gton. schofield has been transferred east from nashville, tennessee with the 23rd army corps. they are joining terry's forces. now there is going to be a new objective. sherman is going to be headed towards goldsboro. i will be his first destination where he will refit his army before beginning -- continuing the march into virginia. it's up to the 23rd corps commanded by general jacob d. potts to secure goldsboro for sherman. guess who's in his way? general bragg's troops consisting of general robert f. hoax division from the army of northern virginia, and the remnants of the army of tennessee troops, who average north carolina at this point. say what you will about bragg at least he ate timid. -- ain't timid. he launches an attack on forces a few miles east of kinston on march 8 and succeeds in routing

a portion of cox's forces, capturing 800 federals and one canon. things look pretty good for the confederates on the first day but then the second day cox brings up reinforcement. the federals dig in. bragg attempts an attack on the tense, but he's repulsed. receiving words that cox is receiving still more reinforcements, bragg decides to fall back towards goldsboro ending the battle of lysis forks. in the meantime, sherman plots the course of his army group from fayetteville. goldsboro is his objective, but he wants to keep johnston guessing as to what his objective is. he's going to send the left wing under slocum northward on the old raleigh stage road, as if he's heading towards the north carolina state capital. they will be marching in light marching order, all the unnecessary wagons will be with

the right wing under howard. they will be taking direct roads to goldsboro. the idea is to keep johnston up in the air as to where sherman is heading. johnston has a plan of his own. he has told general hardy to make a stand somewhere south of a verse broke to buy time for the concentration of the federal -- confedereateate army. it's there that a brigade commander by the name of colonel offered am. -- the colonel accompanied by nothing more than one staff officer -- he is probably captured, taken prisoner of war by kilpatrick's chief of staff. this turns out to be something of a reunion, because it seems the general sherman and several of his subordinates were

stationed in charleston before the war. they spend the evening together and have dinner. and then the following morning, sherman's army moves out. sherman has accompanied slocum's wing. they find hardy drawn up in the defense mac apps. for you students of the revolutionary war, this looks like the gelber courthouse. sherman is able to drive back the first two lines, but he gets to the third and main line around dusk. he decides to launch a general assault the following morning. however, after dark, hard he falls back towards smithfield. that is were johnson has made his headquarters. he informs johnston that he believes that sherman's destination is goldsboro. now most of the left wing is turning to the right, heading

east on the goldsboro road. johnson has made his headquarters at smithfield because it's roughly midway between raleigh and goldsboro. hardy managed to accomplish what he was supposed to do, which was slow sherman's progress. i now johnston has to make a decision. where and if he should attack sherman's army. he sends a dispatch to general hampton. hampton has made his headquarters on the evening of march 17 at the willis: plantation -- willis cole plantation on the goldsboro road. hampton -- johnson asks hampton for his assessment. hampton says i found a perfect place to launch a surprise attack on the union left wing. and he recommends that johnson sent his army marching for

bentonville. at dawn on march 18, johnston does just that. up to this time, general sherman has expected johnston to try to oppose his entry into goldsboro. but faulty intelligence and poor maps lead him to believe that johnston is falling back towards raleigh, confederates are burning all the bridges that will separate them from the union army, and that the road to goldsboro is open. if there's anything in the union army that is dangerous right now, it's overconfidence. in the words of lieutenant john marshall brain them, one of the soldiers in the left-wing. he said, on the morning of march 19 he writes in his diary, we feel in excellent spirits. everything promises for a smooth entry into goldsboro. that will prove to be his last entry. he will be lying dead on the field of battle in just a few hours.

sherman prepares to join the right wing under howard. he has a brief conversation with slocum and several other generals including 14th corps commander brigadier general jefferson c. davis. isn't that a great name for a yankee general? precious perfect. davis tells sherman he thinks he's going to run into more than the usual confederate cavalry opposition. sherman says, no, there's nothing out there. just a small division of confederate cavalry. he says, brush them out of the way. i will see you at cox's bridge tomorrow. well slocum's wing will not reach cox's bridge for four days. leading the way on the morning of march 19, william p. carlin's division, moving out.

