b'Houston continued from page 45Unfortunately or perhaps deliberately as there were stillTwiggs surrendered everything thisOnce in office, Lincoln had promised a few southern sympathizers employed within the Warmorning and we are all prisoners-of- Houston he would support him by Department, the orders placing Waite in command werewar." Lee stared at her, and she wrotelanding thousands of Federal troops on mailed, not sent by telegraph, which was the customaryafterward that his lips trembled, histhe Texas coastline.procedure. At any rate, Twiggs was still in commandeyes filled with tears as he exclaimed, on the day Waite received those orders, February 15th,"Has it come so soon as this" (BruceReturning to Austin, Sam Houston held which as things turned out was the day Texas choseCatton, The Coming Fury, edited bythe second, and the last council of war revolution against the United States and decided to actE.B. Long, Doubleday, and Company,of his career. David Culbertson, J.W. against the Federal Government. Incorporated, Garden City, New Jersey,Throckmorton, Benjamin H. Epperson, New York, 1961, p. 231)? and George W. Paschal were summoned The wife of a San Antonio Unionist, Mrs. Carolineto the executive mansion. All were Darrow related what happened when Colonel BenAccording to acclaimed Civil WarUnionists. Houston showed them the McCulloch, commanding the Texas Rangers, and StateHistorian Bruce Catton, a fascinatingletter and asked their advice, beginning Militia rode into San Antonio and seized the U.S. Army"IF" develops at this point. A fewmilitary fashion, with the youngest Arsenal by the Alamo: months earlier, Twiggs had departed forperson present. This was Epperson, he Washington, D.C. leaving Colonel Lee infavored resistance. Culbertson was next, "On the night of the 15th, worn out with anxiouscharge as acting head of the Departmenthe opposed resistance. The majority of watching, we (the Federal troops and their families)of Texas. If secession had taken placepeople in Texas were for secession, and fell asleep, to be suddenly roused about 4 o\'clock byat that time, it would have been Robertto make their homes a battleground the screams of the Negroes, who were coming homeE. Lee and not Twiggs whom the Texaswould not change their minds. The from the market, "We\'re all going to be killed!" I graspedcommissioners had presented theirthird to speak was Throckmorton. my revolver, and springing to my feet, looked out upondemands to. Without question, Lee, whose mindset wasHe supported Culbertson. Paschal did the same. The the plaza. In the dim light I saw the revolutionistsstill favoring the Union, would have refused, and it mightgovernor stepped into the fireplace and dropped the letter appearing, two-by-two on muleback and horseback,very well have been Lee, not Major Robert Anderson atof Abraham Lincoln into the flames.mounted and on foot, carrying the Lone Star flag beforeFort Sumter who would have received and then returned them, and surrounded and supported by armed men."the fire of the Texas secessionists. The Alamo ironically"Gentlemen, I have asked your advice and will take it, (Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volume I, Newenough would have again been under bombardment withbut if I were 10 years younger I would not" (Ibid, pp. York, Thomas Yoseloff, Incorporated, 1956, pp.34-35). San Antonio, not that fort in a South Carolina harbor the336-337).scene of a fight that began a great war.The revolution had arrived. Mrs. Darrow went on to stateOn March 16, the officials of the state of Texas, with that Twiggs was given six hours to surrender all FederalAlso ironic enough was the fact that Lee\'s travelingthe exception of Governor Houston and Secretary of property in Texas, all of the forts, arsenals, and stores, andcompanion was Robert Anderson\'s brother, ColonelState Cave opted to swear allegiance to the Confederacy. by 12 noon he had acceded to the request. It was knownCharles Anderson, himself a staunch Unionist. LeeLieutenant Governor Edward Clark, who in the past that Twiggs was in contact with Colonel McCullochwent up to see the commissioners who demandedwas a close personal friend and associate of Houston\'s and the so-called Texas Committee for Public Safetythat he swear loyalty to the Confederacy. In greatbut was now described as an "insignificant creature, for a week, and he quickly acceded to the Committee\'sanger, Lee refused, and for a tense moment or so, thecontemptible, spry and pert" took the oath of office as demands, handing over the Alamo arsenal and all of thecommissioners were about to arrest