Texas Revolution - The Massacre at Goliad - Part Three

Presidio at La Bahia, Goliad, Texas - Texas Parks and Wildlife - State Park & Historic Site

After the Battle of the Alamo Santa Anna had to recoup his army. During this time Sam Houston hurried to Gonzales, TX which was the gathering point of the Texans. There he found 374 "effective men" who were without food and lacked guns and ammunition. The town of Gonzales was thrown into a state of fear when on March 11 a Mexican came into town relaying the atrocities of the Alamo.

Houston sent three of his most valuable scouts to find out what had happened. The scouts were "Deaf" Smith, Henry Karnes, and R. E. Handy. They found Mrs. Dickenson and the other female survivors of the Alamo and took them back to Gonzales where 20 women and 100 children found they had lost their husbands and fathers. Houston also learned that General Sesma was close behind them.

At this point Houston had to make a hard decision. He ordered a general retreat. He had a group of undisciplined and untrained men and was not ready to make a stand. He wrote General Fannin in Goliad and ordered him to blow up the fortress and retreat. Houston then took the hungry, displeased regiment, set fire to Gonzales marched northeast. By March 28 he had marched to San Felipe on the Brazos River and camped at a plantation.

Meanwhile, Col. Fannin's remained in Goliad. He sent one third of his men under the Captains King and Ward to Refugio to evacuate the Anglo settlers, but the two forces were killed by Urrea's army. Urrea burned Refugio and marched toward Goliad.

Instead of retreating as he had been ordered Col. Fannin refused to move until he had heard from Ward and King. A scout returned to Goliad with the news of the defeat in Refugio on March 16. At this time Fannin called a council of war and it was decided they should move north to Guadalupe Victoria.

But by now Urrea was near and a skirmish was fought on the 18th. Fannin decided to abandon the fortress at La Bahia and move out under the cover of a ground fog on the morning of the 19th. Unfortunately, the sun burned off the fog and the animals used to transport the heavy guns were weighted down. Urrea had a fix on the soldiers. Instead of pressing on to a nearby creek where there would be water and some cover, Fannin elected to resist on an open plain. With no water to cool the guns and with the one man who knew how to use the artillery wounded they were quickly enveloped by Urrea's superior army.

Urrea took prisoners and no one, not even the Mexicans, thought anything more than putting them under guard would happen. It is important to note that most of these men were Americans who had come to Texas to aid in the revolution. It was believed by the Mexican officers & themselves that they would be disarmed and exiled back to the United States. They were heartily sick of war and Texas and ready to go home.

However, Santa Anna had ordered that they take no quarter. On Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836 Colonel Guerrier came into a room of American surgeons who had volunteered to take care of the Mexican wounded and said, "Keep still, gentlemen, you are safe; these are not my orders, nor do I execute them." Several other Americans were being hidden by the wife of a Mexican officer named Alvarez. The rest were marched out on three roads under heavy guard, and believed they were headed home. When they were a little way out of Goliad they were shot. A few broke away in the confusion. The wounded prisoners were dragged into the street and shot. Lastly the officers were shot after they learned what had happened to their men. Fannin was shot in the head and dropped in a common grave. Three hundred ninety Americans died. Twenty-seven were saved in various ways and when the Mexican army left Guerrier made sure the men he had hidden got away.

Santa Anna now felt that between the Massacre at Goliad and the Alamo Texas resistance would end. He intended to start a panic and drive the colonists across the U. S. frontier. He was successful. The period between Santa Anna arriving at the Rio Grande in January 1836 and the end at the Battle of San Jacinto was to be known as the Runaway Scrape when many Anglo-Texans fled ahead the advancement of the Mexican army. In the Runaway Scrape many children died of illness due to the harsh winter weather and severe conditions of the escape. The aim was to flee to the Sabine River in far east Texas (near what is now Houston) and escape into the U. S. in Louisiana.

Now the war cry of the Texans at the Battle of San Jacinto would be: "Remember the Alamo" "Remember Goliad"

Resource: Lone Star, A History of Texas and the Texans by T. R. Ferhrenbach
and "Goliad Massacre" The Handbook of Texas Online and "Runaway Scrape" The Handbook of Texas Online

Next: Texas Revolution - The Battle of San Jacinto - Part Four