then all of a sudden they hit the cole plantation. all hell breaks loose. carlin has run into hokes' infantry. one of the bird rates, north carolina junior reserves consisting almost entirely of teenage boys, are blocking the way. you can see them just yet. off to their left, army of tennessee is also going into position. there are fewer than 4000 veterans from the army of tennessee at bentonville. just a shadow of the 70,000 man army that johnston led in the spring of 1864. but the attack plan is developing. slocum is getting impatient. he can't understand why his veteran infantry is allowing his cavalry to stop them. he orders a probing attack to find out what is out there. carlin's division sustains a bloody repulse and they are sent back. and now slocum decides he will

send his other division of the 14th corps up to the front, and the 20th corps. then he receives startling intelligence. a union pow who has made his escape during that federal repulse reports to slocum that johnston has arrived with his entire army. -- army at bentonville. he has told his men they're going to defeat slocum at bentonville. they're going to fall on the right wing to the south and destroy them in turn. if that's not enough convincing, slocum also hears from a 14th corps staff officer who has been up at the front. that officer says, general, i find more than [indiscernible] cavalry. i find infantry dug in all along our front, and enough of them to give us the amusement we shall want for the rest of the day. now slocum realizes he's in for it.

he lives his two a 14th corps divisions at the front to stop the impending assault. he takes the 20th corps and has them entrenched back at the reddick morris farm on more defensible ground about a mile to the rear. now all he can do is just wait. in the meantime he starts sending couriers to general sherman with increasingly urgent messages telling him of his peril and begging him for reinforcements. it's going to take them close to 24 hours to reach bentonville. in the meantime, slocum has to hold on. after johnston -- for johnson this has been frustrating. it is not until 2:45 on march 19 that he finally launches his attack. at first everything works perfectly. in the words of a confederate with the junior reserves when

the army of tennessee moves out and they begin their assault he said it looked like a picture and was truly beautiful, but it was painful to see just how close the battle flags were together. regiments being scarcely larger than [inaudible] there were enough confederates to drive back carlin's division north of the road, and in turn, push the men of carlin's division south of the road back as well. we stood as long as man can stand. when i was no longer a possibility, we run like the deuce. if that did not get the point across, he also wrote, we showed to the reds as well as our own side some of the best running ever did. [laughter] everything looks good for joe johnson's confederates at this point. there's just one problem.

south of the road, general bragg, he holds fast. we don't know why exactly. he never wrote a report. we know he did not launch his attack until over an hour after johnston's specified the attack. that gives the men of morgan's division the federal south of the road a precious hour and 15 minutes to dig in and prove their entrenchment's. it serves them well. in the course of the fighting side of the road, the turning point of the battle, morgan's men have to fight on both sides of their works because they are attacked from their front left flanks. after they are repulsed, troops of the army of tennessee managed to get in behind. but morgan's men hold on. in the meantime, the momentum is still strong north of the road. the men of culver's division and the army of tennessee. they continue on to the reddick morris farm.

here two old adversaries face each other. they first met in 1862. they met for the second time just a few days before. now they're meeting again at bentonville. this we the confederate army's high water mark at bentonville. the tennessee veterans will launch at least four desperate assaults across morris's openview straight into the mouths of at least 16 union guns firing spherical case and canister. confederates are unable to break through the union line. at nightfall, johnston calls off all further attacks. slocum managed to hold on in the battle on march 19. ends on a draw.

now it's up to the right wing. they come marching to slocum's assistance. they reach bentonville around midday. the first troops to get there are the 15th army corps under the command of major general john a dull logan, former congressman from illinois. probably the best political general in the union army. now johnston faces a real dilemma. he has been facing slocum to the west of to this point. now he's got a deal with the might of sherman's entire army. he has to bend back his left flank. in effect, he's going to create a bridge guarding his only route of retreat across a flooded millcreek. by early morning march 21, 1865, johnston will be outnumbered on the order of 3 to 1. the federals will have nearly

60,000 troops at bentonville. johnston will have 20,000 that most. sherman is wondering why johnston decided to stay at bentonville. this is not typical johnston behavior. johnston cites two reasons why he's going to her main at bentonville. one, he wants to evacuate his wounded. two, he wants to tap sherman into launching a desperate frontal assault. maybe he can take some heavy yankee casualties before he pulls out. three, he doesn't say this, but i think this is also in the back of his head. it appears to the confederates at bentonville that on the 19th it came this close to defeating slcoum's -- slocum's wing. to retreat at this point is to concede defeat. to bolster the morale of his men , who have not enjoyed success in a very long time, johnston decides to remain at bentonville. he feels it is worth the risk

