Viola Fletcher was 7 years old when she witnessed one of worst acts of racial violence the US has ever seen. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. The Goliad Massacre hardened attitudes toward Santa Anna throughout the United States and inflamed and unified the Texas resistance. [5] Not long after Fannins company had begun their march to Victoria, they were pursued by an army of Mexican troops led by General Jos de Urrea. 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). About 26 men were retained at Victoria as laborers, but 55 of the prisoners were marched into Goliad, on March 25. Surprised by an overwhelming Mexican force, most were chased off and escaped, but 18 were captured and marched back to Goliad. "Texas forever!" At Refugio on March 15, 1836, Urrea was again confronted with the duty of complying with the fatal decree of December 30. "[20] Other people known to have rescued some prisoners were: Juan Holzinger (saved two German Texians captured among Capt. Signup today for our free newsletter, Especially Texan. Fannin's men wounded in the Battle of Coleto were shot or bayoneted where they lay, inside the presidio. Bounty certificates were issued at the rate of 320 acres for every three months of service. by Charlotte Churchill, With Milam and Fannin, Austin: Pemberton Press, 1968). He sent couriers to Ward, but most of them were intercepted by Urrea's cavalry. 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. Though not as salient as the battle of the Alamo, the massacre immeasurably garnered support for the cause against Mexico both within Texas and in the United States, thus contributing greatly to the Texan victory at the battle of San Jacinto and sustaining the independence of the Republic of Texas. King on a mission to Refugio on March 11, to remove several noncombatant families out of the path of Urrea's army. This may have been correct. The blood of my lieutenant was on my clothes, and around me lay my friends convulsed in their last agony. In 1892, Duval published his journal, Early Times in Texas, or, the Adventures of Jack Dobell, which detailed his imprisonment, escape, and eventual return to safety during the final month of the Texas Revolution. Six Texians escaped, five were recaptured and marched to Goliad. All Rights Reserved. Only twenty-eight escaped the firing squads, and twenty more were spared as physicians, orderlies, interpreters, or mechanics largely because of the entreaties of a "high bred beauty" whom the Texans called the "Angel of Goliad" (see ALAVEZ, FRANCITA), and the brave and kindly intervention of Col. Francisco Garay. Four weeks elapsed between their capture and their execution, enabling Santa Anna to gauge in advance the reaction of New Orleans to their fate. They were taken to the Presidio chapel in Goliad and were kept there for a week. But when he wrote this seemingly humane order, Urrea well knew that Portilla would not be able to comply with it, for on March 25, after receiving Santa Anna's letter, Urrea had ordered reinforcements that would have resulted in too large a diminution of the garrison for the prisoners to be employed on public works. Morales has long put her heart into the community that raised her. Goliad. Believing that he had found an effective deterrent to expected American help for Texas, Santa Anna sought and obtained from the Mexican Congress the decree of December 30, 1835, which directed that all foreigners taken in arms against the government should be treated as pirates and shot. Goliad Massacre, Every dollar helps. Background and events. Henderson K. Yoakum, History of Texas from Its First Settlement in 1685 to Its Annexation to the United States in 1846 (2 vols., New York: Redfield, 1855). On I went, the river rolled at my feet, the shouting and yelling behind. At around 8 a.m. on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Colonel Portilla had the able bodied of 342 Texians marched out of Fort Defiance into three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road. [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. [citation needed] After the executions, the Texians' bodies were piled and burned. It had a population of 1975 at the 2000 census. A decree issued by Santa Anna in December 1835 ordered that all foreigners fighting against the government would be treated as pirates and executed. Fannin's men had agreed upon and reduced to writing the terms upon which they proposed to capitulate. What is the date for the 2019 Goliad Massacre Reenactment? Colonel Fannin was the last to be executed, after seeing his men executed. DeWitt Clinton Baker, comp., A Texas Scrap-Book (New York: Barnes, 1875; rpt. 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. [7] In the early nineteenth century, captured pirates were executed immediately. Jack Shackelford, commander of the Red Rovers under James W. Fannin at Goliad, was a survivor and chronicler of the battle of Coleto and the Goliad Massacre. William Lockhart Hunter [127] William Lockhart Hunter No Portrait Available William L. Hunter 1809 - 1886 Born in Virginia, June 5, 1809 Died at Austin, Tex. The Alamo! His men thundered a reply with an addendum: Remember the Alamo! Twenty-eight of them were tried as pirates, convicted, and, on December 14, 1835, shot (see TAMPICO EXPEDITION). General Thomas J. Rusk found the remains of the massacre victims in June 1836 and gave orders for a formal military funeral. 