After wandering on the coastal prairie for several days, the Georgia Battalion reached Victoria, only to find it in the possession of the Mexican army. The remains were interred at a location southeast of the Presidio la Bahia. The Goliad Massacre, set in the town of Goliad on March 27, 1836, was an execution of Republic of Texas soldier-prisoners and their commander, James Fannin, by the Mexican Army. Similar Items. On March 14, Ward defended his position at the Refugio Mission, while King's men fought from a stand of trees. Meanwhile, Mexican forces under General Jos de Urrea were quickly reaching Goliad, and they defeated three Texan forces at the Battle of San Patricio on February 27, the Battle of Agua Dulce on March 2, and the Battle of Refugio on March 12.[10]. [28] Their charred remains were left in the open, unburied, and exposed to vultures and coyotes. Although not as famous as the Battle of the Alamo, the execution of Fannin's troops at Goliad crystallized public opinion in the United States and contributed to a war frenzy against Mexico. Goliad. 147148 gives the number of men killed with Grant as 11. After Santa Anna learned that a force of Texas rebels was heading toward Matamoros, he sent General Urrea to march north along the coast of Texas to stop them. It would be entirely consistent with British actions throughout the world in the 19th Century where adventurers operated with at least the tacit support of the British government in pursuing this scheme or that. [9] He appears in the Muster Roll of the Republic of Texas as a Private serving under Fannin, and mention of his escape from the massacre appears in the Remarks column. Although overshadowed by the fall of the Alamo, the Goliad Massacre claimed the lives of twice as many Texas rebels. In some accounts of the Goliad Massacre, a Mexican woman, Francisca (Francita, Panchita or Pancheta) Alavez, sometimes referred to by other names (Alvarez or Alavesco), rescued about 20 Texian soldiers and became known as "The Angel of Goliad. [7] Santa Anna personally led the bulk of his troops inland to San Antonio de Bxar and ordered General Jos de Urrea to lead 550 troops along the Atascocita Road toward Goliad. The entire Texian force was killed, except for 28 men who feigned death and escaped. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The bullets whistled round me as I swam slowly and wearily to the other side, but none wounded me. On March 12, they encountered a group of Texian soldiers, under the command of William Ward at Refugio. He asked for his personal possessions to be sent to his family, to be shot in his heart and not his face, and that he be given a Christian burial. After the executions the bodies were burned, the remains left exposed to weather, vultures, and coyotes, until June 3, 1836, when Gen. Thomas J. Rusk, who had established his headquarters at Victoria after San Jacinto and was passing through Goliad in pursuit of Gen. Vicente Filisola's retreating army, gathered the remains and buried them with military honors. Worauf Sie als Kunde bei der Auswahl der Nici qid achten sollten. Eleven Texians were killed outright, five suffered mortal wounds, and 21 others were taken . They were advised not to take off the arm band, since Mexican troops were hunting for those few who had escaped from Coleto, Victoria, and the massacre itself. [citation needed], Fortunately, due to the intervention of the "Angel of Goliad" (Francita Alavez) and the courageous effort of Colonel Francisco Garay, twenty more men were held and spared as doctors, interpreters, or workers. The Goliad Massacre hardened attitudes toward Santa Anna throughout the United States and inflamed and unified the Texas resistance. At a prearranged moment, or upon a given signal, the guards fired upon the prisoners at a range too close to miss. Houston ordered Colonel James W. Fannin to evacuate his 400-man force from Goliad and retreat to Victoria, a town 30 miles to the east behind the natural defense of the Guadalupe River. This volume is the most complete resource of reliable firsthand accounts of massacre survivors. Goliad is located on U.S. Highway 59, named also for the late U.S. According to a Goliad Chamber of Commerce publication, "Goliad's history began at the Presidio La Bahia. His personal possessions were taken by Mexican soldiers, he was shot in the face, and Fannin's body was burned along with the many other Texians who died that day.[19]. On March 19, General Urrea had quickly advanced and surrounded 300 men in the Texian Army on the open prairie, near La Bahia (Goliad). [2] J. Frank Dobie, John C. Duval: First Texas Man of Letters, Southwest Review Vol. [6], The entire Texian force was killed except for twenty-eight men who feigned death and escaped. He ordered the immediate execution of the perfidious foreigners and dispatched an aide to Goliad to ensure that Lieutenant Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla, who had been left in charge at Goliad while Urrea continued his march through southern Texas, carried out his brutal directive. [20] The soldiers took his belongings, shot him in the face, and burned his body along with those of the other Texians killed that day. This is why the battle is significant. Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen. In eight days, home and liberty!". Shackelford, Jack (1790-1857). [11] The Texians were less than one mile (1.6km) from the safety of the tree line of Coleto Creek. [31] In 1939, the Fannin Memorial Monument by Raoul Josset was erected at the gravesite. The Battle of Coleto ended with a Texian surrender on March 20. Santa Anna sent General Jos Urrea marching into Texas from Matamoros, to make his way north along the coast of Texas. He linked up with several more units of Mexican infantry, bringing the total number of Mexican troops in the area to 1,500. For a lucky few at Goliad, some soldiers were able to escape the carnage. Nearly one month later, word reached La Bahia (Goliad) that General Lopez de Santa Anna had been defeated and surrendered. "Remember the Alamo; remember Goliad!" That was the cry of those fighting for Texas' independence after General Santa Anna ordered the execution of more than 400 men who had surrendered at Goliad. Santa Anna's Mexican army killed virtually all of the roughly 200 Texans (or Texians) defending the Alamo, including their leaders, Colonels William B. Travis and James Bowie, and the legendary. He described the slaughter: "Kneel down!" Following a one-sided battle on the prairie near Coleto Creek, 250 mostly American prisoners were marched back to the presidio at Goliad where they were joined by more than 200 others. Two hours later Portilla received another order, this one from Urrea, "to treat the prisoners with consideration, and especially their leader, Fannin," and to employ them in rebuilding the town. Nearly 350 rebels were executed in the Goliad Massacre, almost twice as many as were killed at the siege of the Alamo. Handbook of Texas Online, Balderas, Capt. Whether indecisive, stubborn or loyal to the rebels away on missions whom he did not want to abandon, Fannin remained in Goliad until the morning of March 19. . Fannin also believed that by occupying Goliad, he could prevent Mexican commander Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna from drawing supplies from the Gulf of Mexico, but Fannin was called to assist Colonel William Travis at the Alamo. Carlos E. Castaeda (Dallas: Turner, 1928; 2d ed., Austin: Graphic Ideas, 1970). [1] Jakie L. Pruett and Everett B. Cole, Goliad Massacre: A Tragedy of the Texas Revolution (Austin: Eakin Press, 1985). When the Texans finally resumed their march in the afternoon, they quickly encountered the Mexican forces. Harbert Davenport and Craig H. Roell. Col. James W. Fannin and his army of men had surrendered to the Mexican army and agreed to be. King and a group of men had been executed on March 16 at Refugio, but some 15 to 18 prisoners were marched to Goliad to serve as blacksmiths or mechanics. But Portilla's volleys at Goliad, together with the fall of the Alamo, branded both Santa Anna and the Mexican people with a reputation for cruelty and aroused the fury of the people of Texas, the United States, and even Great Britain and France, thus considerably promoting the success of the Texas Revolution. The Texans lost control of Goliad on March 20, 1836, in the Battle of Coleto Creek. He was taken by Mexican soldiers to the courtyard in front of the chapel, blindfolded, and seated in a chair. We must defend our rights, ourselves and our country by Victor Marion Rose, History of Victoria (Laredo, 1883; rpt., Victoria, Texas: Book Mart, 1961). Santa Annas ruthless treatment of the captured soldiers had the opposite effect than what he intended. When Mexico transitioned to a centralized government in 1835, supporters of federalism took up arms. Urrea wrote in his diary that he "wished to elude these orders as far as possible without compromising my personal responsibility." Henry Stuart Foote, Texas and the Texans (2 vols., Philadelphia: Cowperthwait, 1841; rpt., Austin: Steck, 1935). Capt. After the executions, the Texians' bodies were piled and burned. [16] Fannin was unaware General Santa Anna had decreed execution for all rebels. GeoCoords: Latitude: 28.612982000000 Longitude: -97.421924000000. When one of their carts fell into the San Antonio River, the colonel told his men to halt and retrieve it. On March 26, 1836, 19:00, Portilla received orders from Santa Anna in triplicate to execute the prisoners. In 1936, in celebration of the Texas Centennial, money was appropriated to build a massive pink granite monument, dedicated on June 4, 1938. