Mirabeau B. Lamar

Lamar, MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE, statesman, president of the Republic of Texas; born in Louisville, Ga., Aug. 16, 1798; uncle of Lucius Lamar. In 1835 he went to Texas. On hearing of the Massacre at Goliad, and the battle of the Alamo, he went to Velasco and inquired of how to get to the scene of battle. He joined the Texas revolutionary army as a private. When the Texas and Mexican armies faced each other at San Jacinto on April 20, 1836, Thomas Rusk and Walter Lane were surrounded by the enemy. Lamar's quick action saved their lives and brought him a salute from the Mexican lines. As the battle of San Jacinto was about to start, he was commissioned a colonel and assigned to command the cavalry. After the battle, he became secretary of war in Burnet's cabinet, and demanded that Santa Anna be executed as a murderer.

Mirabeau B. Lamar, President of the Republic of Texas

A month later Lamar was commander-in-chief of the Texas army, but the unruly Texas troops refused to accept him and he retired to civilian life.

He was attorney-general and secretary of the new State, and was elected its first vice-president in 1836, then holding the rank of major-general. He was president of the Republic of Texas from 1838 to 1841, and in 1846 he joined General Taylor in the invasion of Mexico. In 1858 he published the Columbus Inquirer, a "State rights" journal. Just previous to his death, in Richmond, Tex., Dec. 19, 1859, he was United States minister to Nicaragua and Costa Rica.