In early August 1812, during the Mexican War of Independence, Mexican revolutionary Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara and his recruits, called the Republican Army of the North, invaded Texas. In November the invaders captured Presidio La Bahia. For the next four months, Texas governor Manuel María de Salcedo laid siege to the fort. Unable to win a decisive victory, Salcedo lifted the siege on February 19, 1813, and turned toward San Antonio de Bexar. The rebels controlled the presidio until July or August 1813, when José Joaquín de Arredondo led royalist troops in retaking all of Texas. Henry Perry, a member of the Republican Army of the North, led forces back to Texas in 1817 and attempted to recapture La Bahia. The Spanish reinforced the presidio with soldiers from San Antonio, and defeated Perry's forces on June 18 near Coleto Creek.
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| Entering the presidio |
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| Artifacts recovered at the site |
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| More artifacts |
The area was invaded again in 1821. The United States and Spain had signed the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819, which ceded all US territorial claims on the Texas area to Spain. On October 4, the Long Expedition (with 52 members) captured La Bahia. Four days later, Colonel Ignacio Pérez arrived with troops from Bexar, and Long surrendered. By the end of 1821, Mexico had achieved its independence from Spain, and Texas became part of the newly created country.
La Bahia was soon "the only fortress for the entire Gulf Coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the Mississippi River". The presidio was at the crossroads of several major trade and military routes. It quickly became one of the three most important areas in Texas, alongside Béxar and Nacogdoches.
In 1829, the name of the Mexican Texas village of La Bahía was changed to "Goliad", believed to be an anagram of Hidalgo (omitting the silent initial "H"), in honor of the patriot priest Miguel Hidalgo, the father of the Mexican War of Independence.
On October 9, 1835, in the early days of the Texas Revolution, a group of Anglo-American immigrants attacked the presidio in the Battle of Goliad. The Mexican garrison quickly surrendered, leaving the Anglo-Americans in control of the fort. The first declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas was signed here on December 20, 1835.
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| Catholic church still in use at the presidio |
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| They have mass every Sunday evening |
After Santa Anna learned a force of Texas rebels was heading toward Matamoros, he sent General Urrea to make his way north to Matamoros and then to march north along the coast of Texas to stop them. Urrea arrived in Matamoros and worked to secure cooperation from the local inhabitants on January 31, 1836. Meanwhile, Sam Houston had persuaded all but 70 to 100 men and their leaders, Frank W. Johnson and James Grant, to give up on the expedition and to defend locations in Texas, principally Goliad. On February 12, 1836, Colonel James Fannin took most of the men to defend Presidio La Bahía at Goliad, which he renamed "Fort Defiance".
On February 16, 1836, Urrea crossed the Rio Grande with 188 cavalry and 205 infantry. He recruited about 200 Tejano volunteers from the area, including some previously sympathetic to the Texans, to join him.
At 3:00 a.m. on February 27, 1836, Urrea's advance patrol surprised Johnson and about 45 men, initiating the Battle of San Patricio, where Urrea's force killed 16 and took 24 prisoners. Johnson and four others escaped in the darkness and rejoined Fannin's command at Goliad where they retold a story, which they first told at a ranch where they had taken refuge after the escape, that all the prisoners had been executed. Urrea had sent 18 of the prisoners to Matamoros where they were sentenced to death but were later released. This news persuaded Fannin to abandon any further attempt to send relief to the Alamo or to try to secure badly needed supplies waiting at Matagorda but to prepare Presidio La Bahía at Goliad for defense against the advancing Mexican Army.
On March 2, at the Battle of Agua Dulce, Grant was killed, as were about 20 other men under his command.
On March 6, the Mexican force under Santa Anna stormed the Alamo and killed the garrison.
On March 14, Colonel William Ward and 200 men, who had been sent to help Captain Amon B. King evacuate colonists at Refugio, were surrounded by Urrea's force. Although Ward and his men fled that night during a blinding rainstorm, the Mexicans overtook part of Ward's force, killing 18 and capturing 31.
King and a group were executed on March 16 at Refugio, but some 15 to 18 prisoners were marched to Goliad to serve as blacksmiths or mechanics.
After capturing one of Fannin's messengers with dispatches that told of his plan to wait at Goliad then retreat after King and Ward returned, Urrea ordered the execution of 30 prisoners he decided were mercenaries, but freed over 20 others he determined to be Mexicans or colonists so he would not be hindered by taking prisoners along on his advance on Fannin's force.
