Mexican general infamous for his attack on the Alamo and his capture at San Jacinto, Santa Ana (1794-1876) served as President of Mexico on eleven occasions during the turbulent nineteenth century. Politically a centralist and a conservative, his military career began as a general under Iturbide. He lost a leg to a French cannonball during the so-called "Bread War" in Veracruz, and notoriously had the limb buried after a costly state "funeral" replete with military parades and his cabinet in 1842. Many of the problems facing Mexico, including the loss of Texas and California to the United States, were exacerbated by his dictatorial, mercurial, and corrupt ways.