This Day In Texas History - May 5

[joe817]

1836 - The paddle steamer Yellow Stone was being prepared to take Texas government officials and Antonio López de Santa Anna to Galveston from the San Jacinto battlefield. Houston, painfully wounded above the ankle, was refused permission to sail with the group to seek medical aid. When Ross learned of this decision by the government officials, he replied forcefully that he would not sail without General Houston.

1845 - Isaac Webb established the first formal church in Dallas County(in present day Farmers Branch), called Webb or Webb's Chapel. This Methodist church originally met in a log cabin, which went through several buildings but still existed as a congregation in the 1990s.

1862 - Texas native Ignacio Seguín Zaragoza led a Mexican army in its resounding defeat of a French invasion. Zaragoza was born on March 24, 1829, at Bahía del Espíritu Santo in the state of Coahuila and Texas, near present Goliad, Texas. When the French invaded Mexico in 1862 he was entrusted with the defense of Puebla. French forces attacked the town in a battle that lasted the entire day of May 5, 1862, the now-famed Cinco de Mayo. Zaragoza's well-armed, well-trained men forced the withdrawal of the French troops. The number of French reported killed ranged from 476 to 1,000. Mexican losses were reported to be approximately eighty-six. Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican national holiday, is celebrated in Texas and the Southwest as well.

1898 - The first contingent of Rough Riders arrived in San Antonio to begin training during the Spanish-American War.

1939 - The telescope of the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory was dedicated.

1942 -James Connally Air Force Base, located seven miles northeast of Waco, was initially a basic pilot-training school. It opened as Waco Army Air Field on May 5, 1942, and became headquarters for the Army Air Force Central Instructors' School in February 1945.

1983 - President Reagan traveled to San Antonio, TX, for the Cinco de Mayo celebration.

2004 - On this date in 2004, Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros, surpassed Steve Carlton to become the No 2 all time strikeout leader in Major League history, behind future Hall of Famer, Nolan Ryan, who also once pitched for the Astros. Clemens would finish the 2004 season with 4,317 career strikeouts, and earn his seventh Cy Young Award.

[ELB]

1836 ... Houston, painfully wounded above the ankle, was refused permission to sail with the group to seek medical aid...

I have read this elsewhere, but never why? Anyone know why they did not want to take Sam to the doctor?

[joe817]

1836 ... Houston, painfully wounded above the ankle, was refused permission to sail with the group to seek medical aid...

I have read this elsewhere, but never why? Anyone know why they did not want to take Sam to the doctor?

I too have wondered about this. It took some digging but found an answer. Ross was captain of the Yellowstone. He refused to sail without Houston.

"Capt. Ross proceeded to Galveston, picking up refugees along the way. On the island, he found President David G. Burnet, many other government officials and a large number of refugees. After the Texans' victory, the Yellow Stone transported Burnet and other officials to the battleground at San Jacinto at the request of Secretary of War Thomas J. Rusk. At Buffalo Bayou, the steamboat played host not only to Sam Houston, who needed medical treatment for a wounded ankle, but also to Gen. Santa Anna, 47 of his officers and other Mexican soldiers. About 80 prisoners were taken to Galveston for incarceration. It is said that Burnet, never a fan of Houston's, refused to let Houston board the boat. But Capt. Ross would not budge until Houston was brought on board."

http://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/yellow-stone

Apparently Burnet & Houston didn't get along:

"Burnet was against independence for Texas in 1835, although he deplored the tendency of the national government toward a dictatorship. Thus his more radical neighbors did not choose him as a delegate to either the Consultation or the Convention of 1836. Nevertheless, he attended the session on March 10, where he successfully gained clemency for a client sentenced to hang. The delegates, who were opposed to electing one of their number president of the new republic, elected Burnet by a majority of seven votes.

His ad interim presidency of the Republic of Texas lasted from March 17 to October 22, 1836, and was very difficult. His actions angered Sam Houston, the army, the vice president, many cabinet members, and the public, and he left office embittered, intending never to return home, where a number of neighbors had turned against him. He lacked legal clients and was forced to turn to subsistence farming. In 1838 he entered the race for vice president and rode Mirabeau B. Lamar's coattails to victory. Forced to serve part of the time as secretary of state and acting president, Burnet became more out of step with public opinion. His bid for the presidency in 1841 against his old enemy, Sam Houston, resulted in defeat after a vitriolic campaign of name-calling."

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt ... urnet.html

https://seanejacobs.com/2014/05/23/pres ... he-get-go/

[ELB]

Thanks! I figured someone had a strong grudge against him, didn't know it was Burnet.