Life and select literary remains of Sam Houston of Texas/Chapter 26
CHAPTER XXVI.
After his ejection from the Gubernatorial office Gen. Houston retired with his family to his residence at Huntsville, Walker County. With calm dignity he watched the events of the war then waging. He had no confidence in the success of the" Confederate States." He so far sympathized with the South as to allow his eldest son, as has been before remarked, to enter the Confederate army, in which he was a lieutenant, and distinguished himself in chivalrous conduct in the contests in Louisiana, and by his devotion to the land of his nativity while a prisoner of war under Federal control. Occasionally he appeared at parades, and noticed the drill of troops, and sometimes gave vent to his fund of humor at the expense of some whose chivalry consisted in words. On one occasion a captain was drilling his company, while Gen. Houston was one of the lookers-on. The captain, observing him, said to him, "General, will you drill my company a little for me?" "With great pleasure, sir," said the General. Taking his position in front of the company, he commenced: "Attention, company! Eyes right!" The order was obeyed. The General then observed, "Gentlemen, do you see anything of ?" Unanimously they replied "No." "Then, front face!" Again the order was executed, "Now, gentlemen," said the General, "do you see anything of ?" Again the reply was "No" "Then, gentlemen, eyes left!" Once more the order was carried out. "Well, now, gentlemen, do you see anything of ?" Again the company reply "No." "No," says the General, "and you will not see anything of him where there is any danger, while this war lasts." Then turning to the captain, he said:" Captain, I turn the company over to you again; they are very well drilled indeed."
But worn down with anxiety, and suffering from disease and pain, his constitution gave way in the summer of 1863, just after the fall of Vicksburg had spread dismay all over Texas. In health he stood with an erect, well-made form, a giant in strength. His hair turned prematurely gray from herculean labors. His eye was ever soft and clear, and beamed with a smile which no man can wear whose heart does not overflow with love of country and philanthropy to his race. He suffered during his long and eventful life from few, if any, physical ailments. But no surgical skill was ever able to close up the wound which he received in his right shoulder from two rifle-balls, at Tohopeka. That wound discharged every day for forty-seven years. His linen was wet with its discharge in the hour of his death. In an almost miraculous manner he entirely recovered from the wound in his ankle, received at the battle of San Jacinto. Surrounded by his family (except Lieut. Sam Houston, Jr., who was on the field of battle), his great frame succumbed to the power of the destroyer, and his great soul passed to the presence of his God on the 26th day of July, 1863. He was attended by admiring friends, and conversed freely on his soul's welfare with Rev. Mr. Cockrell, pastor of the Huntsville Presbyterian Church. The House of Representatives of Texas adopted the following resolutions at its session, about three months thereafter, which were introduced by an address from Hon. J. H. Banton, Representative of Walker County. The following is a transcript of the resolutions forwarded to Mrs. Houston:
Mr. Banton said:
"Mr. J. H. Banton, of Walker, offered the following resolutions, to wit:
"Resolved, That the House has heard with deep regret that the distinguished statesman, patriot, and soldier, General Sam Houston, departed this life on the 26th day of July, 1863, at his residence in Walker County.
"Resolved, That in his death the State has lost one of its distinguished citizens and public servants, and one of its ablest and most zealous advocates and defenders of its rights, liberties, and its honor.
"Resolved, That so great a light can be illy spared in this dark hour of our country's existence, and its going out is alike a State and a national calamity.
"Resolved, That his public services through a long and eventful life, his unblemished patriotism, his great private and moral worth, and his untiring, devoted, and zealous regard for the interests of the State of Texas command our highest admiration, and should be held in perpetual remembrance by the people of the State.
"Resolved, That the sympathies and condolence of the people of the State be tendered the afflicted family of the deceased.
"Resolved, That the Clerk of the House furnish the surviving widow of the deceased a copy of these proceedings, and that they be spread upon the journals of the House.
"Resolved, That as a further token of respect to the memory of the distinguished dead, this House do now adjourn to 10 A.M. to-morrow; which was adopted, and after some appropriate remarks from Mr. Banton, the House adjourned to 10 a.m. to-morrow."
