After leaving his second wife and his life among the Indians, Samuel Houston went to Texas in 1832 to begin the most crucial part of his career as a civil servant. In Texas, he soon became involved in Texas rebellion politics. He was a delegate from Nacogdoches to the 1833 Convention at San Felipe, where he sided with the radicals led by William H. Wharton. In November 1835 he was appointed major general of the Army of Texas. He and John Forbes were commissioned alone by the provisional government to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee Indians in East Texas, thereby establishing peace on that front. On March 2, while serving as Refugio's delegate to the Washington Convention on the Brazos, the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed into law. Additionally, Sam Houston was appointed major general of the Army, becoming the principal organizer of the military forces of the Republic of Texas. During his first battle against Mexico, General Antonio López de Santa Anna made him taste his first defeated Texan defeat. The Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836 allowed him to take revenge and he became forever enshrined as a member of the pantheon of Texan heroes and a symbol of the era. With the defeat at Santa Ana, the Treaty of Velasco was signed and Texas was finally recognized as an independent republic, the war with Mexico was over. With his popularity as Old Sam Jacinto, he defeated Stephen F. Austin to become the country's president-elect. Republic of Texas. His first term lasted from October 22, 1836 to December 10, 1838. The city of Houston was founded in 1836, named after him, and served as the capital of Texas for most of his first term; He wanted to demilitarize the republic from here...... middle of paper ...... and he unsuccessfully implemented his plan last year as senator of a protectorate over Mexico . Once again his name was mentioned for nomination for president in May 1860 by the National Union party, which lost to John Bell. With the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, discontent in Texas led him to call a special session of the legislature. He opposed secession and warned Texans that Civil War would lead to the destruction of the South. The Secession Convention initiated actions to remove Texas from the Union. Houston accepted the events but refused to take the oath of loyalty to the Confederate States of America and was discharged from his post. He refused help from President Lincoln's federal troops to keep Texas in power and Texas in the Union to spare Texas from violence and chose exile from life at the age of sixty-eight. public..