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Houston
wounded at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. This
engraving was approved by Houston for the book Sam
Houston and His Republic, published in 1846.
Texas State Library and Archives, Prints and Photographs
Collection, 1/102-280. |
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Houston
Timeline
June
18, 1812 - United States declares war against Great
Britain
March
24, 1813 - Enlists in the U.S. Army as a private
March
16, 1814 - Severely wounded at the Battle of Horseshoe
Bend, where Andrew Jackson defeats the Creek Indians
January
8, 1815 - Andrew Jackson smashes the British at New
Orleans, secures U.S. possession of the Mississippi
and American west
1817
- Appointed sub-agent to the Cherokees
1818
- Studies law and is elected prosecuting attorney
of Nashville
1820
- Missouri Compromise maintains the balance between
free and slave states, averts sectional crisis
1821
- Elected major general in the Tennessee militia
1821
- Mexican independence
1822
- Stephen F. Austin founds first American colony in
Texas
1823
- Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
1824
- Andrew Jackson defeated by John Quincy Adams for
the presidency
1827
- Elected governor of Tennessee
1828
- Andrew Jackson elected President of the United States
January
22, 1829 - Marries Eliza Allen
April
16, 1829 - Resigns as governor and flees to Indian
Territory
1830
- President Jackson authorizes forced removal of Indians
from the eastern United States
April
13, 1832 - Canes Congressman William Stanberry on
the streets of Washington
1832
- Andrew Jackson wins second term as president
December
2, 1832 - Arrives in Texas
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Sam Houston
A Blazing Star Falls to Earth
At age 18, Houston left the Cherokees
and spent two years teaching school to earn money. Then,
adventure beckoned in the form of the outbreak of the War
of 1812. Houston joined the U.S. Army as a private, quickly
rising to the rank of third lieutenant. He was severely
wounded at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. His courage in
battle brought him to the attention of General Andrew Jackson,
who became his mentor and surrogate father.
In this
letter to his boss and mentor General Andrew Jackson,
Houston reports on the complexities of managing the
Cherokee agency. For the 24-year-old Houston, it was
an education in cross-cultural politics. |
After the war, Houston was appointed
a sub-agent to the Cherokees and assisted them in their
move to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.
He resigned from the army the next year and studied law.
His rise in politics was meteoric. In quick succession,
he became prosecuting attorney of Nashville, major general
of the state militia, United States congressman, and governor
of Tennessee. He was just 34 years old.
If Houston's life had seemed charmed,
it now became a series of disasters. In January 1829, Houston
married Eliza Allen, a local beauty. The marriage ended
badly after only 11 weeks, with both parties evidently too
traumatized to speak of it for the rest of their lives.
Rumors flew around Nashville that Houston had abused the
girl; others said that she was revolted by his war wounds,
or in love with another man.
This
1829 legal document grants Sam Houston permission
to live with the Cherokees, with all the rights and
responsibilities of a native-born member of the tribe.
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The reason for the break-up remains
mysterious to history. Houston
abruptly resigned as governor and fled to Indian Territory
to rejoin the Cherokees. He rejected his previous success
in the white world and lived as an Indian. He also drank
so heavily that people began to say that his new Indian
name was "Big Drunk." Though obviously in extreme
emotional pain, Houston found time to become active in helping
the tribe to keep peace with its neighbors in Indian Territory.
Under Cherokee law, he married a Cherokee woman, Diana Rogers
Gentry, and they opened a trading post on the Neosho River.
After three years, Houston began
to gradually re-enter white society. He separated from Diana
and traveled to Washington to represent the Cherokees, where
he was involved in a much-publicized incident in which he
caned a congressman whom he said had insulted him. Being
back in the spotlight seemed to bring Houston back to himself.
He turned his attention to the future.
An 1831
personal proclamation finds Sam Houston back in Nashville
and ready for a fight. |
In late 1832, Sam Houston moved to
Texas. Although he was still drinking to excess, it was
clear from the beginning that he was a revitalized man.
He quickly became involved in the cause of rebellion against
Mexico. Houston served as a delegate to a number of the
conventions and mass meetings that led up to the Texas Revolution.
During this time, he also moved on with his personal life,
filing for divorce from Eliza Allen.
Sam
Jacinto>> |
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