The Writings of Sam Houston, Volume I

74

WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1827

Maj : Genl Jackson P. S. Your letter to Major Lee, R I rec'd and sent the same day to him. H. 1 Jackson i11SS., U.S. Congressional Library. Photostat, The University of Texas Library. :James Barbour of Virginia was the Secretary of War in 1819. In the collection of James Monroe's papers and correspondence collected and pub- lished (1902) by Stanislaus Murray Hamilton, the letter referred to here is not listed. For biographical sketches of James Barbour, see Houston to Colonel Matthew Arbuckle, July 8, 1829. 3 See Houston to Jackson, January 5, 1827. •Dewitt Clinton (March 2, 1769-February 11, 1828), statesman, philan- thropist, Governor of New York, savant. For biographical sketches sec the Biogmphical Directory of the Amel"ican Congress, 824; and the Dictionary of American Biography, IV, 221-225. 0 John Floyd (April 24, 1783-August 17, 1837), Congressman from Virginia, 1817-1829, Governor of Virginia, 1829-1834, was a close friend of both Jack- son and Houston. See the Dictionary of American Biography, VI, 481. The Biogravhical Dictionary of the Ame1·ican Congress, 975. Charles Ambler, Life and Dia1·y of John Floyd. 6 There were two Donelsons-father and son. It seems· probable that the reference is made here to Captain Andrew Jackson Donelson, the nephew of Mrs. Jackson, and the adopted son of her husband. See the Dictionary of Ame1·ican Biography, V, 362-364, and James Parton, Life of Andrew Jack- son, 3 vols. . •John Randolph of Roanoke. See Houston to Jackson, December 13, 1826. 5 Henry Lee, the son of "Light-Horse Harry" Lee of Revolutionary War fame, was a frequent visitor at the Hermitage. He served under Jackson in the War of 1812, and later, when trouble fell upon him, he sought out his old chieftain and benefactor and found sanctuary with him. Lee was a well educated man and wrote with a facile pen. James Parton in his Life of Andrew Jackson, II, 653-664, says that he wrote Jackson's memorial to the Senate in defense of his conduct in the Seminole War. In 1832 Lee was a candidate for the vice-presidency, but failed to be elected.

To ANDREW JAcKsoN 1

Washington, January, 1827. There is nothing here of your "confidential corre-

spondence seeing light", but I have not in my life seen a cause so fast as that of the veople i.s, nor one sinking faster, than the ca.use of a wicked, and C01"1''UJJt coalition/ 2 Every movement tends to its more complete overthrow. Genl Coffee 3 can give you particulars; which are too numerous to place on paper! The elec- tions in Deleware, Missouri, and the certainty that Van Buren,

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