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Vince's Bridge

Houston, United States of America

Vince's Bridge

Vince's Bridge was a wooden bridge constructed by Allen Vince over Vince Bayou near Houston, Texas. Its destruction by the Texan Army Rangering Company played a critical role during the April 1836 Battle of San Jacinto in the decisive defeat of the Mexican Army, which effectively ended the Texas Rev

olution. Located on the most likely possible route of escape for General Antonio López de Santa Anna and his column of the Mexican army, the burning of Vince's Bridge helped prevent his soldiers from reaching the safety of nearby reinforcements. There has been considerable confusion over Vince's Bridge ever since the Battle of San Jacinto. Different accounts from that time disagreed about where the bridge was located and who actually destroyed it. This confusion was partly because two brothers, William and Allen Vince, owned lands near each other, which were crossed by two separate streams, Vince's Bayou and Sims Bayou. William Vince owned property along Buffalo Bayou and named a nearby stream Vince’s Bayou. He built a bridge over this stream to make it easier to move across his land. His brother, Allen, owned land adjacent to William's but never built anything significant there. He chose...

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