The army suffered significant losses at the battles of the Alamo and Coleto. The provisional government passed conscription laws, which should have resulted in about 4,000 men joining the army. The laws were impossible to enforce due to the fact that most citizens had fled as part of the Runaway Scrape. By the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, new commander Sam Houston had a total of 1,282 recruits in the army. Of these, about 250 were ill, at camp, or on scouting missions at the time of the battle.