{"id":1183,"date":"2018-12-31T16:06:46","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1183"},"modified":"2018-12-31T16:06:46","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:06:46","slug":"rozelle-exiled_010718","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1183","title":{"rendered":"Rozelle, Exiled_010718"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TEXAS HISTORY\/BIOGRAPHY<\/p>\n

Ron Rozelle<\/span><\/p>\n

Exiled: The Last Days of Sam Houston<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Texas A&M University Press<\/p>\n

Hardcover, 978-1623495862 (Also available as paperback and ebook), 232 pages, $29.95<\/p>\n

December 13, 2017<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Si Dunn<\/p>\n

Most Texans recall how Gen. Sam Houston was a hero of the 1836 revolution<\/span> that brought Texas independence from Mexico. Some likewise remember that Houston was a key figure in both the Republic of Texas’s formation and Texas becoming America\u2019s twenty-eighth state in 1845.<\/p>\n

But, as Lake Jackson author-historian Ron Rozelle<\/span> highlights in this engrossing examination of Sam Houston\u2019s final years, the great hero\u2019s accomplishments quickly were hurled aside when he tried to stop Texas from leaving the Union and joining the Confederacy in 1861.<\/p>\n

Rozelle writes: \u201cHe had been a general of the highest rank, twice the president of a republic, the governor of two states [Tennessee and Texas], a senator, congressman, official ambassador of and to the tribal nations, and a potentially viable candidate, more than once, for the office of president of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The often-flamboyant Houston also had gained other labels. \u201cHe was called many things in his time: hero, patriot, traitor, firebrand, maverick, Indian lover, genius, drunkard, and liberator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exiled: The Last Days of Sam Houston<\/span> examines events, issues, family relationships, and life decisions leading up to Houston\u2019s expulsion as Texas governor once he refused to pledge loyalty to the Confederacy just before the Civil War. The book then follows Houston and his family into exile in East Texas, including Huntsville, where he would die just two years later, an old man worn down by pneumonia and lingering 1836 war wounds, plus the harsh changes to his fortunes and the world around him.<\/p>\n

Ironically, following his ouster, Houston supported his eldest son\u2019s decision to enlist in the Confederate Army. Houston even took fatherly pride in Sam Jr.\u2019s training and appearance in uniform.<\/p>\n

The path to Sam Houston\u2019s downfall, the author contends, was set well before the Civil War, when Houston became one of two U.S. senators from Texas in 1846. Rozelle writes that Houston quickly found himself \u201cat odds with other senators of both his party and geographical region, not on the issue of slavery, which he defended as an absolute economic necessity in the South, but as a vocal champion of Indian rights and a steadfast defender of keeping the Union bound tightly together through any storm that might threaten it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rozelle notes that \u201c[a]t times\u201d in his book, \u201csuppositions are made in the narrative\u2014based always on the established characteristics and beliefs of the subjects and the mores and realities of the era \u2014 to better relate the time and place, but no actual events were altered and no characters introduced who never existed.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also emphasizes that \u201cevery effort was made to locate and document facts and figures in sources both primary\u2014particularly original documents and hundreds of Houston\u2019s personal letters\u2014and secondary, including numerous biographies and histories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, a few Sam Houston scholars and aficionados may take issue with some contentions in Rozelle\u2019s well-written book. However, Exiled is aimed also at a general audience. Many readers likely will gain enjoyable insights into one of America’s most controversial and intriguing political leaders.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TEXAS HISTORY\/BIOGRAPHY Ron Rozelle Exiled: The Last Days of Sam Houston Texas A&M University Press Hardcover, 978-1623495862 (Also available as paperback and ebook), 232 pages, $29.95 December 13, 2017 Reviewed by Si Dunn Most Texans recall how Gen. Sam Houston was a hero of the 1836 revolution that brought Texas independence from Mexico. Some likewise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}