General Sidney Sherman

Sidney Sherman is one of the giants of Texas history. Born in Massachusetts in 1805, one of ten children, he was orphaned at age 12 but soon went into business for himself. Over the years he moved steadily west, eventually openning the first mechanical cotton bagging company in Cincinnati, Ohio. A prominent citizen, Sherman became captain of a Kentucky militia company and was very interested in Texas, both for the opportunities presented and because of the great injustices inflicted on the Texans by President Santa Anna. In 1835 he sold his business and used the money to arm and uniform a company of volunteers for service in Texas. Carrying a flag bearing the image of liberty and dressed in smart uniforms, Sherman and his 51 soldiers headed south. When Texas General Sam Houston organized the first Texas infantry regiment he made Sidney Sherman lieutenant colonel.            Later, at Groce's Ferry the Texas Army was reorganized again and Sidney Sherman was promoted to Colonel of the newly formed 2nd Regiment of Texas Volunteers. Sherman and his men were eager for a fight and during the "Runaway Scrape" caused quite a fuss with their constant demands to stand and fight. At the Colorado River Sherman wanted to cross over and engage the Mexican troops under General Joaquin Ramirez y Sesma but Houston would not allow it. There would be no fighting until the battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836 but Sherman was to play a leading role in that battle. Given command of the left wing of the Texas army, Sherman's flag was the only one to fly over the Texas army that day and it was supposedly Sherman who originated that most famous battle-cry, "Remember the Alamo!". His men performed well and afterwards Sherman was put in charge of dividing the captured Mexican spoils among the Texans.             After the battle, Sherman tried to resign but provisional Texas President David G. Burnet refused to accept it and instead commissioned him as a regular Colonel in the Republic of Texas Army and dispatched him to the United States to recruit more volunteers. Sherman did so, as well as collecting his wife and moving back to Texas where he was elected to Congress. In 1843 he was elected to the rank of Major General of Militia which he held until the Republic of Texas joined the Union. Later, he bought the town of Harrisburg and built the first railroad in Texas. He was running a hotel in Galveston when Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. With so illustrious a background Sherman was quickly appointed Commandant of Galveston by the secession convention.             Sherman served the Confederacy with as much ability as he had served the Texas republic until illness forced him to return to his home on San Jacinto Bay. One of his sons, Lieutenant Sidney Sherman, was killed in the Confederate victory at Galveston on January 1, 1863. Sherman's wife died in 1865 in Richmond and Sidney Sherman, hero of the Texas Revolution, lived with his daughter in Galveston until his own death on August 1, 1873.

Sidney Sherman in Confederate service