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Exiled: The Last Days of Sam Houston
After an undisputed record of political achievement—leading the decisive battle for Texas independence at San Jacinto, serving twice as president of the Republic of Texas, twice again as a United States senator after annexation, and finally as governor of Texas—Sam Houston found himself in the winter of his life in a self-imposed exile among the pines of East Texas.
Houston was often a bundle of complicated contradictions. He was a spirited advocate for public education but had little formal education himself. He was very much “a Jackson man” but disagreed with his mentor on the treatment of Native Americans. He was a slaveholder who opposed abolition but scuttled his own political reputation by resisting the South’s move toward secession.
After refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy in 1861, Houston was swiftly evicted from the governor’s office. “Let me tell you what is coming,” he later said from a window at the Tremont Hotel in Galveston. “After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it.” Houston died just two years later, and the nation was indeed fractured.
Ron Rozelle’s masterful biographical portrait here lingers on Houston’s final years, especially as lived out in Huntsville, when so much of his life’s work seemed on the verge of coming undone. Artfully written for the general reader, The Last Days of Sam Houston is a compelling look at Sam Houston’s legacy and twilight years.
Houston was often a bundle of complicated contradictions. He was a spirited advocate for public education but had little formal education himself. He was very much “a Jackson man” but disagreed with his mentor on the treatment of Native Americans. He was a slaveholder who opposed abolition but scuttled his own political reputation by resisting the South’s move toward secession.
After refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy in 1861, Houston was swiftly evicted from the governor’s office. “Let me tell you what is coming,” he later said from a window at the Tremont Hotel in Galveston. “After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it.” Houston died just two years later, and the nation was indeed fractured.
Ron Rozelle’s masterful biographical portrait here lingers on Houston’s final years, especially as lived out in Huntsville, when so much of his life’s work seemed on the verge of coming undone. Artfully written for the general reader, The Last Days of Sam Houston is a compelling look at Sam Houston’s legacy and twilight years.
232 pages, Hardcover
Published December 26, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 19, 2021
This was the first book I have read thus far with Sam Houston as the subject, and although very brief in content, it revealed much about his adult life. An accomplished man, well traveled, adventurous and also misunderstood. This book will not be the last I read about his life or accomplishments. I think you will really enjoy this brief account of the many exploits of Sam Houston: the man, the myth, the legend.
January 5, 2018
Exiled: The Last Days of Sam Houston by Ron Rozelle is an enjoyable and easy read. Mr. Rozelle is obviously well read and is very descriptive in his writing. He does a good job of portraying the home life of Sam and Margret Houston.
In Chapter Six, he paints a nice picture of Huntsville as the Houstons knew it.
The discussion of the Houston children’s lives in Chapter 25 was a highlight.
It is apparent that Rozelle read many of the letters exchanged by the Houstons . I am amused by his obsession with Sam’s use of commas. If memory serves me well, he references Houston’s use of commas five times.
Rozelle misses the mark in Chapter One when he speaks of Margaret’s desire to see Sam immersed “in the Baptist Church.” She surely wanted her husband to be immersed in a Baptist Church, but the Baptist Church does not exist, unless one references a specific congregation.
Rozelle’s characterization of the Texas delegates to the 1860 Democratic Convention as “southern extremists” for “insisting that a plank endorsing the right to own slaves in all US territories be part of the party platform” seems odd. Sadly, this was the norm for southerners in 1860.
All in all, Exiled serves as a good introduction to the life and times of Sam and Margaret Houston.
In Chapter Six, he paints a nice picture of Huntsville as the Houstons knew it.
The discussion of the Houston children’s lives in Chapter 25 was a highlight.
It is apparent that Rozelle read many of the letters exchanged by the Houstons . I am amused by his obsession with Sam’s use of commas. If memory serves me well, he references Houston’s use of commas five times.
Rozelle misses the mark in Chapter One when he speaks of Margaret’s desire to see Sam immersed “in the Baptist Church.” She surely wanted her husband to be immersed in a Baptist Church, but the Baptist Church does not exist, unless one references a specific congregation.
Rozelle’s characterization of the Texas delegates to the 1860 Democratic Convention as “southern extremists” for “insisting that a plank endorsing the right to own slaves in all US territories be part of the party platform” seems odd. Sadly, this was the norm for southerners in 1860.
All in all, Exiled serves as a good introduction to the life and times of Sam and Margaret Houston.
January 20, 2020
The Last Days of Sam Houston by Ron Rozelle is an excellent introduction to the life of Sam Houston. Beginning in the Texas general’s final days, then flashing back to pivotal points along the way of the extraordinary man’s life, the author makes the reader’s understanding of the final years more meaningful and impactful. Rozelle builds on the excellent research of previous biographers as well as his own detailed research. He writes in a style that reads like a novel but with the authority of an expert in his field. The author is careful to note the points grounded in facts but makes the story come to life by filling in the gaps with detailed descriptions of history borne out of his research. Rozelle reminds the reader just why Sam Houston, the legendary Texan, is worthy of our attention today. Great book!
July 8, 2019
In the interest of full disclosure, the author is both my editor at Image Magazine and my friend. Having said that, I really enjoyed this work on the later years of Sam Houston's life. I graduated from Sam Houston State University in 1986, and as Mr. Rozelle described Woodland and the surrounding property, I saw the Houston home very clearly in my mind's eye. I learned things about General Houston, his wife, Margaret and their children that I did not know. And in the final chapters recounting what happened to Margaret, the children, Joshua, Jeff, and especially Aunt Eliza, I was moved to tears.
I recommend it to anyone interested in General Sam Houston, Texas and/or Civil War history as the three are intertwined skillfully throughout this work.
I recommend it to anyone interested in General Sam Houston, Texas and/or Civil War history as the three are intertwined skillfully throughout this work.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews