Gen. Edward Burleson, VP of the Republic of Texas

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbu40

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burleson

Edward Burleson (December 15, 1798 – December 26, 1851) was a soldier, general, and statesman in the state of Missouri, the Republic of Texas, and later the U.S. state of Texas.

Early life

Known as the "Old Indian Fighter", Burleson was a veteran of the War of 1812 and had served in the Missouri and Texas militias. In October 1835 he was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Texas army and served under Stephen F. Austin in the opening stages of the Texas Revolution. During the Siege of Béxar, Burleson served as the second-in-command to Gen. Austin, and in November, 1835 he was elected Major General of Texas Volunteers and took command of the Volunteer army besieging San Antonio de Béxar and received the surrender of Mexican general Martín Perfecto de Cos. In March, he was appointed a Colonel of Texas Regulars and led the First Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Runaway Scrape and at the Battle of San Jacinto.

Burleson continued to serve in the army after the war and was eventually promoted Brigadier General of Texas Regulars.

Political service

He served as vice president of the Republic of Texas in President Sam Houston's second term from 1841 to 1844. He was a Presidential candidate in the Texas Presidential Election of 1844, but was defeated by Anson Jones. Although he served under Sam Houston, the two despised each other.

Burleson was also involved in the Mexican-American War after Texas was annexed by the United States in 1846. Burleson and Governor James P. Henderson went to Monterrey, Nuevo León; Burleson was appointed senior aide-de-camp, held the rank of major, and served as a spy during the siege of Monterrey and at Buena Vista.

The location of his grave in Austin is in what later became the Texas State Cemetery.

Memorials

Burleson County, Texas, was named after him.

Texas Republic Vice-President.

Family links:

Parents:

 James B. Burleson (1775 - 1836)

Spouse:

 Sarah Griffin Owen Burleson (1796 - 1875)

Children:

 Edward Burleson (1826 - 1877)*

 Joseph Rogers Burleson (1830 - 1889)*

 Grace B. Burleson Kyle (1832 - 1860)*

 David Crockett Burleson (1837 - 1911)*

 Elizabeth Shipman Burleson Sneed (1840 - 1893)*

Siblings:

 Sarah Jane Burleson Thrasher (1795 - 1874)*

 Edward Burleson (1798 - 1851)

 Joseph Burleson (1800 - 1877)*

 Nancy Burleson Rogers (1802 - 1860)*

 Rachel Burleson Rogers (1803 - 1873)*

 John Shipman Burleson (1806 - 1874)*

 Jonathan R Burleson (1811 - 1879)*

 Aaron B Burleson (1815 - 1885)*

 Elizabeth Burleson Brooks (1835 - 1920)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Texas State Cemetery Austin Travis County Texas, USA Plot: Republic Hill, Section 1, Row Q, Number 13 GPS (lat/lon): 30.26486, -97.72688

Maintained by: Find A Grave Originally Created by: Wallace Helin Record added: Nov 25, 2001

GEDCOM Source

@R500593813@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=111846376&pi...

Edward Burleson, soldier and statesman, son of Capt. James and Elizabeth (Shipman) Burleson, was born at Buncombe County, North Carolina, on December 15, 1798. He served as a private in the War of 1812 in his father's company, part of Perkin's Regiment, Alabama. He married Sarah Griffin Owen on April 25, 1816, in Madison County, Missouri Territory; they had nine children. On October 20, 1817, Burleson was appointed a captain of militia in Howard County, Missouri; he was commissioned colonel on June 13, 1821, in Saline County, and was colonel of militia from 1823 to 1830 in Hardeman County, Tennessee.

He arrived in Texas on May 1, 1830, and applied for land in March 1831; title was issued on April 4, 1831. On August 11, 1832, he was a member of the ayuntamiento at San Felipe de Austin. On December 7, 1832, he was elected lieutenant colonel of the militia of Austin Municipality. In 1833 he was elected a delegate to the Second Convention in Mina. From 1830 to 1842 he defended settlers in numerous engagements with hostile Indians. On May 17, 1835, in Bastrop he was elected to the committee of safety and was therefore unable to attend the Consultation of 1835, although he had been elected a delegate. On October 10, 1835, in Gonzales he was elected lieutenant colonel of the infantry in Gen. Stephen F. Austin's army. On November 24, 1835, Burleson became general of the volunteer army and replaced Austin. On November 26, 1835, he fought in the Grass Fight during the siege of Bexar. His father was active in this battle, which was won by the Texans.