On March 19, Urrea had quickly advanced and surrounded 300 men of the Texan Army on the open prairie, near La Bahia (Goliad). The two-day Battle of Coleto ensued, with the Texans holding their own on the first day. However, the Mexicans received overwhelming reinforcements and heavy artillery. In this critical predicament, Fannin and the majority of the men voted to surrender the Texan forces on March 20. Led to believe that they would be paroled and released into the United States, they were returned to the fort at Goliad, now their prison.
The Mexicans took the Texans back to Goliad, where they were held as prisoners at Fort Defiance (Presidio La Bahia). The Texans thought they would likely be set free in a few weeks. Urrea departed Goliad, leaving Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla in command. Urrea wrote to Santa Anna to ask for clemency for the Texans. Santa Anna refused and ordered their immediate execution.
Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Portilla had between 425 and 445 Texans marched out of Fort Defiance in three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road, between two rows of Mexican soldiers; they were shot point blank, wounded survivors were clubbed and knifed to death.
Forty Texans were unable to walk. Thirty-nine were killed inside the fort under the direction of Captain Carolino Huerta of the Tres Villas battalion, with Colonel Garay saving one, Jack Shackelford. Fannin was the last to be executed, after seeing his men killed. Aged 32, he was taken by Mexican soldiers to the courtyard in front of the chapel, blindfolded, and seated in a chair (due to his leg wound from the battle). He made three requests: that his personal possessions be sent to his family, to be shot in the heart and not the face, and to be given a Christian burial. The soldiers took his belongings, shot him in the face, and burned his body along with those of the other Texans who died that day.
Owing to the intervention of Francita Alavez (the "Angel of Goliad") 20 men were spared to act as doctors, interpreters, or workers. The massive number of Texan prisoner-of-war casualties throughout the Goliad Campaign led to Goliad being called a "massacre" by Texan forces.
After the executions, the Texans' bodies were piled and burned. Their charred remains were left in the open, unburied, and exposed to vultures and coyotes. Nearly one month later, word reached La Bahia (Goliad) that Santa Anna had been defeated and surrendered while trying to flee at the Battle of San Jacinto.
On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston and some 800 Texans defeated Santa Anna’s Mexican force of approximately 1,500 men at the Battle of San Jacinto, shouting “Remember the Alamo!” and "Remember Goliad!" as they attacked. The victory ensured the success of Texan independence: In mid-May, Santa Anna, who had been taken prisoner during the battle, signed a peace treaty at Velasco, Texas, in which he recognized Texas’ independence in exchange for his freedom.
General Thomas J. Rusk found the remains of the massacre victims in June 1836 and gave orders for a formal military funeral. The remains were interred at the location southeast of the Presidio la Bahia where the Fannin Memorial Monument now stands. The whereabouts of the gravesite was forgotten until years later when human bone fragments were discovered by a group of boys.
In 1939, the Fannin Memorial Monument was erected at the gravesite. It features an art deco relief sculpture and the names of the men who were slain.
Goliad State Park is a nice park. They have a loop that has full hook-ups for $25 a night plus some other daily fees unless you have a state park pass. We are staying in the loop that is water/electricity. It is $20 a night. They will also do monthly rentals during the winter months that range from $450-$600 monthly. They are level sites and the full hook-up sites are all pull-ins. Mr. W says the bathrooms are old but clean and very functional.
Goliad is short on restaurants. We arrived at 1:30 and were set up by 2:00 and set out to have lunch. Dairy Queen and Whataburger were our choices. We decided to drive 9 miles to Fannin, TX to eat barbecue. Big mistake. McMillan Barbecue was H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. It was so bad that I had to ask for different meat because the brisket they originally served me could not be cut with a knife and I could not bite through it with my teeth. The next batch of meat was not any better. There was one slice that I could eat in the first batch and one slice I could eat in the second batch. Mr. W ordered a sliced brisket sandwich and his was almost as bad. It was also very expensive. HOWEVER, the people there were very nice and ended up telling us that they weren't going to charge us. They said they had been very busy and were sorry. They asked us to please come back and give them another try. As I said, they were very nice, but I won't be going back.
So, there you go. Goliad is full of Texas history. Go visit.
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