63
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1837-1841
To HUGH McLEon 1 Nacogdoches, Texas, August 11th, 1838.
With all the moderation and humanity which can be exercised, war carries with it sufficient calamities. The unhappiness of individuals must be great, the soldier alone, feels himself above its influence and its miseries. The army and soldiers of the Republic will in no case molest the peaceful citizens who remain at their homes and should it be proper to obtain from them anything, they must be paid a faiv valuation for the same. And property of every kind is to be respected and protected when found in the hands of peaceful citizens. The families, and the women and children of Mexicans and Indians will be treated with the greatest humanity and kindness, and will be special objects of the soldiers' care and protection. Acts of humanity always characterize the brave man and the soldier. Sam Houston H. McCleod [McLEOD], Adjutant General. 1 Fi·om Mr. Franklin Williams's Collection of Houston Materials. Hugh McLeod (August 1, 1814-January 2, 1862), military leader of the Texan Santa Fe expedition, Confederate ·general, was born in New York City, but moved with his family to Macon, Georgia, when he was a young boy. In Georgia he received a good academic education and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point on September 1, 1831, graduating therefrom four years later, with a commission as a second lieutenant in the Third Infantry. Before joining his company, then stationed at Fort Jessup, Louisiana, he visited his home in Macon, Georgia, and accompanied the Georgia battalion on its journey to Texas as far as Columbus, Georgia. Eager to join the Texas revolution, he resigned his commission, June 30, 1836, and went to Texas. There he was rapidly advanced to prominence, and on December 17, 1837, he was raised to the rank of adjutant general, an office he 1·etained until January 18, 1841. He took an important part in the Indian wars of the period, especially in the Caddo expedition of 1838, in the Cherokee war of 1839, and the Com- anche troubles of 1840. In 1841, President Lamar appointed him military head of the Santa Fe expedition, and on June 17, of that year he re- ceived his commission as brigadier general. For various reasons the Santa Fe expedition was a sad failure, ending for the most of the participants in a long imprisonment in Perote fortress. McLeod was somewhat more fortunate, however, than the majority of his companions in that he was released in the late days of 1842, while they remained in prison until the latter part of 1843. Upon his release from the Mexican prison, McLeod returned to Galveston, where he almost immediately married Rebecca Johnson Lamar, a cousin of the President. One son, Cazneau, was born
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