A closer look
General Santa Anna held a massive, lavish state funeral with full military honors for his amputated leg after it was destroyed in battle by French cannon fire. The eccentric Mexican dictator was wounded in eighteen thirty-eight, forcing doctors to amputate his leg to save his life. A few years later, when he retook power, he decided that his severed limb had not received the respect it deserved. He ordered the rotting leg to be exhumed, placed in an incredibly expensive crystal vase, and paraded through the streets of Mexico City while thousands of confused citizens were forced to mourn the missing appendage. Unfortunately for him, the public eventually grew tired of his oppressive regime, rioted in the streets, dug up the leg once again, and dragged it through the dirt, proving that forcing your entire country to worship your mummified body parts is a great way to guarantee a violently embarrassing downfall
