Editing Sam Houston (section)

==Texas Revolution==
{{main|Texas Revolution}}
[[File:Sam Houston 1836.jpg|thumb|Painting of Houston from 1836]]

In mid-1832, Houston's friends [[William H. Wharton]] and [[John Austin Wharton (1806–38)|John Austin Wharton]] wrote to convince him to travel to the Mexican possession of [[Mexican Texas|Texas]], where unrest among the American settlers was growing.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=87–88}} The Mexican government had invited Americans to settle the sparsely populated region of Texas, but many of the settlers, including the Whartons, disliked Mexican rule. Houston crossed into Texas in December 1832, and shortly thereafter, he was granted land in Texas.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=91–92}} Houston was elected to represent Nacogdoches, Texas at the [[Convention of 1833]], which was called to petition Mexico for statehood (at the time, Texas was part of the state of [[Coahuila y Tejas]]). Houston strongly supported statehood, and he chaired a committee that drew a proposed state constitution.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=96–97}} After the convention, Texan leader [[Stephen F. Austin]] petitioned the Mexican government for statehood, but he was unable to come to an agreement with President [[Valentín Gómez Farías]]. In 1834, [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]] assumed the presidency, took on new powers, and arrested Austin.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=99–100}} In October 1835, the [[Texas Revolution]] broke out with the [[Battle of Gonzales]], a skirmish between Texan forces and the Mexican Army. Shortly after the battle, Houston was elected to the [[Consultation (Texas)|Consultation]], a congregation of Texas leaders.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=109–113}}

Along with Austin and others, Houston helped organize the Consultation into a provisional government for Texas. In November, Houston joined with most other delegates in voting for a measure that demanded Texas statehood and the restoration of the [[1824 Constitution of Mexico]]. The Consultation appointed Houston as a major general and the highest-ranking officer of the [[Texian Army]],<ref name=hbot /><ref name=txcol /> though the appointment did not give him effective control of the militia units that constituted the Texian Army.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=113–118}} Houston helped organize the [[Convention of 1836]], where the [[Republic of Texas]] [[Texas Declaration of Independence|declared independence]] from Mexico, and appointed him as [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the Texas Army. Shortly after the declaration, the convention received a plea for assistance from [[William B. Travis]], who commanded Texan forces [[Siege of the Alamo|under siege]] by Santa Anna at [[Alamo Mission in San Antonio|the Alamo]]. The convention confirmed Houston's command of the Texian Army and dispatched him to lead a relief of Travis's force, but the Alamo fell before Houston could organize his forces at Gonzales, Texas. Seeking to intimidate Texan forces into surrender, the Mexican army killed every defender at the Alamo; news of the defeat outraged many Texans and caused desertions in Houston's ranks.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=121–124}} Commanding a force of about 350 men that numerically was inferior to that of Santa Anna, Houston retreated east across the Colorado River.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=125–128}}

{{multiple image
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| image1    = Sam Houston at San Jacinto.jpg
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| caption1  = Detail from ''Houston at the [[Battle of San Jacinto]]'' by Henry Arthur McArdle
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| caption2  = ''[[Surrender of Santa Anna]]'' by [[William Henry Huddle]] shows the Mexican general [[Antonio López de Santa Anna|Santa Anna]] surrendering to a wounded Sam Houston. It hangs in the Texas State Capitol.
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Though the provisional government, as well as many of his own subordinates, urged him to attack the Mexican army, Houston continued the [[Runaway Scrape|retreat east]], informing his soldiers that they constituted "the only army in Texas now present ... There are but a few of us, and if we are beaten, the fate of Texas is sealed."{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=128–129}}{{efn|Another Texan force had been defeated at the [[Battle of Coleto]]; the Texans captured in that battle were subsequently [[Goliad massacre|massacred]] by order of Santa Anna.{{sfn|Haley|2002|p=129}}}} Santa Anna divided his forces and finally caught up to Houston in mid-April 1836.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=144–147, 158}} Santa Anna's force of about 1,350 soldiers trapped Houston's force of 783 men in a marsh; rather than pressing the attack, Santa Anna ordered his soldiers to make camp. Upon hearing this, the Texian soldiers were wanting to go out and fight. They were tired of retreating and wanted to do something instead of camping there. Even though Houston was hesitant about it, he let them take the reigns and decide to attack.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sam Houston {{!}} The Commanders of San Jacinto |url=https://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/Discover/The_Battle/Commanders/Sam_Houston/ |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=San Jacinto 2022 |language=en}}</ref> On April 21, Houston ordered an attack on the Mexican army, beginning the [[Battle of San Jacinto]]. The Texans quickly routed Santa Anna's force, though Houston's horse was shot out under him and his ankle was shattered by a stray bullet.<ref name=hbot />{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=147–151}} In the aftermath of the Battle of San Jacinto, a detachment of Texans captured Santa Anna.{{sfn|Haley|2002|pp=153–154}} Santa Anna was forced to sign the [[Treaty of Velasco]], which established a ceasefire between the two forces and laid out the first few steps towards Texan independence. Houston stayed briefly for negotiations, then returned to the United States for treatment of his ankle wound.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sam Houston {{!}} TSLAC|url=https://www.tsl.texas.gov/treasures/giants/houston-01.html|access-date=January 13, 2021|website=www.tsl.texas.gov}}</ref>