You are circulating a half truth. Houston was not "drummed out" of office - he chose consciously not to take the oath to the confederate government. That rendered him unable to carry out the duties of the office of the Governor under the Texas Constitution of 1845, which explicitly required an oath to the national government upon assuming the duties of that office. His decision not to take the oath in turn automatically invoked another clause of the Texas Constitution that immediately elevated the Lieutenant Governor into the role of "acting governor" until either the Governor's incapacity was removed or his term expired.
Houston's position in the secession crisis is far more complex and far more anti-Lincoln than most people know or believe. Houston despised Lincoln and virtually everything he was doing but opposed secession not out of any love for the union but rather as a pragmatist seeking to avoid war. When war came later in 1861, Houston cast his lot with Texas and began to espouse defense of the state with the ultimate restoration of the lone star republic.
During the secession crisis he also publicly condemned Lincoln and, even though he opposed secession, made preparations for its inevitable approval in Texas. Among other things, Houston directed state militia and safety committee officials to take possession of all the federal installations in Texas and worked to secure the peaceful removal of federal troops from the state. His son also enlisted in the confederate army.
Another little known fact: virtually ALL of the political figures, revolutionaries, and signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence who were still alive in 1861 actively supported secession (Houston being the lone major figure who was an exception). Several of the signers in 1836 who were still alive were even delegates to the secession convention. Secession also had support from two of the four Presidents of the Republic of Texas (Houston opposed it and the fourth, Anson Jones, was long dead). President Mirabeau Lamar died a year or so before secession, but saw it on the horizon and gave it his endorsement. President David G. Burnet actively supported secession. Secession also had the active and very public support of the elderly statesman Jose Antonio Navarro - Texas' old congressman to the Mexican government before 1836 and a leading drafter of the Texas Declaration of Independence and 1845 Constitution. Four of Navarro's children fought for the south as well. On the military side of things, Bernard E. Bee (son of the republic's secretary of state and a leading republic-era miltary figure in his own right), his brother Hamilton Bee, and Albert Sydney Johnston (secretary of war for the republic and texas revolution hero) all attained fame as confederate generals.
Don't you just love it when people OUTSIDE of Texas try to teach us our OWN history? :)
but we can count on heyworth, the HATER of everything dixie, to give us a SIMPLISTIC & therefore INACCURATE account of a very complex historical situation.
free dixie,sw
"Bernard E. Bee (son of the republic's secretary of state and a leading republic-era miltary figure in his own right), his brother Hamilton Bee, and Albert Sydney Johnston (secretary of war for the republic and texas revolution hero) all attained fame as confederate generals."
Bernard Bee was killed at Bull Run 1 and A.S. Johnston at Shiloh--two very early battles. Bee is mostly remembered for his line "There stands Jackson like a stonewall." It was considered admiring in its day but now is thought to be more like "There stands Jackson like a stonewall. Damn! Why doesn't he move? The fight is here!"
Agreed. From Sam Houston himself [Source: Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper of May 31, 1861 quoting from the Houston Telegraph newspaper]:
Better meet war in its deadliest shape, than cringe before an enemy whose wrath we have provoked. I make no pretense as to myself. I have yielded up office and sought retirement to preserve peace among our people. My services, perhaps, are not important enough to be desired; others are, perhaps, more competent to lead the people through this revolution. I have been with them through the fiery ordeal once, and I know that with prudence and discipline their courage will surmount all obstacles. Should the locain [? can't read] of war, calling forth the people to resist the invader, reach the retirement to which I shall go, I will heed neither the denunciations of my enemies or the charms of my own fireside; but will join the ranks of my countrymen to defend Texas once again.