General Santa Anna, 1836

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna or just Santa Anna, was a Mexican soldier, politician, and a caudillo (military dictator) who served as the 8th president of Mexico between 1833 and 1855. He would also serve as Vice President of Mexico from 1837 to 1839. Santa Anna was in command of the garrison at Veracruz when Mexico won independence in 1821. He would play a notable role in the fall of the First Mexican Empire, the fall of the First Mexican Republic, proclamation of the first Constitution of 1835, the establishment of the Centralist Republic of Mexico, and the Texas Revolution. He is well known in the United States due to his role in the Texas Revolution most notably the Battle of the Alamo and later the Mexican- American War. Santa Anna sometimes referred to as the “Napoleon of the West” would die 21 June 1876, in Mexico City at age 82.