The Daily Richmond Enquirer, Oct. 10, 1861.
Position of Gen. Houston.
Cedar Point, Texas, Sept. 18, 1861.
Messrs. Editors of the Civillian- Gentlemen: Fondly had I hoped that in retirement, after a public life of more than forty eight years, I would have been permitted to enjoy rest and tranquility in the bosom of my family, and where my friends would always find my rustic home accessible to calls of friendship; but in this I have been disappointed. For some time past I had heard that my position had been referred to by editors in different parts of the country, and that my proclivities were also referred to as favering coercion by Mr. Lincoln. In confirmation of this fact the following extract from the New York Herald has been brought to my notice by a friend:
Still Hankering After Texas.- A dispatch of the 15th ult., from Washington says:
“Reliable private advices from Texas, dated the 23d ult., represents the Union sentiment as rather on the increase, and this becomes evident as the true state of the agitation is better understood; and further that it would extensively be manifested should Federal protection be afforded against the oppressions of the dis-unionist. The newspapers of the State have perverted the statements made by Gen. Houston from to time, as it is positively known that he has no sympathy with rebellion. At last accounts he was in quiet seclusion on his farm, awaiting events.”
By this you will perceive that my name has been unwarrantably referred to, and my present attitude most egregiously misapprehended or wantonly misrepresented. Previous to the act of secession by Texas, and whilst the measure was one of argument and opinion, my opposition to the acts of the Convention was not concealed, but on all becoming occasions fully expressed; nor did I cease that expression of opposition to the measure of secession until the people acquiesced in it, when I, as one of them, unhesitatingly assented to this conclusion; since which time I have attempted to throw no impediment in the way of this action; but, on the contrary, have performed all the acts of a dutiful and loyal citizen of the Southern Confederacy. This was doing no more than what became me, for I have lived and acted upon the principle that all public officers should obey the will of their constituents, and all private citizens support the government which secures ….their liberties.
Whilst the Convention was in session, I presented a communication to the Legislation accompanying resolutions forwarded to me by the Executive of Tennessee on the subject of coercion, in which I denounced unqualifiedly such a measure of Federal policy; since then my opinion has undergone no change. I have seen no necessity, nor have I any desire, to see my name paraded in the newspapers, either as a speech maker or a correspondent. In these matters my “occupation’s gone,” and I now write for the purpose of removing any delusion that may be resting upon the minds of friends or enemies. I am aware that many honest minds have been deluded by the publications of editors in this State, who have slandered me unscrupulously, some for eighteen years, and all of them since their advent into the country, as I believe, because they were ambitious and wished to become distinguished, and if they should fail in this from a lack of talent, they would at least have the satisfaction of becoming notorious by connecting their opposition and abuse with my name. A trio, at least, of these editors, came from far North of Mason and Dixon’s line, and no doubt were of an ultra stripe in the North; it was natural enough, then, that they should become extremists which I have always maintained and advocated up to the present crisis of our country; and now I am conservative because I am maintaining our sovereignty and independence, as I believe we are entitled to it, and capable of sustaining it.
Had I been disposed to involve Texas in civil war I had it in my power, for I was tendered the aid of seventy thousand men and means to sustain myself in Texas by adhering to the Union; but this I rejected , and in return for the offer I gave my advice to the Federal Government that I wanted no money—I desired no office, and wished for no troops; but if Mr. Lincoln was wise and wished to confer a benefit upon the country, he would evacuate Forts Pickens and Sumter, recall all the Federal troops from Texas, and not take the counsel of such men as Gen. Scott, or his Administration would be a disgrace. Notwithstanding this, when my message was reported to Mr. Lincoln by his own messenger, it appeared form confidential letter writers in Washington that he did not believe that his agent had been faithful in the discharge of his trust in reporting my opinion. To this conclusion he was led, no doubt, by the editors referred to, piling and repeating the charges upon my reputation of abolition and treason to the South. So strong was his belief, as stated by the writer, in these slanders, that he immediately resolved to send another messenger and troops to the South.
