402
WRITINCS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1836
1 The Ben C. Franklin Papers, The University of Texas Library. 2 John Forbes (February 26, 1797-June 22, 1880) was born in Cork, Ireland, of Scotch parents. In 1799 his family removed to England and lived there until 1817. In that year young Forbes immigrated to America and settled at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness. In 1818, he married Emily Sission. When the Texas Revolution broke out in 1835, his sympathies for. the Texans became so strong he determined to cast his fate with them. He went by steamer to Natchi- toches and from there to Nacogdoches, horseback. In November, 1835, he was appointed the first judge of the Nacogdoches municipality, and from that time on till the day of his death he took an active part in Texas &ff airs. After being appointed ·judge of the Nacogdoches district by Henry Smith, November 13, 1835, he considered that by virtue of this office he had the authority .to issue certificates of citizenship to volunteers from the United States, thus giving them the right to vote for delegates to the Provisional Government. On December 10, 1835, Henry Smith appointed him an aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel, and in the same month he was appointed a commissioner, with Houston and John Cameron, to make a treaty with the Cherokees and their associated bands. John Cameron could not accept the appointment, so Houston and Forbes after a powwow of three days, succeeded in making a treaty which bound the Cherokees to strict neutrality (see text of the treaty, Houston to Henry Smith, Feb- ruary 29, 1836). On February 17, 1836, he was appointed aide to Sam Houston, and on March 5, was ordered to Velasco to forward troops, landing there, to the army. By his energy and perseverance, he was able to bring to the main army-near San Felipe-just before the Battle of San Jacinto, a much needed reinforcement of three companies of men com- manded by Captains Turner, Roman, and Fisher, as well as a large supply of munitions. On April 2, 1836, Houston appointed Forbes Commissary General of the Texas Army, an appointment that was confirmed by Presi- dent Burnet on May 22. He participated in the Battle of San Jacinto as a private, but after the battle he was put in charge of all the captured property consisting of horses, mules, arms of various kinds, and a large amount of specie. He received his discharge from the Texas Army on November 17, 1836 (Co1nptrolle1·'s Military Service Records). On March 17, 1876, he was appointed colonel and aide to Governor Richard Coke, a position he held throughout Coke's administration. Forbes died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Sarah M. Edwards, widow of General Hayden H. Edwards, June 22, 1880. See the Biogravhical Encyclovoedia of Texas, 164-165. Dixon and Kemp, Heroes of San Jacinto, 43--45. Lmna,· Papers, I. passfoi. E. W. Winkler (ed.), Secret Journals of the Senate, Rep1iblic of Texas, 1896-1845, pp. 36, 39, 77-78. 3Edward H. Winfield was born and reared in Petersburg, Virginia, and came from that place to Texas in 1835. During the 1836 campaign of the Texas Revolution, he served in the Texas Army from March 13, to June 23 (Comptrolle1·'s l\1ilita1·y Se1·vice Records, Texas State Library). After the revolution had ended we find him serving in several civil positions: first tax assessor of Harris County, Clerk of the Second Judicial District Court (January, 1839-January, 1840), Assistant Secretary of the S_ena~e, Second Congress, Second Session. In 1842, he gave military service m the Somervill campaign for the period of three months in Captain J. B. Robertson's company, and during this same campaign was promoted by
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