The LAST Survivor of The Battle of San Jacinto - Mexia, TX
N 31° 41.503 W 096° 28.882
14R E 738725 N 3509022
A 1962 Texas Historical Marker is at the final resting place of Alfonso Steele in the Mexia City Cemetery, and it indicates that he was the last survivor of the Battle of San Jacinto.
Waymark Code: WM14PWQ
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/08/2021
Views: 4
The historical marker gets Mr. Steele's name wrong, rendering it as "Steel", but it reads:
He was severely wounded in the Battle of San Jacinto and its last survivor.
The Battle of San Jacinto took place near Pasadena, TX on April 21, 1836, and it was the deciding battle of the Texas Revolution. Spurred by cries of "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!", the Texans defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican army, taking him prisoner not long after, and by fall, the Republic of Texas was established and on its feet with San Jacinto commander, Sam Houston, as the first president.
The Handbook of Texas Online has a fairly substantial biography of this soldier:
Alfonso (Alphonso) Steele, last Texas survivor of the Battle of San Jacinto, was born on April 9, 1817, to a pioneer family in Hardin County, Kentucky. At the age of seventeen he traveled by flatboat down the Mississippi River to Lake Providence, Louisiana, and there in November 1835 joined Capt. Ephraim M. Daggett's company of volunteers bound for Texas to aid in the Revolution. They arrived in Washington-on-the-Brazos on New Year's Day 1836 but quickly disbanded, since the Texans had not yet declared their independence. Many volunteers returned home, but Steele stayed, working in a hotel and grinding corn for bread to feed the delegates gathered to sign the Texas Declaration of Independence. Once independence was declared, Steele set out with a company of men under Capt. Joseph L. Bennett to join William B. Travis in San Antonio, but when they reached the Colorado River they received word that the Alamo had fallen. Near Beeson's Crossing on the Colorado the company fell in with Gen. Sam Houston's army on its retreat from Gonzales and marched under Houston's command to Buffalo Bayou. In the Battle of San Jacinto Steele was a private in Capt. James Gillespie's company of Sidney Sherman's regiment. He was severely wounded in the first volleys of the battle but continued in the fight until it ended. Houston rode Steele's gray horse through much of the battle, until the animal was shot beneath him. After months of recuperation, Steele was discharged and made his way to Montgomery County, where he farmed and raised cattle. There he married Mary Ann Powell on September 28, 1838. In 1844 they moved to a part of Robertson County later organized into Limestone County; they resided there until Mrs. Steele's death in 1903. The couple had ten children and many descendants who distinguished themselves in military service. In 1907 Steele revisited the San Jacinto battleground at the invitation of Houston's son, Andrew Jackson Houston, and retraced the course of the historic engagement. On February 10, 1909, the Thirty-first Texas Legislature honored him as one of two living survivors of the battle of San Jacinto. A poem entitled "The Last Hero" was written and dedicated to him by Jake H. Harrison. Steele died on July 8, 1911, near Kosse, at the home of a grandson, and was buried in Mexia. A portrait of him hangs in the [state] Capitol.
There's really not much to be found for parking here; maybe a few places off the side of the road that are better than others. For best results, stay clear of visitors and maintenance crews, and experienced cemetery visitors will simply find a less-traveled section of the cemetery and park there.