but it nearly results in the loss of his army. on the afternoon of march 21, 1865, sherman's most aggressive general goes into position on the extreme right of the union line. he is facing bentonville. he asks his commander, he says, i don't suppose you would have any objection to my making a little reconnaissance, to which blair replies, none whatsoever. there's a little bit of george patton in joe mauer. he sees this as a precursor. when he does for his little reconnaissance is he takes his two available brigades and decides to attack the confederate lines in bentonville. it just so happens that johnston's headquarters is right there. it takes mauer about an hour to

get across the swamp, reach the confederate line. the only confederates he is facing -- poor excuse of a skirmish line. general johnston directs hardy to put together a counterattacking force to stop progress. it will take time for them to collect strength. and just before hardy can launches counterattack he punches a hole in the confederate line. their 16th shooter henrys, are able to get all the way to bentonville. they come within a few yards of cutting off johnston's only line of retreat. in the process, they send general johnston fleeing to the rear. but then hardy strikes.

he succeeds in pushing back more. yes gotten cold feet, because he has decided to deploy closer to the main union line. he has left his skirmishers hanging in the breeze. among the attackers on the confederate side or general hardy's only son, 16-year-old willie hardy. and young willie is mortally wounded when he's charging. johnston succeeds in repulsing mauer's attckack. mauer is getting ready to launch another strike. but then the order comes from general sherman to stand fast. mauer is to hold his ground. johnston's army has survived to fight another day. however, unbeknownst to sherman and johnston, they fought their last battle. -- battle at bentonville.

now johnston falls back to smithfield, having failed to defeat even slocum's wing. general sherman is more than happy to let johnston escaped his grasp so we can continue on to goldsboro. sherman's army reaches goldsboro on the 23rd. a few days later, sherman makes a trip to city point, virginia to meet with general grant. sherman does not say this in his memoirs. it does not turn out too well for him. he has two items on his agenda when he goes up to city point. it's not about peace terms. item number one, he wants grants to postpone his offensive so that sherman will have time to march his army into virginia to join in the grand assault against lee. grant was no part of that. yes decided he wants the army of the potomac and the army of the james to do this on their own.

the second item on sherman's agenda, persuade phil sheridan to lead his cavalry into north carolina to assist in running down and bagging johnston. sheridan wants no part of that. he wants to be in on the effort to finish lee's army. he's going nowhere. so now sherman doesn't really have a whole lot left. but it turns out that president lincoln is that city point. sherman wasn't aware of that. on the 27th and 28 grant and sherman and admiral porter have sort of an informal conversation with lincoln. it soon becomes apparent to sherman the lincoln wants to offer a lenient piece to the confederates, be conciliatory. with malice towards none charity for all. this deeply impresses sherman. is going to carry back those thoughts with him to north carolina.

in his memoirs, sherman has this to say about lincoln. of all the men i've ever met, he possessed more of the elements of greatness combined with goodness than any other. now, sherman is going to march northward from goldsboro toward richmond, but that changes on april the sixth because he received word that grant has broken through with petersburg and richmond. the confederates are fleeing towards the west. how sherman directs his army toward raleigh. joe johnston is that smithfield. while the federals are celebrating in their camps it's very quiet at the camps in smithfield. on april the 10th, true to his timetable, sherman begins what he believes will be his final offensive. he's right. he moves out on the 10th, heading towards raleigh. joe johnston falling back a

day's march. it is on the 12th of april that sherman receives word from grant of lee's surrender. the men are jubilant. they're marching with light hearts. johnston has already received the news, an unofficial report that he has received from president jefferson davis, whose government has fled to danville, virginia. likewise, reporting the surrender of lees's army. now both commanders know the game is up. it's on the afternoon of the 12th that the governor of north carolina since a deputy nation down to sherman's headquarters. it is captured. it turns out the troops who captured the train bearing david l. swain and david a. graham are commanded by swain's future father-in-law.

sherman tells [indiscernible] that he's not authorized to negotiate with civilian authorities, but he promises fans -- vance that if he chooses to remain in raleigh, he will let him remain as governor. sherman is already going out on a limb, promising more than he probably should. in any event, swain decides to fall back with johnston's army. yes received reports that both swain and graham's train was captured by the federals and they are prisoners. incorrect information, but it's probably just as well. sherman reaches raleigh on april the 13th. after reviewing his troops, he establishes his headquarters at the governor's palace. president davis has continued to

fall back. he stops at greensboro where he summons general johnson to meet him. johnston goes to greenberg assuming that davis is soliciting his opinion. asking for a briefing on the military situation. one johnston gets to greensboro, he finds out davis actually has a plan to raise a new army by collecting all the men who deserted or evaded inscription. johnston realizes that plan. then davis announces that secretary of war records will arrive that evening with word on the fate of lee's army. breckenridge arrives. he reports yes, lee's army has indeed surrendered. then johnston said he needs an opportunity to tell the president the truth.

