<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (April 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Houston's political reputation suffered further due to the publicity related to the trial for his assault of Stanbery . He left for Texas in December 1832 and was immediately swept up in the politics of what was still a part of the Mexican state of Coahuila, attending the Convention of 1833 as representative for Nacogdoches . Houston emerged as a supporter of William Harris Wharton and his brother, who promoted independence from Mexico . This was the more radical position of the American settlers and Tejanos in Texas . He also attended the Consultation of 1835, and the Texas Army commissioned him as Major General in November 1835 . He negotiated a peace settlement with the Cherokee of East Texas in February 1836 to allay their fears about independence . </P> <P> Houston was selected as Commander - in - Chief at the convention to declare Texan independence in March 1836, and he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836, his 43rd birthday . Mexican soldiers killed all those at the Alamo Mission at the end of a 13 - day siege on March 6 . On March 11, Houston joined what constituted his army at Gonzales: 374 poorly equipped, poorly trained, and poorly supplied recruits . Word of the defeat at the Alamo reached him and, while he waited for confirmation, he organized the recruits as the 1st Regiment Volunteer Army of Texas . </P> <P> On March 13, Houston retreated before the superior forces of Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna, as he was short on rations . Heavy rain fell nearly every day, causing severe morale problems among the exposed troops struggling through the mud . He received additional troops near present - day La Grange, after four days' march, and continued east two days later with 600 men . At Goliad, Santa Anna ordered the execution of more than 400 volunteer Texas militia led by James Fannin, who had surrendered his forces on March 20 . Houston's forces were joined by 130 more men on March 26 near present - day Columbus, and the next day he learned of the Fannin disaster . </P>

Who did the texans select to lead the volunteer army