The Runaway Scrape
Dayton, Liberty County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Famous flight of Texians to escape Santa Anna's invading Mexican army. Tales of the Alamo butchery on March 6, 1836, and the continuing retreat of Gen. Sam Houston's army prompted colonists to abandon homes and property and seek refuge in east Texas. Families left beds unmade, breakfast uneaten, and ran for their lives, traveling in wagons, carts, sleds, on foot, or by horseback, dropping gear as they went. Many Liberty Countians remained at home until mid-April, helping refugees struggle toward the Sabine in order to cross to safety in the United States. Terrible hardships plagued the runaways trying to ferry the swollen Trinity River. In rain-soaked camps many children died of measles and other ills. Wading through flooded bottomlands, the wayfarers came with relief to the prairie and the Samaritans in Liberty. After resting a few days, tending the sick, and burying the dead, most of the wanderers moved on toward Louisiana. East of Liberty, stragglers heard the cannonading at the Battle San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Fearing that Santa Anna's legions had whipped the ragged Texian forces, they hurried on, but shortly heard joyful news: "Turn back, turn back". Freedom had been won for them by Sam Houston's army.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As Santa Anna's army pushed into Texas in the spring of 1836, terrified colonists abandoned their homes in a chaotic flight remembered as the Runaway Scrape. Families left beds unmade and breakfasts uneaten, fleeing east by wagon, horse, and foot toward the Sabine and safety in the United States. Many suffered terribly in rain-soaked camps along the swollen Trinity River, where measles and hardship claimed children's lives—until word of Sam Houston's victory at San Jacinto turned the desperate exodus around with the cry, "Turn back, turn back."
Why it matters
The Runaway Scrape captures the civilian ordeal behind the Texas Revolution, showing how ordinary families endured fear, loss, and flight before independence was secured at San Jacinto.
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Related people
- · Sam Houston
- · Antonio López de Santa Anna
Related events
- · Runaway Scrape
- · Battle of San Jacinto
- · Fall of the Alamo
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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