breckenridge gives and that opportunity the following day on the 13th. johnston tells them there he bluntly that the confederate soldiers in his army have only the close on their backs, the weapons in their hands and that it would be the greatest of crimes to continue the war when his small army was outnumbered 10 to 1. davis refuses to believe the game is up. he decides to pull you in a bow regard -- the general into his cabinet. everyone size with johnston. there is nothing left for davis to do now. he dictates a letter to general sherman for the needful

arrangements to terminate the existing war. davis does not have his heart in negotiations. he decides to continue falling back and will retreat as far as charlotte. it is up to general johnston to open negotiations with general sherman. calvary commanders exchange messages and it is agreed they will meet roughly midway between patrick's headquarters and hamptons headquarters. it is there on the morning of april 17, 1865 that sherman add johnston -- and johnston meet for the first time. they go inside the house of james and nancy bennett and they begin their negotiations. sherman has a fateful telegram

when he enters that house. just before he left, he received word that president lincoln had been assassinated on april 14. the first person that sherman revealed this to is general johnston. johnston reads the telegram and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. he pronounced it the greatest possible calamity to the south. sherman thinks he has got johnston over a barrel. he then proposes that johnston surrender according to the appomattox terms. but, johnston quickly recovers and he says, the appomattox terms are entirely fair to an army that is surrounded. however, my army is concentrated around greensboro while yours is

75 miles to the east. i can pick up and leave whenever i want. then it johnston says, let's not negotiate or the surrender of just my army but all the confederate armies still on the field and make one job of it. that appeals to sherman's flair for the dramatic. he forgets about a strictly military surrender and now it will be a surrender based on political terms. he will be getting a do hot water at this point but -- into hot water at this point. he ignores it. the two men discussed terms and they come to one sticking point and that is offering amnesty to davis and his cabinet. sherman want. it -- won't hear of it. they are eager to get back to their headquarters. sherman wants to try to control

his men who he is sure who will be burning with anger over lincoln's assassination. while johnston is eager to get back where hampton has made his headquarters, he immediately summons secretary of war breckenridge and john h reagan because he will need davis 'authorization. once the men arrived at the dixon house around midnight on april 18 they begin to discuss terms. then postmaster general reagan decides to write out the terms and as he is scribbling, don steyn announces it is time to return to the bennett plays for the second day of negotiations. reagan says he will send the terms forward.

sherman and johnston reached the bennett place around noon. johnston probably tells sherman that he has official authorization for this all-encompassing surrender. he would like to bring breckenridge into the discussion. sherman says he doesn't know about that. johnston replies yes but breckenridge is also a major general in its confederate army. sherman says, ok. at that point reagan's basis of pacification arrives and johnston begins to lead it -- read it aloud and sherman looks disapproving and johnson points out the only thing we disagreed on is amnesty for davis and the. otherwise, -- and the cabinet.

otherwise, we have a basis of agreement. sherman waves it off. he gets out and and paper and begins to write his memorandum for a basis of agreement. it troops to be twice as long. he ends up giving the confederates more than they asked for. the confederates get to keep their arms. they take them back to their respective state capitals to deposit them into their arsenals to maintain law and order. second, they get to keep their governments. even the state of west virginia is open to debate. third, the southerners personal, political, property rights will be respected. sherman knew all too well that property rights include rights to slaves but he said he thought

it would be does respectful not -- to include that in the document if johnston and breckenridge and already conceded that slavery was dead. it would be like rubbing it in so he left it out. the lawyers in davis'cabinet will have a field day. sherman offers all confederates amnesty without exception. he was probably writing so quickly he hardly realized what he was doing. you can imagine just how quickly johnston wanted to sign that document before sherman can do his senses. sherman was euphoric. he believed this would end the war, reduce -- produce peace. but, when those terms reach washington a few days later grant relies is the growing

