LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 December Signature Texana Auction #661  / 

56264

Thomas Green; 1841; Sec. of War and Navy; Texas

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:290.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 700.00 USD
Thomas Green; 1841; Sec. of War and Navy; Texas
<B>Thomas Green Endorsement on the verso of a Partly-Printed Document Signed "</B></I><B><I>B. T. Archer</B></I></B></I><B>" as "</B></I><B><I>Secretary of War. & Navy</B></I></B></I><B>". </B></I> 1 page, 8.25" x 6.5", Austin, February 5, 1841 being a certificate entitling William K. Simpson (deceased) "...<I>to pay from the date of last payment to him, to 27th March 1836, as Private in Capt Wyatt's company of Tanner's Command...He entered the service of the REPUBLIC OF TEXAS on the Fist day of December 1835.</B></I>.." Green signs on the reverse as Simpson's designated receiver on behalf of the heirs to Simpson's estate. <BR><BR>Thomas Green (1814-64) military leader, was born in Virginia and moved to Tennessee in 1817. He left Tennessee to join the volunteers at the start of the Texas Revolution. Joining Isaac N. Moreland's company in early 1836, which operated the Twin Sisters cannons in the battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. A few days after the battle Green was commissioned a lieutenant; in early May he was made a major and aide-de-camp to Thomas J. Rusk. He resigned on May 30 to continue his law studies in Tennessee. When he returned to settle in Texas in 1837, he was granted land in reward for his army service and became a county surveyor at La Grange, Fayette County. He was elected engrossing clerk for the House of Representatives of the Republic of Texas, a post he held until 1839, when he represented Fayette County in the House of the Fourth Congress. After a term he chose not to run again and resumed the office of engrossing clerk. During the Sixth and Eighth congresses he served as secretary of the Senate. From 1841 to 1861 he was clerk of the state Supreme Court. When the United States went to war with Mexico, Green recruited and commanded a company of Texas Rangers in La Grange as part of the First Texas Regiment of Mounted Riflemen, led by John C. Hays. The Texans helped Zachary Taylor capture Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, in September 1846. After secession in 1861, Green was elected colonel of the Fifth Texas Volunteer Cavalry, which, as part of a brigade led by Gen. H. H. Sibley, joined the invasion of New Mexico in 1862. There Green led the Confederate victory at the battle of Val Verde in February. After a difficult retreat into Texas he led his men, aboard the river steamer <I>Bayou City</B></I>, to assist in the recapture of Galveston on January 1, 1863. In the spring of 1863 Green commanded the First Cavalry Brigade in fighting along Bayou Teche in Louisiana. On May 20 he became a brigadier general. In June he captured a Union garrison at Brashear City but failed to seize Fort Butler on the Mississippi. At Cox's Plantation he defeated a Union advance in July. In September the First Cavalry captured another Union detachment at Stirling's Plantation. A similar success followed in November at Bayou Burbeaux. In four victories Green's men inflicted about 3,000 casualties and suffered only 600. In April 1864 he led a division in successful attacks against Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks at the battle of Mansfield and against Maj. Gen. William H. Emory at the battle of Pleasant Hill. A few days later, on April 12, 1864, Green was killed on April 12, 1864 while leading an attack on federal gunboats patrolling the Red River at Blair's Landing.<BR><BR>Branch Tanner Archer (1790-1856). Branch Tanner Archer, legislator and secretary of war of the Republic of Texas. A professionally trained physician from Virginia, Archer arrived in Texas in 1831 and quickly joined a group in Brazoria agitating for independence from Mexico. He represented Brazoria at the Convention of 183v and participated in the battle of Gonzales in October 1835. In November 1835 he traveled to San Felipe as representative of Brazoria and there was elected chairman of the Consultation. He urged the members to disregard previous factional divisions and concentrate on what was the best course for Texas. Although he favored independence, he voted with the majority, who favored a return to the Constitution of 1824. The Consultation then selected Archer to join Stephen F. Austin and William H. Whartong as commissioners to the United States to lobby for financial assistance, collect supplies, and recruit men for the Texas cause. The three arrived in New Orleans in January 1836 and negotiated a series of loans that totaled $250,000. Then they proceeded up the Mississippi River, making numerous speeches before turning east for Washington, D.C. During their trip Texas declared its independence, on March 2, 1836. The three commissioners were unable to persuade Congress to support their cause and returned home. After arriving in Texas Archer worked for the election of Austin as president of the young republic. He also served in the First Congress of Texas and as speaker of the House during its second session. In Congress he and James Collinsworth sponsored a law establishing the Texas Railroad, Navigation, and Banking Company. Subsequently, Archer served as President Mirabeau B. Lamar's secretary of war until 1842. Moderate uneven toning and soiling, partial separation at horizontal fold and repaired on verso with tape, else very good. <I>From the collection of Darrel Brown.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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