Politician. James Long was the leader the Long Expedition, an unsuccessful expedition to seize control of Spanish Texas between 1819 and 1821. He joined the United States Army to serve as a surgeon in the War of 1812. After the battle of New Orleans, he went to Natchez, Mississippi to practice medicine at Port Gibson. At the suggestion of his wife, Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long, he purchased a plantation in nearby Vicksburg in 1817. He became a partner in a merchandise business. Two years later, the Adams-Onís Treaty aroused such strong opposition in Natchez that prominent citizens planned a political filibustering expedition to conquer Texas, placing Long in command. The Adams-Onis Treaty was a treaty between the United States and Spain signed in 1819, which gave Florida to the United States and defined the boundary between the United States and Kingdom of New Spain, renouncing the United States claim to Texas. Upon arriving in Texas, Long was proclaimed governor of the "Republic of Texas," which lasted about four months. Going against the treaty, the expedition settled in Texas at Bolivar Point, a peninsula opposite Galveston Island, where they established an outpost in an effort to help free Texas from Spanish rule. Many of his men returned to the United States as they were not pleased with the demanding living conditions in Texas. To improve the living conditions, Long attempted to get supplies and to rally another group of followers to continue the fight, but on October 8, 1821, Long and his remaining men were captured. After this final surrender of the expedition, Long was imprisoned for a time in San Antonio and in Monterrey at Nuevo León. He went to Mexico City in March of 1822 to plead his case before Agustín de Iturbide, a Mexican army general, but on April 8, 1822, he was shot and killed by a guard. The shooting was said to be an accident, but there was some evidence that the guard had been hired to kill Long by José Félix Trespalaciosqv, a former colleague, who was the Mexican governor of Texas. Long's wife and children stayed in Texas until hearing of his death before returning to the United States. Later in 1832, his wife and children returned to Texas opening a successful hotel and becoming part of the earliest Anglo-Saxon settlers in Texas.