looking at the life and career of sam houston and his military strategy during that conflict. this is 35 minutes.

>> thank you. we're going to get started again. we're finally getting to the blood and guts of the thing. it is my pleasure to introduce dr. stephen hardin. dr. hardin is a professor of history at mcmurray university in abilene. he's the author of "the texas rangers," the award-winning "texian iliad," "the military history of the texas revolution." "the alamo 1836: santa ana's texas campaign." and "texian macabrar:p the melancholy tale of a hanging in early houston." additionally he's the editor of the book "lone star: the republic of texas 1836 to 1846." and is the author of more than a

dozen scholarly articles enjoyed by readers on both sides of the atlantic. recently "texan iliad" earned the distinction of being a basic texas book by mike cox, who updates that list now. when not teaching in the classroom dr. hardin can be seen on a&e network, the history channel, nbc's "today" show. he's known for his readable style of history. he's an inductee of the texas institute of letters, an admiral in the texas navy, a member of the western writers of america, a fellow of the texas state historical association, and was a historical adviser for the 2004 john lee hancock film "the alamo." the chronicles of higher education examined his work on that film in a feature article. he lives in abilene with his wife debra and children walker and savannah. his presentation today is what was houston thinking, understanding houston's bizarre behavior during the texas -- during the san jacinto campaign.

please welcome dr. stephen hardin. >> thank you, bobby. when governor perry was kind enough to name me an admiral in the texas navy, i informed my wife, debra, that henceforth i expected her to call me admiral. i won't tell you what she called me. but it wasn't admiral. there we go. when sam houston first booted his horse across the red river on december 2nd, 1832, he had but one object in mind, and that was to west texas from the mexican republic and append it

to the united states. notwithstanding pledges of allegiance to mexico, houston remained an american expansionist, a protege of andrew jackson, and a political operative. while many will find this a asse is abundant documentary evidence to support it. d one comprehends that houston's predominant aspiration was to add texas to the federal union, such knowledge does much to decode his behavior during the san jacinto campaign four years later. okay. let's look at the evidence. this is a letter, an 1832 letter, from john wharton. and he is writing houston back tstates. "i gave dr. branch t. archer of

virginia a letter of introduction to you. dr. archer has been in texas for upwards of 12 months, is intimately acquainted with matters and things there, and is in the confidence of all their leading men. he is of the opinion that there will be some fighting there next fall." now, this is 1832. and he's saying we're expecting to break away as early as next year. "and that a fine country will be gained without much bloodshed. he is very desirous that you should go there and believes that you can be of more service than any other man" -- let's see. "any other man. he left for virginia today. and should you fall in with him, i expect that he will put you in the notion of

and usefulness. and whenever they are ready for action, i will be with them. and he was. interesting. you can let mr. jackson and our friends such as you wish see this letter. do i need to tell you who mr. jackson was? all right. well, that's one piece -- well, i'll tell you -- well there's john a. wharton and there's old branch t. archer. that's not the only piece of the evidence. on his way to houston -- or on the way to texas, houston rode in the company of elias rector. and when they parted ways north of the red river, mr. rector wanted to give houston a present. and the only thing he had to give him was a razor.

houston, elias rector said, i wish to give you something before we separate and i have nothing that will do as a gift except my razor. rector, said houston, i accept your fine gift and mark my words, if i have luck, this razor will someday shave the chin of a president of a republic. now, this is before sam houston has ever set foot in texas. and he's already thinking about becoming president of a nonexistent republic. now, this is a letter to his friend james prentice. my opinion is that it would be of vast importance to have persons there, texas, who could look at matters with a view to make changes, to make changes, which are necessary and must

take place before long in that country and without which it could never be what it ought to be for the benefit of those interested. several persons have said to me that i was looked for. well, we know who that was. and earnestly wished for by the citizens of texas. dr. dillard, a highly respectable gentleman, was one of the numbers. the people looked to the indians on the arkansas river as auxiliaries in the event of a change. he's being kind of coy here. so i will pass that way and see my old friend. i will ride -- he's still in the united states when he write this is -- i will ride to the hermitage this evening and see the old chief, general jackson. salute our friends. so, again, he's not in texas yet but he's already speculating that if the change comes about,

he can enlist indians north of the red river to come and help the text -- texans fight. now, he's not even being coy here. he's in texas now and he's writing his old friend, president andrew jackson. i am in possession of some information that will doubtless be interesting to you and may be calculated to forward your views if you should entertain any, touching on the acquisition of texas, by the government of the united states. that such is a measure desirous of the population of the province i cannot doubt. the mexican rulers have not honesty and the people have not intelligence.