Excerpt from With Sam Houston in Texas: A Boy Volunteer in the Texas Struggles for Independence, When in the Years 1835-1836 the Texas Colonist Threw Off the Unjust Rule of Mexico, and by Heroic Deeds Established, Under the Guidance of the Bluff Sam Houston, Their Own Free Republic Which to-Day
Sam Houston should justly be regarded as a great American. He laid his course and steered by it utterly regardless of the opposition. Strong characters are known as much by the enemies that they make as by the friends that they retain. When they launch into a course that they deem is right, they do not depend upon fair winds. They go ahead, if they have real faith. Threats, ridicule and dangers do not daunt them. Sometimes they may pause, to renew their courage; but they proceed again on the same line.
Such a character was Sam Houston. To his friends he was loyal; to his enemies he was unyielding; his ideals were high; and he loved his country.
Whatever he undertook, he undertook with his whole might, in spite of censure and discouragements. This book deals with him chiefly as the six-months" general who, out of seeming defeat, achieved the triumph of Texas arms, and at one stroke established Texas independence. But we ought to admire him as a patriot statesman, rather than as a military commander.
Some other commander could have won the victory for Texas. Freedom, well or poorly led, cannot be conquered by oppression. Justice cannot be combatted, forever, by injustice. But few other men have had Sam Houston"s rugged courage.
We see him opposed by virtually all the people whom he was seeking to benefit, while he played the humble waiting game, and gave the foe false advantages until in his own good time he struck and roundly defeated them. He endured being called a coward - although he well knew that he, with an arrow wound and two bullet wounds in his body, was no coward. We see him generous in victory, and always looking beyond the present.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге With Sam Houston in Texas (Edwin L. Sabin)