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 public servant. In Texas he soon became involved in the politics of the Texan rebellion, 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 was tasked by the provisional government, alone with John Forbes, to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee Indians in East Texas, 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 promulgated. In addition, Sam Houston received the appointment of major general of the army, becoming the organizing leader of the military forces of the republic of Texas. In his first battle against Mexico, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna made him taste the first defeated Texan defeat. The Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836 would bring him revenge and he would forever become a member of the pantheon of Texas heroes and a symbol of the age. 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. Due to his popularity as Old Sam Jacinto, he defeated Stephen F. Austin to become elected president of the 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 during most of his first term; He wanted to demilitarize the republic... half-paper... he failed to carry out his plan last year as senator of a protectorate over Mexico. Once again, his name was mentioned in being nominated for the presidency in May 1860 by the National Union party, losing to John Bell. With the election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States, discontent in Texas prompted him to call a special session of the legislature. He was against secession and warned Texans that the Civil War would mean the destruction of the South. The Secession Convention initiated actions to withdraw Texas from the Union. Houston accepted the events but refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States of America and was removed from office. He refused help from President Lincoln's federal troops to remain in office and join the Union to spare Texas from violence, and at the age of sixty-eight he chose exile from public life.