Hamilton P. Bee

Bee's road to the generalship began with a clerk's desk. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, on July 22, 1822, he came to Texas with his family in 1836 and clerked for Francis R. Lubbock as a youth. In 1839 he served as secretary to the commission that fixed the boundary between the Republic of Texas and the United States. In 1843 Sam Houston sent him to arrange a peace council with the Comanches, and the Penatekas promised to attend, leading to the Treaty of Tehuacana Creek. He married Mildred Tarver of Alabama in 1854, and they had eight children.

What the plaque says

Hamilton P. Bee Secretary 1st Texas Senate, Legislator 1849. Speaker of House 1854-1856. Served campaigns against Comanches. Lieutenant, Cavalry, Mexican War 1846. Confederate presidential elector 1861. Brigadier General State Militia 1861. Appointed same rank Confederate Army 1862. In command Western District, Texas, keeping vital cotton road open to Mexico. Led brigade and wounded Red River Campaign 1864 to stop invasion Texas. Served Indian Territory to keep Indians and Federals in check. Returned to command cavalry division in Texas. (1963)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Alamo — 1.5 mi
  Mission San Antonio de Valero before it was a fort: a church its builders never finished, a thirteen-day siege in 1836, and the Army gable of 1850-52 that became its emblem.
• La Villita Historic Arts Village — 1.5 mi
  The little village across the river from the presidio, where Cos surrendered San Antonio in 1835, rebuilt by Depression-era youth crews as a working crafts village.
• San Antonio River Walk — 1.6 mi
  A Depression-era park one level below downtown, built because San Antonio refused to pave its river after the 1921 flood, and designed by an architect the project later fired.
• San Fernando Cathedral — 1.9 mi
  The Canary Islanders' parish church on Main Plaza, where Bowie married and Santa Anna raised a red flag, rebuilt in Gothic Revival around the walls of the 1750s church.

More markers nearby

• John Salmon "Rip" Ford — steps away
• Confederate Cemetery — steps away
• Adina Emilia de Zavala — 0.2 mi
• Samuel S. Smith — 0.3 mi