HISTORY 1301 SELF PACED

LARRY POOL, INSTRUCTOR

SAM HOUSTON BOOK TEST

ANSWER FIVE OF THE FOLLOWING: (10 points each)

1. Describe Houston’s courtship of Eliza Allen and explain what happened to their marriage.

Eliza Allen, Houston’s fiancée, was the daughter of John Allen a wealthy planter who lived near
Gallantin. Houston was a regular visitor to the Allen family since being introduced there by Robert
Allen, a fellow congressman and John Allen’s brother. Since Houston was making frequent visits to
the Allen, he was interested in Eliza though she was 15 years younger than him and that didn’t
concern him. He expressed his interest in Eliza to John Allen and received encouragement.
However, the courtship still faced one problem; Eliza did not love Houston and she may have been
in love with another man. Her family, however delighted at the prospects of a match between their
daughter and a man who was already a governor and had an excellent chance to become president,
pressured her to become more responsive to Houston. Bowing to their wishes, she accepted
Houston’s proposal. Less than 3 months after his marriage, Eliza Allen Houston left him and went
home to her family. The reason why the marriage failed was not known with certainty till the
earliest acknowledgement on Houston’s part of a problem between the couple came on in a letter
sent to Eliza’s father. In the letter, he concluded that Eliza was cold to him and thought she did not
love him.

2. Describe the Battle of San Jacinto.

Houston’s army were at Buffalo Bayou preparing breakfast when scouts came in with the
information that Santa Anna had burned New Washington and was heading for Lynch’s Ferry on
the San Jacinto river. Houston ordered everything and rapidly marched his troops to where they
made a camp in the trees lining buffalo Bayou. The boat that Santa Anna intended to use as a ferry
on the San Jacinto was run up the bayou behind Houston’s camp. Later on, Santa Anna’s army
approached the San Jacinto and discovered the Texans. The Mexican force opened fire but most of
the shots crashed overhead behind the trees. Santa Anna then withdrew to the south. Two days
later, at 3:30 the Texans began to advance moving toward Santa Anna’s camp. Houston led the
infantry o to within 20 yards of the Mexican line where the Texans delivered their one organized
volley of the battle screaming “Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad”, using their muskets as
clubs and killed at close range with pistols and knives. After 18 minutes, the Mexican camp was in
the Texan hands. Houston attempted to stop the unnecessary slaughter. Santa Anna was captured.
The victory of San Jacinto was described later by Houston as “almost a miracle”. Texans killed 630
Mexican soldiers and captured 730 more at a cost of 32 dead and 23 wounded.

3. Describe the relationship between Houston and Andrew Jackson.

4. Describe the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and Houston’s role in the battle.
The decisive battle in the Creek war came on March 27, 18t14 only a few weeks after Houston
has reached the age of 21. He was 3rd lieutenant and was on the command of Andrew Jackson.
Jackson’s army of nearly 1500 soldiers and 500 Cherokee allies pursued the main force of Creeks
which included about 1000 warriors to the Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River in East-central
Alabama. The Creeks had constructed a breastwork of pine logs across the narrow neck land
opening into approximately 100 acres of trees and brush enclosed within the horseshoe bend of the
river, and they had canoes as a means of escape if their defense breaks.
Jackson had his Cherokees scouts steal the canoes, opened fire with his artillery, and ordered a
frontal assault on the Creeks defenses. Houston urged his platoon on the top. He was hit by an
arrow in the thigh but he paid no attention until his men had control of the breastwork. After
trying unsuccessfully to remove it himself, he ordered a fellow soldier to take it out and threatened
violence unless he obeyed. When the arrow came out, it forced Houston to find a surgeon to stop the
bleeding. Jackson came by at that moment and ordered him to stay out the rest of the battle but
Houston was not content to quit. Houston volunteered to lead an attack on the fortification and
when his men hesitated, he grabbed a musket and run forward. When he was 5 yards of the Creek
position, he got hit in the right shoulder, rendering his arm useless. He continued to call for his men
to charge but they refused. He had to drag himself from the ravine where out of musket range, he
collapsed. Jackson then had the Cherokees use flaming arrows to burn the last creek warriors and
complete a battle that cost the Indians more than 700 dead and broke their power forever.

5. Describe Houston’s life with the Cherokee Indians when he was a young man.
Sam Houston was 14 when his family moved to Tennessee. There, he showed no interest in
school or farm work. He liked to read Alexander Pope’s translation of The Iliad and found its
stories of heroic warfare so thrilling that he memorized much of it. After 2 years in Tennessee, the
Houstons acquired an interest in a store in Maryville and decided that Sam would work there as a
clerk. Sam Houston soon disappeared from his job and from home. News came that he had crossed
the Tennessee River and was living with the Cherokee Indians. His mother sent 2 of her sons to
bring Sam home, but they arrived to find him resting under a tree reading The Iliad. Houston
joined a band of about 300 Cherokees led by chief Oo-loo-te-ka. Sam learnt their language and
participated in their games, hunts and festivals. He was especially fortunate in that chief Oo-loo-te-
ka liked him and offered to adopt him. He received the Indian name “Colonneh”, which he
translated as “The Raven” as symbol of good luck to the Indians. Life with the Cherokees was in
Houston’s words “greatly to his own satisfaction and comfort” but it shaped his future as well. He
developed an abiding understanding and respect for his host’s culture that he extended to the
Indian way of life in general.

6. Describe the fight between Houston and Congressman Stanbery and the resulting trial before Congress.

Stanbery used the National Intelligencer to impute fraud to Eaton and Houston as a means of
attacking their friend President Andrew Jackson. Houston immediately wrote to Stanbery asking if
the newspaper had reported his remarks correctly, but he was replied that he had no right to make
such a request. Houston promised him that he will punish him if they meet. Houston started to
carry a hickory cane, Stanbery on the other hand started to carry 2 pistols. They finally met on the
night of April 13 on Pennsylvania Avenue. Houston hit Stanbery with his cane. Stanbery tried to get
away, but Houston jumped on his back, drugged him to the ground. Stanbery tried to use his pistols
but he misfired, and Houston having him on his back with his feet in the air, caned him elsewhere.
Stanbery took the case to arrest and punishment. Houston insisted that he had reacted to the article
in the Intelligencer, not to Stanbery’s words in the House, and that he had caned him in a fit of
anger only after polite requests for an explanation had been refused. Houston was finally found
guilty after 4 days of debate and was sentenced to receive a reprimand from the Speaker of the
House, his friend Andrew Stevenson. Stanbery sought unsuccessfully to have Houston excluded
forever from the lobby of the House and, successfully, to have him indicted on a charge of criminal
assault in the federal court for the District of Columbia. However, the case finally ended on June
28, 1832 with a conviction and a fine of $500 and costs. But, the court gave him a year to pay, and
Jackson remitted the fine in 1834.