American Essence

The Lone Star State Patriot and Prophet: Sam Houston

This installment of “When Character Counted” brings us a man whose personality and achievements were as grand as the state he helped shape.
The Lone Star State Patriot and Prophet: Sam Houston
“Surrender of Santa Anna,” 1886, by William Huddle. the painting illustrates the end of the Texas Revolution with Mexican Gen. Santa Anna surrendering to the wounded Sam Houston after the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Public domain
Jeff Minick
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In 1833, Sam Houston (1793–1863) left Tennessee for Texas, where he opened a law practice and soon joined the rebellion against Mexico.

After being commissioned a major general in the Texas army in 1835, Houston and his men won the Battle of San Jacinto the following year, shouting “Remember the Alamo!” as they surprised and defeated the forces of Mexican Gen. Santa Anna in less than 20 minutes. That same year, Texans elected him as the first president of the Republic of Texas, and a new town, Houston, bore his name.

Jeff Minick
Jeff Minick
Author
Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C. He is the author of two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va.