Facts which have transpired before the people of Texas for the last twenty-nine years would offer me a vindication much stronger than any which I shall ever attempt, were the parties cognizant of them still living, but most of them have been gathered to their fathers. I might refer to them without boasting although I have not had a personal participation in the war, nor have I yet perceived a necessity for so doing. My only son above the years of childhood, and he is only a stripling of 18, attached himself to the first company that was raised in the neighborhood, has been mustered into service for during the war, and is discharging the duties of a soldier, equipped to meet the enemies of the Southern Confederacy and in addition to this, no less than four nephews have enlisted during the war, and are I now on their march to 'Virginia. I might cite these as evidences in vindication of myself, if I chose so to do, but such is not the object , it being merely done for the gratification of boasting a little, and to let those who were most forward in secession see whether they have done more than I have and am willing to do for the Southern Confederacy. And more than this, I have three other nephews who have been in Virginia from the commencement of the war with the other Southern troops- There are those who declared that if war was the consequence of secession they would be found in the van of battle, but who have retired and are securely ensconced in their seclusion, and “cooing gently as sucking doves.”
The time has been when there was a powerful Union sentiment in Texas, and a willingness on the part of many true patriots to give Mr. Lincoln a fair trial in the administration of the Federal Government. There was also a time when many of the best men in the country hoped that by an energetic demonstration they might bring about a reconstruction of the Government upon such principles as might guarantee the rights of the South. These times have passed by, while Union and reconstruction have become obsolete terms, or, if even mentioned, it is only in reference to past events. If there is any Union sentiment in Texas, I am not apprised of it.
Mr. Lincoln and his Cabinet have usurped the powers of Congress, and have waged war against the sovereign States, and have thereby not only absolved the States, but all the people of the several States, from their allegiance to his Government, the Federal Government having ceased to exist by his acts of usurpation. He has, through his officers, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, the bulwark of American' liberty, and proclaimed martial law in sovereign States. If I am to rely on the current intelligence of the day, he has, through his major general, Mr. John 0. Fremont, proclaimed martial law in Missouri, and assumed the civil administration of affairs in that State, thereby ignoring the Constitution and setting at naught the sovereignty of the people, and has, in fact, with more than Vandalic malignity and Gothic hate, sought to incite a servile insurrection in that State. If the last feather had been wanting to break the camel's back, this act of atrocity would have supplied it. His acts and feelings are such as have never failed to characterize the heart of a renegade.
If Mr. Lincoln, as he was the aggressor, by invading the soil of a sovereign State, and causing the blood of her sons to be shed, even in the neighborhood of the sacred remains of Washington, after having become President upon a sectional issue, in derogation of the leaching of his farewell address, wishes to make reparation for the wrongs inflicted, he has but one course left, and, in my opinion, that course is to propose an armistice that shall withdraw all the Federal troops from Virginia, suspend the action of all the Federal forces in all of the Southern States, the Confederate authorities at the same time guaranteeing that they will not advance their troops into any territory not occupied by them until the meeting of the Confederate and Federal Congresses at their next session. Should this course be pursued, there is little doubt but that the good sense and patriotism of the two sections would adopt such measures as would restore peace, arrest the further destruction of human life, and restore, to a great extent, the prosperity of the two sections, for it cannot be imagined that a vain hope of restoring the Union can ever be realized.
The South can never reunite with the North, nor can the North entertain any rational hopes of her subjugation. The sooner war is ended, the greater will be the probability of establishing friendly relations between the two sections, and this cannot fail to promote the mutual prosperity of both. Should this be disregarded, a terrific responsibility must rest upon the heads of those who either interpose power or authority to prevent its consummation.
Trusting that no further misapprehension of my opinions and feelings may be entertained by any one, I have been thus explicit, and submit them for what they are worth to the world.
Very truly, your friend,
Sam Houston.
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David Upton