and detain Leegovernor. He entered the executive office of the state to Federal forts in the state - which in effect was to handwhen a third man entered the building. In all probabilitydemand it\'s archives only to be confronted by Houston, them over to the Southern Confederacy. Twiggs orderedthat third man was Colonel McCulloch himself, and hewho, turning his chair, asked scornfully, "And what is the San Antonio garrison to leave the city, and theydemanded that the commissioners release Lee as he wasyour name, sir" (Kennedy, Profiles in Courage, p. 100)?departed as bitter Unionists watched and wept. following orders, so Lee was allowed to depart for theHouston left office later that day, but only after issuing a east chagrined but unharmed (we know what happenedfinal proclamation as governor of Texas:As the garrison pulled out, a tall, lean, grayish-hairedto Lee, Colonel McCulloch became General McCulloch U.S. Army Colonel had just ridden his carriageof the Confederate Army, and would be killed a year"Fellow citizens, in the name of your rights and liberty, into town. That Colonel was Robert E. Lee. He waslater at Pea Ridge). which I believe have been trampled upon, I refuse to take stunned to see that the revolution he detested hadthis oath (to the Confederate States of America). But I taken over, replaced by an intense feeling against theOld General Twiggs was denounced by both Governorlove Texas too well to bring civil strife and bloodshed government of the United States. He encountered theHouston and President James Buchanan, but the damageupon her. I shall make no endeavor to maintain my aforementioned Mrs. Darrow and inquired who thesewas done. With the Texas Rangers and the State Militiaauthority as Chief Executive of this state, except by the revolutionaries were. "They are McCulloch\'s. Generalfirmly in the hands of the secessionists and with Unionpeaceful exercise of my functions. When I can no longer troops either heading for the Texas coast or being putdo this I shall calmly withdraw from the scene. I am in internment camps, Houston had no military forcestricken down because I will not yield those principles to back up his personal determination to keep Texas infor which I fought for. The severest pang is that the blow the Union. It now went down to a popular vote, but notcomes in the name of Texas" (Ibid).before Houston issued one last strong warning to his fellow Texans: After Houston had resigned as governor, he retired more or less to his seaside home and to private life, not "You may, after the countless sacrifice of countlessswearing allegiance to the Confederacy as many of his millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands ofcolleagues, including Throckmorton and Epperson did. lives, as a bare possibility win Southern Independence,He did cherish one thought though, and that was to but I doubt that. I tell you that, while I believe withsee Texas become independent once more, and at the you in the doctrine of state\'s rights, the North isbeginning of 1863 when it seemed possible that Houston determined to preserve the Union. They are not amight achieve another political comeback, he broached fiercely impulsive people as you are, for they movethe idea to several friends including former Secretary of in colder climates, but when they begin to move in a State Cave, who more or less informed the aging leader given direction, they move with the steady momentumthat it was too late for a Lone Star Republic, just as it was and perseverance of a mighty avalanche and what I fear is,too late for the Confederate States of America. Houston they will overcome the South" (James, The Raven, p. 336). took ill with a bad cold that turned into pneumonia, and he passed on July 26, 1863, but before he died, Houston It was all to no avail, as 81 counties reported majoritiesdid render one last service to the Union cause. At the supporting the secession ordinances on March 1st. 17issuance of Lincoln\'s Emancipation Proclamation, Sam counties voted to remain within the Union, while 27Houston became the first southerner to free his slaves, counties, including many populous ones, submitted noslaves who were so devoted to the Houstons that they official figures. The vote was 39,415 favoring secession,refused to depart.13,898opposed (Ibid).Colonel Ben McCulloch became GeneralHis last words were "Texas, Texas, Margaret." Sam Houston had one final card dropped in his hands,Houston was not only a Texan, but he was also ALL-McCulloch of the Confederate Army ironically and presumably by President-elect Lincoln.AMERICAN. 46 March 2020'