Nance, Attack and Counter-Attack, 7-8, 9-54, passim. Haynes, Soldiers of Misfortune, 12.
2. Green is paraphrasing, evidently from memory, Sam Houston's open letter of March 21, 1842. Williams and Barker, eds., Houston Writings 2:526-527.
3. In the aftermath of the Vásquez invasion, Houston appeared to reverse his policy of retrenchment to placate those who clamored for offensive measures, and issued a call for volunteers to undertake an invasion of the lower Rio Grande valley. But the president's belligerence was less than genuine. Privately, Houston remained skeptical that Texas had the resources necessary to carry the war onto Mexican soil and no doubt intended to play for time to allow the public outcry in favor of war to dissipate. Haynes, Soldiers of Misfortune, 15-19.
Chapter Three ~ Notes
1. A veteran of the Revolution and the Cherokee War, the forty-nine-year-old Edward Burleson had been elected to the vice presidency in 1841 on the basis of his distinguished military record. Favoring an aggressive policy against Mexico, he broke rank with the Houston administration following the Vásquez raid. A popular but ineffective political leader, the semi-literate Burleson served largely as a mouthpiece for Green (who wrote some of his speeches) and other opponents of the president. For more on Edward Burleson, see John H. Jenkins and Kenneth Kesselus, Edward Burleson: Texas Frontier Leader.
2. Born in Maryland in 1796, Alexander Somervell moved to Texas in 1832. As a lieutenant colonel during the Revolution, he remained loyal to Sam Houston even when many officers demanded his ouster for his apparent reluctance to confront Santa Anna's advancing army. This willingness to follow orders was rewarded by Houston, who in 1842 appointed him commander of the Texas effort to repulse the forces under Vásquez, and to lead the expedition that would later bear his name into the Rio Grande valley following the Woll campaign. After the Somervell Expedition, Houston appointed Somervell customs collector for the port of Calhoun. In 1854 Somervell was murdered after setting out alone on a boat trip along the Texas coast. Believed to have been carrying a large sum of money, he was found tied to the timbers of the capsized craft. Sam Houston Dixon and Louis Wiltz Kemp, The Heroes of San Jacinto, 126.
3. A renowned Indian fighter, Captain John C. Hays had commanded a ranger company on the frontiers of the Republic since 1840. Trained as a surveyor, he had first gained a reputation for valor when attacked by Indians while surveying land in west Texas. He would later gain national attention for his exploits as a colonel of the Texas Mounted Volunteers in the Mexican War. Z. N. Morrell, Flowers and Fruits from the Wilderness, 176.
4. Houston to House of Representatives, July 22, 1842, Williams and Barker, eds., Houston Writings 3:116-124.
5. Memucan Hunt had served as the Texan minister to the United States in the first Houston administration and as secretary of the navy under Mirabeau Lamar. Walter P. Webb, et al., eds., The Handbook of Texas 2:864.
Chapter Four ~ Notes
1. Brigadier General Adrian Woll was a Frenchman who had fought in the Mexican War for Independence, later serving as Santa Anna's quarter master in his unsuccessful attempt to quell
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