386
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1836
Army. (Memorials and Petitions, endorsed: E. Harcou1:t petitions the Con- vention, and referred to the Comt. on Military Affairs, Ma1·ch 28, 1836, Texas State Library). His service record in Comptroller's 1vlilita1if Service Records, Texas State Library, shows that he entered the Texas Army on l\farch 28, 1836, as captain of engineers and was stationed on Galveston Island to erect fortifications there. The Telegra11h and Texas Register, September 13, 1836, carries an account of his death at Galveston while E:ngaged on the above said work. 4 Edward Gritten was an Englishman who had lived in Mexico for a long time. He came to Texas in 1834 as secretary to Colonel Almonte, who was in that year commissioned by the Mexican Government to make a statistical report on Texas. Gritten may have remained in Texas at that time; at any rate, he was in Texas during the early months of 1835. At Gonzales he joined with James H. C. Miller in trying to keep peace between the Texas colonists and Mexico; but the leaders of the "war 1,arty" regarded him as a spy for the Mexican Government, and Henry Smith declined to sign the appointment made by the Council assigning to Gritten the collectorship of the Port of Copano. (See Brown, I, 449, the Qiiarterly, V, 308, Yoakum, II, 44-45). It is evident that the more con- servative element in Texas regarded Gritten as a useful citizen, for he worked in the office of the Telegrct]Jlf and Texas Register, March, 1836, translated important documents, and was generally reliable in every posi- tion in which he served. See the Quarterly, XIII, 145-153. Concerning D. C. Barrett see Houston to Don Carlos Barrett, December 9, 1835.
TO WILLIAM CHRISTY 1
Headquarters, Camp Mill Creek, March 29, 1836
To Colonel William Christy,2 New Orleans, Dear Sir: I have ordered Captain David N. Burke 3 and Edward Conrad·' to New Orleans, to procure men for the army of Texas. The present is probablyy the most important .moment we have to experience. We now stand before the world as a nation, and stand almost alone. But for the assistance upon which we confidently rely from our brethren in the United States, we shall not be enabled to maintain the position we have assumed. With equal confidence I look to you for the immediate use of all the influence in your power to sustain our cause. I look to you as the most efficient and zealous agent of our country. Do exert all the talent and means you can command, for now is the time of need. Captain Burke and Mr. Conrad will bear this letter to you with my orders: be good enough to render them all the as- sistance in your power. Sam Houston.
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