Hamilton Prioleau Bee was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician in early Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 who served one term as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives

Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives

The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the House...

 and later was a Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 general during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Early life

Bee was born in Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, to Ann Wragg Fayssoux and Barnard E. Bee, Sr

Barnard E. Bee, Sr.

Barnard Elliot Bee, Sr. was an early settler and political leader in the Republic of Texas.Barnard Bee was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of Thomas Bee who was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He studied law, and served on the staff of his brother-in-law, governor James...

. His family moved to Texas when he was 14. At age 17, Bee served as secretary for the commission that determined the border between the United States and the Republic of Texas

Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...

. Sam Houston

Sam Houston

Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...

 sent Bee, Joseph C. Eldridge, and Thomas S. Torrey to open negotiations with the Comanche

Comanche

The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...

s in 1843, which eventually resulted in the Treaty of Tehuacana Creek. Bee was secretary of the Texas Senate

Texas Senate

The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing 31 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 672,000 per constituency. There are no term limits, and each term is four years long. The Senate meets at the...

 in the First Texas Legislature

First Texas Legislature

The First Texas Legislature convened from 16 February to 13 May 1846 in regular session. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate were elected in December 1845, after an election on 13 October 1845 that ratified the proposed state constitution....

 in 1846.

Bee served under Benjamin McCulloch

Benjamin McCulloch

Benjamin McCulloch was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, a U.S. marshal, and a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.-Early life:...

's Company A of Col. Jack Hays

John Coffee Hays

Col. John Coffee "Jack" Hays was a Texas Ranger captain and military officer of the Republic of Texas. Hays served in several armed conflicts, including the Indian and the Mexican-American War.-Biography:...

's 1st Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers for a time, but then transferred to Mirabeau B. Lamar

Mirabeau B. Lamar

Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar was a Texas politician, diplomat and soldier who was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was the second President of the Republic of Texas, after David G. Burnet and Sam Houston.-Early years:Lamar grew up at Fairfield, his father's...

's Texas cavalry company as a second lieutenant. Bee signed up for a second term in 1847—this time as first lieutenant—in Lamar's Company, which was by then a component of Col. Peter Hansborough Bell

Peter Hansborough Bell

Peter Hansborough Bell was an American military officer and politician who served as the third Governor of Texas and represented the state for two terms in the United States House of Representatives.-Background:Bell was born March 11, 1810 in Culpeper County, Virginia...

's regiment of Texas volunteers.

Bee moved to Laredo

Laredo, Texas

Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...

 after the war and ran for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

 for the Third Texas Legislature

Third Texas Legislature

The Third Texas Legislature met from 5 November 1849 to 3 December 1850 in its regular session and two called sessions. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1849.-Sessions:...

 in 1849. He served through the end of the Seventh Legislature

Seventh Texas Legislature

The Seventh Texas Legislature met from 2 November 1857 to 16 February 1858 in its regular session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1857.-Senate:...

 for a total of ten years in the House. In the Sixth Legislature

Sixth Texas Legislature

The Sixth Texas Legislature met from 5 November 1855 to 1 September 1856 in its regular session and one adjourned session. All members of the House of Representatives and about half of the members of the Senate were elected in 1855.-Sessions:...

, Bee was decisively elected Speaker of the House with 78 votes, to 1 vote each for N. B. Charlton and Pleasant Williams Kittrell.

Civil War

In 1861, Bee was elected brigadier general of the Texas militia and appointed as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on March 4, 1862. Bee commanded the brigade that consisted of Carl Buchel's First, Nicholas C. Gould's Twenty-third, Xavier Blanchard Debray's Twenty-sixth, James B. Likin's Thirty-fifth, Peter Cavanaugh Woods's Thirty-sixth, and Alexander Watkins Terrell's Texas cavalry regiments.

Bee was headquartered in Brownsville

Brownsville, Texas

Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...

 and facilitated the trade of cotton for munitions through Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. On November 4, 1863, he was forced to abandon Brownsville

Battle of Brownsville

The Battle of Brownsville took place on November 2-6, 1863 during the American Civil War. It was a successful effort on behalf of the Union Army to disrupt Confederate blockade runners along the Gulf Coast in Texas...

 in the face of a Union expeditionary force under Maj. Gen.

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 Nathaniel P. Banks. Bee was transferred to a field command in 1864 under Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor (general)

Richard Taylor was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was the son of United States President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret Taylor.-Early life:...

 in the Red River Campaign

Red River Campaign

The Red River Campaign or Red River Expedition consisted of a series of battles fought along the Red River in Louisiana during the American Civil War from March 10 to May 22, 1864. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen....

. In the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Bee had two different horses shot out from under him during a cavalry charge, but was only slightly wounded. One of Bee's brigade commanders at this time was Arthur P. Bagby, Jr.

Arthur P. Bagby, Jr.

Arthur Pendleton Bagby, Jr. was a lawyer, editor, and Confederate general during the American Civil War.-Early life:...

, who later replaced him in command. Later, despite intense criticism of his handling of his troops, Bee was given command of Thomas Green

Thomas Green (general)

Thomas Green was a lawyer, politician, soldier and officer of the Republic of Texas, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Tom Green County, Texas was named after him....

's division in Maj. Gen. John A. Wharton

John A. Wharton

John Austin Wharton was a lawyer, plantation owner, and Confederate general during the American Civil War. He is considered one of the Confederacy's best tactical cavalry commanders.-Early life:...

's cavalry corps in February 1865. After that time, he commanded an infantry brigade in Gen. Samuel B. Maxey

Samuel B. Maxey

Samuel Bell Maxey was an American soldier, lawyer, and politician from Paris, Texas, United States. He was a Major General for the Confederacy in the Civil War and later represented Texas in the U.S. Senate.-Early life:...

's division.

Postbellum

After the war, Bee lived in a self-imposed exile in Mexico until 1876. He returned to live in San Antonio, where he died. He is buried there in the Confederate Cemetery. Bee married Mildred Tarver on May 21, 1854, and together they had six children

Carlos Bee

Carlos Bee was a U.S. Representative from Texas, great-grandson of Thomas Bee.Born in Saltillo, Mexico, where his parents had moved after the collapse of the Confederacy, Bee returned with his parents to San Antonio, Texas, in 1874.He attended the public schools and the Agricultural and Mechanical...

.

He was the older brother of Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr.

Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr.

Barnard Elliott Bee Jr. was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the First Battle of Bull Run, one of the first general officers to be killed in the war. During that battle, he was responsible for the...

, also a Confederate Army general. Their father, Barnard Elliott Bee, Sr., a leader in the Texas Revolution

Texas Revolution

The Texas Revolution or Texas War of Independence was an armed conflict between Mexico and settlers in the Texas portion of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The war lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836...

, was the namesake of Beeville

Beeville, Texas

Beeville is a city in Bee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,129 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bee County...

 and Bee County

Bee County, Texas

Bee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Bee County was founded December 8, 1857. As of 2010, the population was 31,861. Its county seat is Beeville. Bee County is named for Barnard E...

, Texas.

See also

• List of American Civil War generals