Houston Displayed, or, Who Won the Battle of San Jacinto?

Houston Displayed, or, Who Won the Battle of San Jacinto? By Robert M. Coleman, edited with an introduction by Stephen L. Hardin. In 1837 a slender thirty-eight page pamphlet purportedly written by “A Farmer in the Army” appeared on the scene in the early days of the Republic of Texas. It had been printed in Velasco and the author had dared to assert that General Sam Houston (now the President) had almost nothing to do with achieving military victory, that he had tried to avoid combat, and that he had finally fought only because the rank-and-file demanded it. The anonymous author also cast many personal aspersions on Houston’s conduct and character—alleging drunkenness, drug abuse, erratic behavior, and even an attempted suicide. Needless to say, Sam Houston was not amused. He knew that Robert M. Coleman, who had served as a colonel on Houston’s general staff, was the likely author. He had Coleman thrown in jail and had his political associates engage in what we today call “damage control.” The original 1837 Velasco edition is extremely rare: only five copies have survived in public institutions (Yale, the University of Texas, Austin Public Library, Sam Houston State University, and the J.P. Bryan Museum in Galveston). It was reprinted in facsimile in 1964 by the Brick Row Book Shop in Austin, with an introduction by John H. Jenkins—and even this edition is hard to locate today. The original 1837 Velasco edition is extremely rare: only five copies have survived in public institutions (Yale, the University of Texas, Austin Public Library, Sam Houston State University, and the J.P. Bryan Museum in Galveston). It was reprinted in facsimile in 1964 by the Brick Row Book Shop in Austin, with an introduction by John H. Jenkins—and even this edition is hard to locate today. Our new edition, number 13 in the Library of Texas series, offers readers a scholarly introduction by Professor Stephen L. Hardin, an accurate text and explanatory footnotes, a bibliography, and an index. It was designed and set in Miller types by Bradley Hutchinson at Digital Letterpress in Austin. It was printed in an edition of 500 copies on cream Mohawk Superfine paper and bound in boards, with a decorative paper cover and cloth spine. At $40 and 132 pages, it offers more than the original 38-page pamphlet, in a handsome and legible typeface! We feel that it is an essential reference for any Texas collection. For $250, we also offer a limited issue designed by Jace Graf at Cloverleaf Studio: 15 copies with dark-brown end sheets, bound in paper-covered boards, with cloth spine and leather spine label, in a custom slipcase, each with a printed bookplate, signed and numbered by the editor.