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. John C. Duval was one such man who made it to safety and was able to share his harrowing story of imprisonment and escape with future generations of Texans. The survivors reached Goliad on February 29. [26] Also spared were the 75 soldiers of Miller and the Nashville Battalion. According to Duval, in February of 1836, the men at Goliad were informed by a Mexican from the Rio Grande that Santa Anna was on the Texas border with a large army. He recalled that on the morning of March 27, 1836, a Mexican officer told the men to get ready for a march. Check out additional primary sources on the Texas Revolution at Texas Rising: Historians View. [citation needed], On March 2, at the Battle of Agua Dulce, James Grant was killed, as were 11 other men under his command. Ward and the Georgia Battalion attempted to escape to Victoria, where they expected to link up with the balance of Fannin's command. They are going to shoot us! and at the same instant [John] heard the clicking of musket locks all along the Mexican line.[7], Dodging the first round of fire and avoiding a close encounter with the end of a bayonet, John C. Duval was subsequently able to reach the San Antonio River without being struck by the barrage of bullets that followed. The prisoners held little suspicion of their fate, for they had been told a variety of stories-they were to gather wood, drive cattle, be marched to Matamoros, or proceed to the port of Copano for passage to New Orleans. [3] John C. Duval, Early Times in Texas, or, the Adventures of Jack Dobell, ed. [11] Weighted down with cannon and 500 extra guns, Fannin burned his extra supplies in an attempt to lighten the load. The Goliad Massacre of March 27,1836 By: Jackson Kolb The massacre of Goliad the Goliad massacre was the termination of the survivors of the Alamo and battle of Goliad. The area that bordered the United States, known as Texas, was populated primarily by English-speaking settlers, known as Texians. Doctor's grandmother, Thelma Evans Hawkins, was a survivor of the Rosewood massacre. Save big when you register early. John J. Linn, Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Texas (New York: Sadlier, 1883; 2d ed., Austin: Steck, 1935; rpt., Austin: State House, 1986). Fannin's men had agreed upon and reduced to writing the terms upon which they proposed to capitulate. While the sick and wounded remained in the chapel, the other three groups were escorted on different roads out of town. As the ashes of the Alamo continued to smolder, Sam Houston feared another disaster could befall his Texas Army. About a week after the Goliad killings, Santa Anna ordered the execution of Miller and his men and the others who had been spared at Goliad, but he rescinded the order the next day. Harbert Davenport, James W. Fannin's Part in the Texas Revolution (MS, Harbert Davenport Papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin). Antonio Ramrez, and first adjutant Agustn Alcrrica (a colonel in the Tres Villas Battalion in April 1836). The common grave remained unmarked until about 1858, when a Goliad merchant, George von Dohlen, placed a pile of rocks on what was believed to be the site. This order was received by Portilla on March 26, who decided it was his duty to comply, despite receiving a countermanding order from Urrea later that same day. [13][19] Forty Texians were unable to walk. An hour after Santa Annas execution orders arrived, Portilla received the contradictory message from Urrea to treat the prisoners with consideration, and especially their leader, Fannin. After an agonizing night weighing the two instructions, Portilla decided to uphold the wishes of the Mexican dictator. Ruby C. Smith, "James W. Fannin, Jr., in the Texas Revolution," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 23 (October 1919, January, April 1920). Santa Anna's main army took no prisoners; execution of the murderous decree of December 30, 1835, fell to Gen. Jos de Urrea, commander of Santa Anna's right wing. Goliad Massacre. Another written account can be found in Early Times in Texas (serial form, 186871; book, 1892) by John Crittenden Duval. Encircled by the enemy and low on ammunition and water, the desperate Texans worked through the night to dig ditches and haul overturned carts, dead horses and even fallen comrades to buttress the walls of their earthworks. [citation needed], The Goliad massacre contributed to the frenzy of the Runaway Scrape. Find the perfect massacre of able stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. They were later marched to Matamoros. [6] In late December, at his behest, the Mexican Congress passed the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexican troops "will be deemed pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag". [citation needed], Amon B. The slaughter of Colonel James W. Fannins troops in the Goliad Massacre, perpetrated three weeks after the fall of the Alamo, resulted in the single largest loss of life for the Texians during the Texas Revolution. Mabel Major and Rebecca W. Smith, (Austin, TX: H.P.N. [20][21], The entire Texian force was killed, except for 28 men who feigned death and escaped. On March 6, the Mexican force under Santa Anna stormed the Alamo and killed the garrison. 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