Goliad

With the victory at San Antonio the Texans believed the time was right for a decisive blow against the Mexican army at Matamoros. Under the command of James Grant, Frank Johnson & Robert Morris, 300 men were recruited for the mission. Two groups were dispatched to catch wild horses for the journey. Johnson took about 70 men & made camp at the abandoned Irish settlement of San Patricio while Grant & Morris took about 30 men 26 miles south near Agua Dulce Creek. Mexican spies were aware of the activity so at 3:30 AM on February 27th General Jose de Urrea with a force of 500 men launched a surprise attack on Johnson's party killing 16 & taking 30 prisoners. On March 2nd Urrea proceeded to Agua Dulce, attacked Grant & Morris killing them both with 10 others & taking the rest as prisoners to Matamoros. With Urrea's army on the march, James W. Fannin sent Amon B. King with 28 men to rescue the non-combatant families being harassed in Refugio by Carlos de la Garza & about 80 rancheros. Amon arrived at Refugio but before he could make his escape to the safety of Goliad, he, his men & the civilians were all forced to retreat to the Nuestra Senora del Refugio Mission. Fannin sent Lt. Col. William Ward & 120 men to their rescue. Upon his arrival Ward & King argued over command & the group split with King & some of the men leaving to attack the rancheros, killing eight. As more of Urrea's men arrived, fighting with Ward intensified at the mission. They fought bravely repelling four assaults & inflicting heavy casualties on Urrea's men but their supplies were running low. That evening King returned but, unable to make it to the mission he was forced to fight from a nearby tree line inflicting more casualties on Urrea. King sent a courier to Fannin for instructions who returned with orders to retreat to Victoria where the Texan army was planning to rendezvous. On March 15th they attempted their escape but were met by Urrea's overwhelming force. It was only after running out of usable powder that King & 32 men were forced to surrender. They were returned to Refugio where about half were executed & the rest spared to serve the Mexicans as craftsmen. Ward & his men escaped to Victoria but found it too was overrun by Urrea's men. The group scattered. Ten men escaped, 26 were spared as laborers & the rest were sent to Goliad. A few days earlier, after the fall of the Alamo, Houston had ordered Fannin to evacuate Ft. Defiance (previously the Presidio de la Bahia) & rendezvous with the Texan army at Victoria. On March 19th they were surrounded by Mexican troops near Coleto Creek. Again the outnumbered Texans successfully defended their position but when night fell Mexican sharpshooters were able to pick off more Texans. On March 20th Fannin & his men were forced to surrender & they were taken to Goliad now under the control of the Mexicans. All of the Texans held captive at Goliad believed they would soon be released. Urrea himself had written a letter to Santa Anna recommending clemency for the captives. Instead, Santa Anna ordered Cdr. Jose Nicolas de la Portilla to execute the prisoners. On Palm Sunday, March 27th, 1836 Fannin & about 303 men were marched onto open prairie & shot. Survivors were clubbed & stabbed to death. Twenty-eight men did manage to escape, six of whom carried word of the slaughter to Sam Houston. An additional 39, unable to walk, were executed inside the presidio. Fannin was executed last being forced to witness the massacre. He made three requests: that his belongings be sent to his family, that he be shot in the chest & that he be given a Christian burial. His belongings were distributed among the Mexican soldiers, he was shot in the face & his body was burned with the others. The massacre at Goliad would inspire a rallying battle cry at San Jacinto.