Goliad Campaign
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The Goliad Campaign refers to a series of battles which occurred in 1836 as part of the Texas Revolution, which ultimately led to the Goliad massacre. Troops from the army of Mexico defeated Texian forces in several clashes, and eventually massacred many of their prisoners of war, spreading outrage and resentment among the population of the fledgling Republic of Texas.
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[edit] Background
By 1835, thousands of Americans, mostly from the southern states, had emigrated to Mexican Texas. As internal political changes caused Mexican government policy to become more repressive to them, many colonists living in Texas decided to rebel against Mexico to form their own independent country. These "Texians" then proceeded to seize key towns and forts, including the Alamo in San Antonio and the Presidio La Bahia in the town of Goliad.
[edit] Texians
In Goliad, Colonel James Fannin commanded the Texian force of nearly 500 trained soldiers and militia. Fannin had chosen to keep his troops at Goliad mainly because it had a fort, from which he believed it would be easier to fight than out in the open. Fannin also believed that, by occupying Goliad, he could prevent Mexican commander Antonio López de Santa Anna from drawing supplies from the Gulf of Mexico. However, Fannin was called to assist Colonel William Travis at the Alamo. On February 26, 1836, he attempted to march to San Antonio but turned back at the San Antonio River because of the inability to travel with the artillery and arms. Meanwhile, Mexican forces under General José de Urrea were quickly reaching Goliad, and they defeated three Texian 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.
[edit] Battle of Refugio
Fannin sent Captain Amon Butler King on a mission to Refugio on March 11, to remove several noncombatant families out of the path of Urrea's army. On March 13, King was surrounded by elements of the Mexican army and sent out a plea for help to Fannin, who sent Lieutenant-Colonel William Ward and the Georgia Battalion to reinforce him. Urrea, meanwhile, heard of their presence and marched a flying column of 300 Mexican troops to Refugio, hoping to overtake the Texians. On March 14, the two sides clashed and fought until dark, when Captain King led his men in an independent escape attempt. They were overtaken shortly and surrendered for lack of munitions. Captain King and all but one man were executed in short order.
The Georgia Battalion attempted to escape to Victoria, where they expected to link up with the balance of Fannin's command. After wandering lost on the coastal prairie for several days, the Georgia Battalion reached Victoria, only to find it in the possession of the Mexican army. Short on munitions and supplies, with no hope of rescue, the majority of Ward's men voted to surrender under good terms. Only then were they made aware that Colonel Fannin and his men had already surrendered following the Battle of Coleto. They were marched back to Goliad to face the same fate as the rest of Fannin's command.
[edit] Fannin's retreat and the Battle of Coleto
Fannin was ordered by General Sam Houston on March 11, 1836, to abandon Goliad and retreat to the Guadalupe River near Victoria. However, he had sent most of his carts and horses with Ward to Refugio and had no cavalry. He sent couriers to Ward, but all of them were intercepted by Urrea's cavalry. Fannin hoped to retreat to Victoria, but he hesitated for several days. Urrea, meanwhile, sent cavalry to surround and isolate Goliad. He linked up with several more units of Mexican infantry, bringing the total number of Mexican troops in the area to 1,500.
[edit] Coleto Creek
On March 18, Urrea's advance scouts were viewing Goliad. Not until the morning of March 19 did Fannin finally begin his retreat from Goliad. Weighted down with cannon and 500 extra guns, Fannin burned his extra supplies in an attempt to lighten the load. The Texians had traveled only six miles (10 km) from their fort when, on March 19, the Mexican army engaged the Texians on an open prairie. The Texians were less than one mile (1.6 km) from the safety of the tree line of Coleto Creek. That afternoon, Urrea's cavalry encircled the Texians on open prairie near Coleto. After several hours of fighting, the Mexicans had suffered an estimated 200 casualties and the Texians about nine killed and sixty wounded. Fighting was halted that day at dark. Fannin, seeing Urrea received a hundred more men and three more artillery pieces, agreed to terms of surrender. Fannin met to discuss terms with Colonel Juan Holzinger. Fannin was unaware that General Santa Ana had decreed execution for all rebellious foreigners, and General Urrea negotiated surrender "at the disposal of the Supreme Mexican Government", falsely promising that no prisoner taken on those terms had lost his life.
[edit] The Massacre
The Texians were marched back to Goliad and held as prisoners, each believing that they were going to be set free in a matter of weeks. Knowing the prisoners' probable fate, General Urrea departed Goliad, leaving command to Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla, and later writing to Santa Anna to ask for clemency for the Texians. Urrea wrote in his diary that he "...wished to elude these orders as far as possible without compromising my personal responsibility." On March 26, 1836, 19:00, Portilla received orders from Santa Anna in triplicate to execute the prisoners. At around 8 a.m. on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Colonel Portilla had the 342 Texians marched out of Fort Defiance into three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road.
Once the columns reached their selected location, the Mexican soldados formed into two ranks on one side of the captives. The unarmed Texians were then fired on at point-blank range only a few hundred yards from the fort. The wounded and dying were then clubbed and stabbed. Those who survived the initial volley were run down by the Mexican cavalry. Fannin's men wounded in the Battle of Coleto were shot or bayoneted where they lay. Colonel Fannin was the last to be executed, after seeing his men butchered. Their bodies were stacked into piles and burned. There were twenty-eight Texians who did manage to escape by feigning death and other means. Three known survivors escaped to Houston's army and participated in the Battle of San Jacinto. In some accounts of the Goliad Massacre, a Mexican woman, Francita Alavez, sometimes referred to by other names, rescued a few Texian soldiers and became known as "The Angel of Goliad."
[edit] Written account
One survivor of the massacre, a young German named Von H. Ehrenberg, gave a written account of the ordeal on December 3rd, 1853. By his account, the Texian prisoners numbered some 400, while the Mexican captors numbered 700 in addition to cavalry and smaller groups of Mexican soldiers he saw gathered on the prairie. He stated in part;
"Kneel down!" Now burst in harsh accents from the lips of the Mexican commander. No one stirred. Few of us understood the order, and those who did would not obey. The Mexican soldiers who stood at about three paces from us, leveled their muskets at our breasts. Even then we could hardly believe that they meant to shoot us, for if we had we should assuredly have rushed forward in our desperation, and weaponless though we were, some of our murderers would have met their death at our hands.
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. A thick cloud of smoke was wreathing toward the San Antonio River. The blood of my lieutenant was on my clothes, and around me lay my friends convulsed in their last agony. I saw nothing more. Unhurt myself, I sprang up and, concealed by the thick smoke, fled along the hedge in the direction of the river, the noise of the water for my guide.
On I went, the river rolled at my feet, the shouting and yelling behind. "Texas forever!" And without a moments hesitation, I plunged into the water. The bullets whistled round me as I swam slowly and wearily to the other side, but none wounded me. Whilst these horrible scenes were occurring on the prairies, Col. Fannin and his wounded companions were shot and bayoneted at Goliad, only Dr. Shackleford and a few hospital aids having their lives spared, in order that they might attend the wounded Mexicans.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Davenport, Harbert, "Men of Goliad", Volume 43, Number 1, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online (Accessed Oct 30, 2006)
- Davis, William C., Lone Star Rising: The Revolutionary Birth of the Texas Republic; Free Press; ISBN-0-684-86510-6.
- Hardin, Stephen L., Texian Illiad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution; University of Texas Press; ISBN-0-292-73086-1.
- Brown, Gary, James Walker Fannin: Hesitant Martyr in the Texas Revolution; Republic of Texas Press; ISBN-1-55622-778-7.
