<P> He visited his family in Maryville every few months . He returned to Maryville in 1812, and he was hired at age 19 for a term as schoolmaster of a one - room schoolhouse in Blount County between his town and Knoxville . The school was preceded by others in the region, but it was the first built in Tennessee since entering the Union . </P> <P> In 1813, Houston reported for training at Camp Blount near present - day Fayetteville, Tennessee and enlisted to fight the British in the War of 1812 . By December of that year, he had been transferred to the 39th Infantry Regiment and had risen from private to third lieutenant . He was wounded in the groin at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in March 1814 by a Creek arrow, but his wound was bandaged and he rejoined the fight . Andrew Jackson called for volunteers to dislodge a group of Red Sticks from their breastwork; Houston volunteered and was struck by bullets in the shoulder and arm during the assault . He returned to Maryville as a disabled veteran, but later took the army's offer of free surgery and convalesced in a New Orleans hospital . </P> <P> Houston became close to Jackson, who was impressed with him and acted as a mentor . In 1817, Jackson appointed him sub-agent in managing the removal of the Cherokees from East Tennessee to a reservation in what is now Arkansas . Houston had differences with Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, who chided him for appearing at a meeting dressed as a Cherokee . More significantly, an inquiry was begun into charges related to Houston's administration of supplies for the Indians; he was offended and resigned in 1818 . </P> <P> Houston passed the bar examination in Nashville following six months of apprenticeship with Judge James Trimble, and he then opened a legal practice in Lebanon, Tennessee . In 1818, he was appointed as the local prosecutor in Nashville and was also given a command in the state militia . </P>

The hero of san jacinto became the first president of the texas republic