concern -- realizes the growing concern. he schedules a special meeting with president andrew johnson. they unanimously reject the sherman agreement. keep in mind, lincoln's body is still lying in the capital at this point. as sherman finds out, there is not a lot of warm and fuzzy feeling up north about southerners. secretary of war conducts grant to go to north carolina to take over from sherman. grant and sherman being, grant will not subject is friend to that -- his friend to that deletion. he heads south and tells sherman that the deal is alice -- off. in accordance, a he has to give

johnston 48 hours notice that hostility will resume unless johnston accepts appomattox terms. sherman decides that is just the way it has to be. he sent a message to johnston. sherman's message arrives at headquarters one hour after davis'telegram accepting the terms. now there is nothing left for the men to do. they have to meet again at the bennett house on april 26. now they have to hammer out an agreement based on the appomattox terms. initially, johnston says he does not -- it does not offer his men enough will stop the soldiers are flooding to north carolina robyn, pillaging. they don't have enough to live on.

my men have to have more than these terms. sherman brings along his second in command schofield ifa clever fellow. he makes a proposal. he says, for the authorities in washington, we give them the appomattox terms. then, we draft a second agreement that we send a few days later, a supplemental agreement, giving general johnston what he wants. that includes 1 in 7 confederates get to keep their weapons. they also get to keep their wagons and horses. and, confederates will also get river and relatives petition wherever possible -- rail transportation wherever

possible. sherman also offers a johnston a quarter million russians from his warehouses. johnston replies that his generosity reconciles empty what he considers the great misfortune of his life, that of having to face him in the field. sherman and johnston make their agreement. it results in the largest troop surrender of the war. almost 90,000 confederates. in the process, the two generals become good friends. according to sources, sometimes they would meet and a spread out the maps on the floor and start refighting their old battles and campaigns. it was in february of 8091 that your men died and johnston was invited to be an honorary

pallbearer. johnston is 84 years old by this time. he removes his act. the person standing next to johnston says, put your hat back on. johnston replies, sherman was standing in my place, he would not put his hat back on his head. soon that cold johnston caught developed into pneumonia and johnston passed away on march 21, 1891 the 26th anniversary of bentonville. thank you. [applause] >> we do have time for a few questions. step up to the microphone and let mark know any questions you

have. dr. bradley. you had a picture of fort fisher when you started. it has been a few years since i have been back. what is the status, the remaining slice? >> that is a good description of what remains. it is just a slice. the sea face has been reclaimed by the ocean and a portion of the land is still intact but there is another of the land space that you can get an idea of the scale of the fort. it is still impressive even in its current form. >> chris victim -- bingham.

we heard about the maclean's and how they were affected. can you elaborate on what happened to the bennett family? >> i was reminded by ron wilson's inventory of all of the stolen items from the maclean house that the bennett's underwent a similar pilferage. it was so bad that james bennett applied for restitution from the governor of north carolina, william holden. not just once but twice to recover his stone artifacts. that included the table that the surrender documents were written and signed on. james then at and william maclean would have a lot to talk about if they ever got together. >> a question about the supplemental -- the schofield supplement to the surrender

terms. how were they received in washington and were they successfully carried out? >> what i think happened is when they reached washington about a week later, they saw it as an accomplished fact. the most controversial provision would have been letting 1 in 7 confederates keep their weapons. i think they felt that would not be too harmful. i would say that -- and i did not go into this because i did not have time -- there was a great deal of furor up north about the terms because secretary stanton had sent his reasons for his approving them to the newark times -- to the new york times where they become public knowledge. sherman was furious and he found out. amid all of that, the

supplemental terms slipped through without much notice. we do know they were approved. >> time for another question if anyone has one. >> thank you. >> you are watching american history tv, 48 hours of american history programming every weekend on c-span3. follow us on twitter for the latest program information and to keep up with history news. >> american history tv's "reel america" brings you archival films that help tell the story of the 20th century. ♪

>> closing in on mount suribachi on you a jima, marines fire on japanese gun emplacements -- on iwo jima, marines fire on japanese gun emplacements. [gunfire] from suribachi's 500 foot elevation, the entire island in range. [gunfire]

the navy backs up land artillery, giving cover to the 40,000 marines fighting onshore. slowly, the marines push forward up mount suribachi. with enemy bullets inches overhead, wounded are cared for by the medical corps.

iwo jima has proven the toughest battle the marines have ever fought. to win this tiny, eight-square-mile area, 8000 have died. and 20,000 japanese. the attack never slackens. now not suribachi is flecked by -- attacked by navy dive bombers.

