos and Native peoples in ways that historians continue to examine.
The marker itself is part of history too. It was placed in 1936, the centennial of Texas independence, when the state set out to mark hundreds of sites connected to its founding. Those centennial markers shaped how generations of Texans learned their own story.
If you visit
Today the Brazos flows quietly past Richmond, and it takes some imagination to picture the scene in April 1836: a muddy, rain-swollen river, soldiers and wagons crowding toward the ferry, and the urgency of an army racing toward a final confrontation.
The marker's 1936 date tells you something as well. Centennial markers like this one have their own distinctive style and are historic objects in their own right, so take a moment to notice it.
Thompson's Ferry is a natural stop on a Texas Revolution road trip. Following the route east from the Brazos toward the San Jacinto battleground lets you trace the final week of the campaign, crossing the same country Santa Anna's army moved through on its way to the battle that ended the war.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Antonio López de Santa Anna
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
- · Texas Revolution
Themes & tags
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