SAM HOUSTON Biography - Military related figures

 
 

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SAM HOUSTON

Name: Sam Houston                                                                 
Born: 2 March 1793 Rockbridge County, Virginia                                   
Died: 26 July 1863 Huntsville, Texas                                             
                                                                                 
Samuel Houston (March 2, 1793-July 26, 1863) was a 19th century American         
statesman, politician, and soldier. Born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in the   
Shenandoah Valley, Houston was a key figure in the history of Texas, including   
periods as President of the Republic of Texas, Senator for Texas after it joined 
the United States, and finally as governor. Although a slaveowner and opponent   
of abolitionism, he refused, because of his unionist convictions, to swear       
loyalty to the Confederacy when Texas seceded from the Union, bringing his       
governorship to an end. To avoid bloodshed, he refused an offer of an army to     
put down the rebellion, and instead retired to Huntsville, Texas, where he died   
before the end of the Civil War.                                                 
                                                                                 
His earlier life included encouraging emigration to Tennessee, time spent with   
the Cherokee Nation (into which he was adopted and later married into), military 
service in the War of 1812, and subsequent successful involvement in Tennessee   
politics. Houston is the only person in U.S. history to have been the governor   
of two different states, Tennessee and Texas, although others were governors of   
multiple American colonies.                                                       
                                                                                 
A fight with a Congressman, followed by a high profile trial, led to his         
emigration to Mexican Texas, where he soon became a leader of the Texas           
Revolution. He supported annexation by the United States rather than seeking     
long term independence and expansion for Texas. The city of Houston was named     
after him during this period. Houston's reputation survived his death:           
posthumous commemoration has included a memorial museum, a U.S. Army base, an     
historical park, a university, and the largest statue of an American figure.