ALS, one page, 7.5 x 9.25, February 12, 1861. Letter to the Commanding Officer of Fort Mason, Texas. In full: “I have to request, that you will pay a compliment to the State, by granting to Dr. Francis Morgan State Geologist, such an escort as he may need, on his present tour of exploration. This request I am happy to make of you in accordance with our State Laws. The reason of my not addressing you by name is arriving to the fact, as well as the misfortune, that I have not had the pleasure of knowing who is in Command at Fort Mason.” Intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, some scattered light toning and foxing, and mounting remnants to the reverse of blank second integral page, otherwise fine condition.
This letter dates to the month when Texas seceded from the Union, but before the state officially joined the Confederacy—and is a remarkable document that survives from a time when Federal institutions in Texas were falling like dominoes. It is also among the last surviving official documents signed by Houston, a Union supporter, during his tenure as Texas governor. As Houston was writing this letter, Robert E. Lee was already in transit to Washington D.C. at the summons of Winfield Scott. Fort Mason was Lee's last command with the U.S. Army before returning to the East, initially to serve in the Union Army, but ultimately to take the helm of the Confederate forces. Houston wrote this letter after Lee had left the fort but was still in Texas, probably near San Antonio.
Houston forcefully refused to recognize Texas’ secession, putting him at odds with an overwhelmingly anti-Union legislature, and the political machinery was powerful enough dislodge from office this icon of early Texas history. He was removed from office on March 16, 1861, after declining to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.
Although Houston and Lee would follow divergent paths, both Virginia natives grappled with how to reconcile their loyalties. Lee would ultimately decline the Union commission that he was summoned away from Fort Mason to receive. Though Houston was a supporter of the Union, prior to his death in 1863 his last recorded words, uttered to his wife, were, "Texas! Texas! Margaret..."
Terrific association between the hero of the Texas Revolution and the most accomplished Confederate strategist of the Civil War. The Robert Davis Collection, read more about Robert Davis. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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