Thomas Jefferson Green arrived in Mississippi to recruit volunteers to fight in the Texas Revolution.

Hunt, along with neighbor James Pinckney Henderson and several hundred others, joined Green, arriving at Velasco in June 1836, after the battle of San Jacinto.

[3] Almost immediately upon arriving in Texas, Hunt began publicly expressing his views on current policies, writing to interim President David G. Burnet to disagree with his decision to return captured Mexican General Santa Anna to Mexico in exchange for his assurances to recognize Texas's Independence.

As a result, Hunt was appointed a brigadier general in the Texas Army in August 1836 by President Burnet with the task of deterring an expected invasion from Mexico.

His proposal for the annexation of Texas in 1837 was rejected by the United States, but he succeeded in negotiating a boundary convention in 1838.