Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/115

Rh "Oh!" Almonte replied, flippantly; " what are six or seven hundred men? And, from all accounts, only half a dozen of your brave men have fallen."

Houston replied, "We estimate the lives of our men, I perceive, somewhat higher than you do." Almonte politely changed his tone, as Houston looked sternly at him, and continued; "You talk about reinforcements, sir; it matters not how many reinforcements you have, sir; you never can conquer freemen." Raising himself up and taking an ear of dry corn from his pocket which he had carried for four days, Houston held it up, and said: "Sir, do you ever expect to conquer men who fight for freedom, whose General can march four days with one ear of corn for his rations? " The enthusiasm of the Texan soldiers was stirred up by the sight of the ear of corn. Gathering around the General, they asked him to allow them to divide the ear of corn.

"We'll plant it," they said, "and call it the Houston corn."

"Oh, yes, my brave fellows," said the General smiling, "take it along, if you care anything about it, and divide it among you; give each one a kernel, as far as it will go, take it home to your own fields, where I hope you may long cultivate the noble arts of peace as well as you have shown yourselves masters of the art of war. You have achieved your independence; now see if you can not make as good farmers as you have proved yourselves gallant soldiers. You may not call it Houston corn, but call it San Jacitito corn, for then it will remind you of your own bravery." The corn was distributed. In successive crops, it has been growing ever since, whether planted by the fugitives who returned to the banks of the Sabine, or the dwellers on the rolling prairies or fertile bottoms of the Trinity, the Colorado, or the Brazos.

Santa Anna was interested in the conversation detailed, as its import was made known to him by Almonte. His rage was aroused, and he cursed Almonte for losing the battle. His army was large, perfectly armed and equipped, his officers were skilled, his camp was filled with every luxury. He had been conquered by a band of raw, undisciplined troops, incompletely armed, with officers destitute of most of the necessaries of life. In his mortification he remarked " that this was the first moment that he had ever understood the American character, and that what he had witnessed, convinced him that Americans never could be conquered."

Although Santa Anna's marquee was near the spot where Houston was lying, his trunks were not opened, nor was any portion of his baggage molested. The eyes of the civilized world were upon the hero of San Jacinto. He was the representative of Anglo-