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. John Crittenden Duval, Early Times in Texas, or the Adventures of Jack Dobell (Austin: Gammel, 1892; new ed., Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986). The death toll would have been even higher if not for a Mexican woman known as the Angel of Goliad who convinced a Mexican colonel to spare the lives of approximately 20 doctors, orderlies and interpreters. When one of their carts fell into the San Antonio River, the colonel told his men to halt and retrieve it. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}283851N 972259W / 28.6476N 97.3830W / 28.6476; -97.3830. Meantime, on March 23, evidently doubting Urrea's willingness to serve as executioner, Santa Anna sent a direct order to the "Officer Commanding the Post of Goliad" to execute the prisoners in his hands. Carolino Huerta of the Tres Villas battalion. [1] Over the protests of his officers, Fannin also ordered his troops to stop for more than an hour to allow their oxen to graze. Urrea marched the Texians back to Fort Defiance, where they were held under guard. ", A more difficult situation confronted him on March 20 after James W. Fannin's surrender (see COLETO, BATTLE OF). The third group, on the San Patricio road, was farther from cover; only four men from it are known to have escaped. 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. On March 26, 1836, 19:00, Portilla received orders from Santa Anna in triplicate to execute the prisoners. This show of generosity after a hotly contested engagement is worthy of the highest commendation, Urrea wrote to Santa Anna, and I can do no less than to commend it to your Excellency.. The Goliad Campaign was the 1836 Mexican offensive to retake the Texas Gulf Coast during the Texas Revolution. The Napoleon of the West was no longer seen as a brilliant military strategist but a cruel despot. The guard, which was to serve also as a firing squad, included the battalions of Tres Villas and Yucatn, dismounted cavalry, and pickets from the Cuautla, Tampico, and Durango regiments. Captain King and all but one man were executed in short order. One company, badly led, broke ranks at the beginning of Mexa's action, and half its number, together with wounded men from other companies, were captured by Santa Anna's forces the next day. Civil Society Lone Star Life Texas History Today in Texas History: Massacre at Goliad On March 27, 1836, over 350 Texian soldiers were murdered by Mexican firing squads near Goliad after having surrendered days earlier. They may have been added to the prisoners at Goliad and killed with Fannin on March 27. Urrea, according to his contemporary Reuben M. Potter, "was not blood thirsty and when not overruled by orders of a superior, or stirred by irritation, was disposed to treat prisoners with lenity." 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. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/goliad-massacre. LEADER: 02102nam a2200481 a 4500: 001: 799387: 003: ICU: 005: 19950904000000.0: 008: 861208s1985 txua b 00110 eng u: 010 |a 84018663 : 020 |a 0890154767 : |c $10.95 . After his brush with death at Goliad, John C. Duval lived a long, distinguished life. [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. Goliad is located on U.S. Highway 59, named also for the late U.S. At the Goliad Massacre, Santa Anna ordered the execution of Col. James Fannin and almost 350 of . Although shot in the thigh, Fannin continued to lead the fight until darkness fell. Still, Fannin became cheerful and reported to his men that the Mexicans were making arrangements for their departure. Fannin was ordered by General Sam Houston on March 11, 1836, to abandon Goliad and retreat to the Guadalupe River near Victoria. As soon as they were ordered to halt a half-mile from the fort, however, the Texans realized their fates. The sound of a second volley, from a different direction than the first just then reached our ears, and was followed by a confused cry, as if those at whom it had been aimed, had not all immediately been killed. The remaining survivors joined Fannin's troops and were later killed in the Goliad Massacre. The site of the massacre is now topped by a large monument containing the names of the victims. Urrea wrote in his diary that he "wished to elude these orders as far as possible without compromising my personal responsibility." Save up to 30% when you upgrade to an image pack. He assured Fannin that there was no known instance where a prisoner of war who had trusted to the clemency of the Mexican government had lost his life, that he would recommend to General Santa Anna acceptance of the terms proposed by Fannin's men, and that he was confident of obtaining Santa Anna's approval within a period of eight days. Hobart Huson, Colonel Fannin's Execution of General Houston's Orders to Evacuate Goliad (MS, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin). Carlos E. Castaeda (Dallas: Turner, 1928; 2d ed., Austin: Graphic Ideas, 1970). [1] The Mexican army quickly put down revolts in the Mexican interior, including a brutal suppression of militias in Oaxaca and Zacatecas. [3] John C. Duval, Early Times in Texas, or, the Adventures of Jack Dobell, ed. [2] As part of his preparations for marching on Texas, in late December 1835 Santa . The Texians were marched back to Goliad and held as prisoners at Fort Defiance,[17] each believing that they were going to be set free in a matter of weeks. Nearly 350 rebels were executed in the Goliad Massacre, almost twice as many as were killed at the siege of the Alamo. "There is a rank due to the United States, among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. [17] He also had a similar order sent directly to the "Officer Commanding the Post of Goliad". FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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