the marines advance. the japanese defenders were select, specially chosen men fighting with their army's newest weapons and with every advantage of terrain in their favor. their fortress caves are wiped out by high explosives. iwo jima is concorde -- concord. only isolated snipers remain. its airstrip is already in use by american super fortress. just 625 miles from tokyo. ♪

the inter-american conference at mexico city reaches a successful conclusion as mexico's foreign minister signs the significant impact. the statesmen of the americas applaud. also brazil, followed by representatives from cuba and peru, among the 20 nations taking part in this important hemisphere conference. the secretary for the united states reaching agreement on the hemisphere cooperation. the meeting is an important step toward world security. the united states navy task force 58 plows through heavy seas to open up a full scale --

to the japanese homeland. these mighty forces go to the tokyo area. over 1200 planes prepare for the attack. navy and marine pilots take off in heavy clouds, rain, and snow. their mission across the storm tossed water and into the gunfire over tokyo, an epic of courage and organization. planes from 15 to 20 american carriers waiting in over tokyo bay, fighting off all enemy air opposition to reach the targets. doc storage bases, depp owes, ammunition -- depots and and

ammunition dumps are hit by bombs and bullets. rockets join the attack, which wipes out many strategic japanese war installations. 517 enemy planes and 55 ships. nine american planes are lost. enemy planes are caught on the ground and methodically destroyed. not fujian -- melt fujian my look -- mount fujiyama looks

down on tokyo's war industry. and still resisting german forces are rolled back. the allied press forward on all fronts for the heart of germany. gigantic tractors as the russians cross and the first of army smashes beyond the rhine. here the raw river, the last major barrier before the rhine crossed by the elements of the united states ninth army. a vital phase of "the greatest of west front offenses." the battle start -- the battle scarred germantown is up. and here, still more german soldiers, dead and alive, helped

swell the enemy casualty lists. now far past one million on the western front. amid a shambles of silence and emptiness, the german people are learning what warfare means. supreme commander eisenhower with general simpson inspects positions and the forces lineup for the smash across the rhine to dusseldorf and beyond. as a security measure civilians

are assembled for questioning but they are few compared to the mounting total of capture german soldiers. as the american troops approached the rhine, a free thousands of russian prisoners forced into labor battalions by the nazis. now allied friends. this concentration camp, guarded by electrified barbed wire deep trenches, and many gun post gives new -- many gun posts

gives testimony to the horror that took place here. the ones capable of this are capable of a last ditch fight to save your own skins. -- their own skins. >> this year c-span is touring cities across the country exploring american history. this, our trip to galveston, texas. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. >> our collecting policy is collecting anything from galveston from its founding in the 1830's to the present, as well as documents relating to the history of the republic of texas after the civil war. most of my -- our patrons come

in looking for genealogy information. galveston was a port of entry for immigrants. there are a lot of genealogies coming here, looking for information on their ancestors. at the first thing i want to show you is our oldest map in the collection. it is a map done by jean baptiste. this is the earliest rendering of the galveston bay. the reason i wanted to show it, a lot of historians were unaware this was a drawing of galveston in the harbor. they thought it was done of matagorda bay, so they had not acknowledged it as a drawing of galveston. but it is a drawing of the island, the harbor and the natural bay.

some of the other items we going to look at today are documents from the collection of some of the founders of galveston. again, they are the earliest collection that we have here. we will head on out to the reading room and take a look at the documents out there. the city was began in -- around 1836, 1837 after texas won its independence from mexico. since galveston was already a major port, they wanted to start a city or. a group of men were entrusted with the task of setting up basically a city on the island. next document is actually from the james morgan papers, also an early founder of galveston.

it's actually lists these stockholders of the company. you can see mckinney and williams, who actually were in partnership together. mckinney and williams were actually businessmen and they were cotton traders. and they were really the ones who establish themselves as the primary routes or cotton growers in texas to transport their cotton out of the republic of texas. they pretty much wanted to have be the primary transporters of that. so they are businessmen, merchants. the next letter we're going to look at is a letter written from andrew jackson to sam houston. andrew jackson at this point is in retirement at the hermitage in tennessee and sam jack's --

sam houston is the president of texas. sam houston new andrew jackson -- knew andrew jackson from his time in tennessee. he served under andrew jackson in the military. they knew each other from before you central time in texas. circumstances pushed houston to texas. he became involved in the effort here to gain independence, the push for annexation and joining the united states. that issue had gone back and forth between prior presidents of texas and both sides at one point or another refusing, there were other issues going on.