On December 1, 1835, Burleson was commissioned commander in chief of the volunteer army by the provisional government. On December 6 he entered Bexar and, with Benjamin R. Milam, wrote a report to the provisional government. On December 14, 1835, he reported on the success at Bexar to the provisional governor, Henry Smith. The volunteer army disbanded on December 20, 1835, and Burleson raised a company and rode to Gonzales in February 1836. By March 10, in Gonzales, he was officially elected colonel of the infantry, First Regiment. On April 21, 1836, at the battle of San Jacinto, he commanded the First Regiment, which was placed opposite Mexican breastworks and was the first to charge them. Burleson accepted the sword and surrender of Gen. Juan N. Almonte.

From July 12 to December 1836 he was colonel of the frontier rangers. In 1837 he surveyed and laid out roads to Bastrop, La Grange, and other Central Texas places. On June 12, 1837, he became brigadier general of the militia established by the First Congress of the Republic of Texas. As a representative of the Second Congress from September 26, 1837, to May 1838, Burleson served on the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, the Committee on Military Affairs, and the Committee of Indian Affairs, of which he was chairman. In 1838 he was colonel of the First Regiment of Infantry in the new regular army and on April 4, 1838, defeated Mexican insurrectionists under Vicente Córdova. In the spring of that year Burleson laid out the town of Waterloo, the original settlement of the city of Austin. He was elected to the Senate of the Third Congress but resigned on January 19, 1839, at President Mirabeau B. Lamar's request, to take command of the Frontier Regiment.On May 22, 1839, Burleson intercepted a Córdova agent with proof that Mexico had made allies of Cherokees and other Indians. He defeated the Cherokees under Chief Bowl in July 1839.

On October 17, 1839, Burleson was in command of the ceremonies establishing Austin as the capital of the Republic of Texas. He defeated the Cherokees, three miles below the mouth of the San Saba River, on Christmas Day, 1839, killing Chief Bowl's son John and another chief known as the Egg. Burleson sent Chief Bowl's "hat" to Sam Houston, who was enraged. On August 12, 1840, Burleson defeated the Comanches in the battle of Plum Creek.

In 1841 he was elected vice president of the republic. In the spring of 1842, when the Mexican army under Rafael Vásquez invaded Texas, Burleson met with volunteers at San Antonio, where they elected him to command. Houston sent Alexander Somervell to take over, and Burleson handed the command to him. Burleson then made his famous speech before the Alamo: "though Thermopolae had her messenger of defeat, the Alamo had none." In the fall of 1842 Mexican general Adrián Woll invaded Texas. Burleson raised troops for defense and again yielded the command to General Somervell, sent by Houston. In 1844 Burleson made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency against Anson Jones. In December 1845 he was elected senator from the Fifteenth District to the First Legislature of the state of Texas. He was unanimously elected president pro tem.

During the Mexican War Burleson and Governor James P. Henderson went to Monterrey, Nuevo León; Burleson was appointed senior aide-de-camp, held the rank of major, and served as a spy during the siege of Monterrey and at Buena Vista. In March 1851 Burleson, Eli T. Merriman, and William Lindsey surveyed and laid out the town of San Marcos. In 1848 Burleson introduced a resolution to establish Hays County and donated the land for the courthouse. He chaired the Committee on Military Affairs, which awarded a $1,250,000 grant to Texas for Indian depredations.

Burleson died of pneumonia on December 26, 1851, in Austin, while serving as senator from the Twenty-first District. He was still president pro tem. He was given a Masonic burial at the site of the future State Cemetery, the land for which was purchased by the state of Texas in his honor in 1854. Burleson was a Methodist.

Vice President of The Republic of Texas. He was a veteran of the U.S. War of 1812 and was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Texas army serving during the Texas Revolution. By November of 1835, he was promoted to Major General with the command of the volunteer army. The following year he became a colonel of the Texas Regulars seeing action at the Runaway Scrape and the Battle of San Jacinto. He continued to serve the Republic of Texas after the war and eventually rose to the rank of brigadier general. In May of 1830, he moved his family from Tennessee to Texas and settled near Bastrop. In September of 1838, he was elected to the Texas Senate. He served three years as vice-president of the Republic of Texas under Sam Houston beginning in 1841. He also served in the Mexican-American war. His grandfather Aaron fought as a minuteman in the Revolutionary War and his father served as a captain in the American army during the War of 1812 and would later serve under his son, Edward.

Bio by: Winter Birds PA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0FSFlAc24Y
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burleson