Gen. Sam Houston rested under an oak tree on the coastal plains of Texas near Buffalo Bayou, his left ankle shattered by a copper ball. He and his Texian army of 783 men had just defeated a Mexican army detachment of about 1,500 soldiers under the command of Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico. When Houston gave the volunteer army its war cry of “Remember the Alamo,” the Texians struck their enemy like a bolt of fire in a surprise attack on April 21, 1836, near the San Jacinto River in southeast Texas.
The Battle of San Jacinto went down in history as a day of vengeance, as the soldiers sought retribution for the massacres in San Antonio de Bexar and Goliad the month before. The clash lasted only 18 minutes; the Texas Revolution was now complete after months of multiple conflicts and bloody battles. The Mexican state of Tejas won its independence from Mexico and became the Republic of Texas.
It wasn’t the first time Houston had been injured in war. Under the command of Gen. Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, the young man from Tennessee was wounded two times in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River in Alabama. Although Houston was taken from the battlefield with the other wounded, the Army doctors didn’t expect him to live, and he was nearly left for dead. His leadership and bravery impressed Gen. Jackson, who took Houston under his political wing and encouraged the young man to read law and seek political office in Tennessee. Houston became governor of the state in 1827, and Jackson became the seventh president of the United States in 1829.
Early Life
Houston was born on March 2, 1793, in Rockbridge County, Virginia, on the family plantation north of Lexington, Virginia, near the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church where his family attended every Sunday. He was the fifth child of Maj. Samuel and Elizabeth (Paxton) Houston and received his father’s name.Houston’s father was passionate about military life, fought in the Revolutionary War, and continued to serve as an inspector of frontier militias until his death when young Houston was 13 years old. Maj. Houston’s widow followed through on the previously planned sale of the Timber Ridge Plantation, crossed the Allegheny Mountains with her nine children, and started a new home in Blount County on the fertile banks of the Tennessee River with extended family in the area. They settled near Maryville, about 8 miles from the river, which at the time was the boundary between the Anglo settlers and the Cherokee Indians. The tribe was highly civilized and peaceful and sought to cooperate with the influx of pioneers.
As a young boy, Houston thrived in the outdoors. Riding horseback, swimming in the creeks and rivers, and hunting took precedence over being confined in a school building. He preferred his father’s library over a classroom, and he kept a well-read translation of Homer’s Greek epic poem “The Iliad” by Alexander Pope as a treasured possession and could recite passages from it. Another book he read regularly was the Bible. When his request to study the ancient languages of Greek and Latin was denied by a schoolmaster, the rebellious Houston refused to return to school. His four older brothers tried first to make him work in the fields and then in a local merchant store the family had part interest in, but these suggestions didn’t satisfy Houston’s restless, adventurous spirit. At the age of 15, he ran away.
Living With the Cherokee Indians
Houston’s family searched for him for several weeks to no avail, until they learned he had crossed the Tennessee River and was living with the Cherokees. After the young teenager was found and questioned for his motives, Houston replied that “he preferred measuring deer tracks, to tape—that he liked the wild liberty of the Red men, better than the tyranny of his own brothers, and if he could not study Latin in the Academy, he could, at least, read a translation of Greek in the woods, and read it in peace. So they could go home as soon as they liked.” He was adopted by Chief Oolooteka and given the Indian name of “Colonneh,” translated into English as “the Raven.”The volunteer exile lived with his adopted family for three years before returning to Maryville for a year and then joining the U.S. Army when recruiters came to town with music, a banner, and well-dressed sergeants. Houston’s friends tried to convince him to not join the military as a common soldier during the War of 1812, as his father had been an officer. His answer was that “he would much sooner honor the ranks, than disgrace an appointment,” yet he added: “You don’t know me [now], but you shall hear of me.”
Houston lived with the Indians at one other time in his life and became a certified citizen in the Cherokee Nation with all rights and privileges. This was in 1829, after he held several political offices, including being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1823 and as the governor of Tennessee in 1827. His political rise was halted by the unfortunate news that he and his wife had separated after only three months of marriage. Houston suffered deep humiliation and believed that not just his political career but also his life was ruined. He resigned his position as governor and returned to live with his Indian family. This time, he was known as the “Big Drunk.” In later years, Houston would achieve the glory and honor he sought, but in midlife he was described as “a troubled man, towering in a bright blanket, grand, gloomy and peculiar, brooding and drinking.”
Starting Over in Texas
After three years, Houston left the Cherokees and sought to start a new life in the American colony of Tejas, enthralled with the opportunities available. He set up a law practice in Nacogdoches, in the eastern part of the region, and found himself drawn once again into politics. The Texas Rebellion against Mexico had been brewing and, due to his prior military service, he was named major general in the Texas army within two years. His life continued on a similar path as before—success and promotion in the military, which led to political office.Houston’s seemingly improbable victory at San Jacinto led to his elevation as a hero, which he accepted with reservations. He was given credit for commandeering Texas’s independence and was elected president of the sovereign Republic of Texas in 1836. Four months after the battle, a small town named Houston was founded on land near the banks of the Buffalo Bayou. By 1930, Houston became Texas’s most populous city, and it is now the fourth most populous city in the nation, behind New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
When Texas was admitted to the union in 1845, Houston was elected governor and became the only person to have been so elected in two different states. As before, however, he served only two years before resigning; however, this time it wasn’t due to personal unhappiness. It was due to his love of Texas and the United States. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Texas voted to secede from the United States. Houston was a strong Unionist and refused to swear allegiance to the Confederacy, which ended his political career. On July 26, 1863, Houston died of pneumonia at the age of 70. One of his daughters reported that his last words were “Texas, Margaret, Texas.”