"Mr. Speaker: As announced in the resolutions which have been read from the clerk's desk, Gen. Sam Houston is no more. A great man has fallen. Texas' most distinguished citizen has ceased to exist among us, and it is but fitting and just that we, the representatives of the people, should betoken the high esteem in which he was held by them; and give expression to that deep feeling of regret which pervades the whole country in consequence of its great bereavement. As the representative of the county of his residence, and as his friend and admirer, I feel it incumbent on me to bespeak for the resolutions the favorable consideration of the House. And in doing so I will not presume, sir, on the intelligence of this honorable and enlightened body, by attempting even an epitome of the history of the life, character, and public services of a man whose name is as familiar as household words, even to the very children of the most obscure hamlets of the State, and whose fame is coextensive with civilization itself. His deeds, which constitute the history of his life, at the same time constitute a very large, important, and inseparable portion of the history of the country. To know the history of the one is in a very great measure to know the history of the other. And while those deeds, both military and civil, have made his renown and given immortality to his name, they have gilded his country's history with undying glory. Under his leadership in the field, Texans acquired a reputation for chivalry, daring, gallantry, and all that's glorious in war, which their indomitable descendants and successors in this second struggle for liberty and independence with pride emulate. His civil deeds in the legislative and administrative departments of Government have not been less distinguished, and contributed no less to his own renown and the greatness of the State. I believe, sir, I do no injustice to the distinguished living or dead of this State when I say Sam Houston was the most remarkable man known to its history. May I not safely assert that his life is more fruitful of remarkable and thrilling events and incidents than that of any other man of his generation? Profound, far-seeing, and comprehensive in statesmanship; bold, daring, glorious in war; a dear lover of peace, with wonderful capacity to enjoy private life and the family circle, he combined all the elements necessary to constitute him truly a great man. Such, sir, is the man whom Texas has the honor of claiming as her own, and whose death we now lament. And though he leaves an enduring monument of his greatness and worth in the history of his country and the affections of his countrymen, yet I would it were in our power at this time to erect a material monument, towering and colossal, like the majestic form of him in whose honor it is reared, as a token of that high esteem in which he was held by the people of the State. And I indulge the hope that the day is not far distant, when grim-visaged war will depart, and smiling peace, with her attendant innumerable blessings, will return to make the heart to rejoice and crown the land with plenty—when a grateful and liberal people can rear to the memory of Thomas J. Rusk and Sam Houston, twin brothers in the glorious struggle for Texan independence, two lofty monuments whose majestic proportions shall be fit representatives of these noble heroes, towering above all else, the ornaments and pride of the State, perpetual remembrancers of the noble deeds of noble patriots, serving to stimulate the laudable ambition of the aspiring youths of the State through many generations.
"Sir, I was with Gen. Houston in his last illness and in his last moments on earth. He who was Sam Houston in life was emphatically and characteristically Sam Houston in death. The same reverence-inspiring form, the same piercing eye, the same gigantic mind! Death came upon him like a 'deep sleep,' and he sank as sets the sun in the peaceful and quiet splendors of a summer's eve. It affords me much pleasure to state to the House that he died in the triumphs of that faith which he professed during the last decade of his life. And she who performed so important a part in his reformation, the partner of his bosom, had from his own dying lips ample assurances that her labors in that behalf had not been in vain, and that he was sustained by an abiding faith in the Author of his redemption, and by that living hope which is ' as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.' There is, sir, to my mind something majestic, magnificent, and yet instructive and beautiful, in such a life and such a death. He whose career was as brilliant and in some respects as erratic as the comet in its wildest flights, revolved with equal splendor, yet with lamblike humility, during the last years of his life around the great Sun of Righteousness as the center of his attraction. But, pleasing as are these consoling reflections in bereavement, I will not longer indulge in them. Gen. Houston leaves a most devoted wife and large and lovely family of children, who lament in the bitterness of their souls the loss of him who was their comfort, their stay, and their pride. Full of years and of honors, he has gone to rest.
"And now that the war of faction and of party is over with him, and the tongue of envy is hushed, all can see and acknowledge his great worth, and honor his immortal memory. Whatever may have been his faults or errors (and to say his long and eventful life was free from them is more than can be said of mortal man), none can question his pure and undying devotion to his country, especially Texas, and the 'patriotic pride' with which he at all times beheld her prosperity. We might say of Texas, that she was his handiwork; he loved her as a father loveth his own child, rejoiced with her when she rejoiced, and wept with her when she wept. Always as jealous of her rights and honor as of his own, he never, when in his power to prevent it, suffered the one infringed or the other tarnished. And I doubt not that as long as there are those who love Texas, and desire the perpetuation of the rights, liberties, and honor of her people, and as long as her glorious history is read, the name of Houston will be honored and revered and his noble deeds emulated by a grateful people."