Unknown
to Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr., General Santa Anna overruled the
surrender agreement made by General Urrea. Santa Anna declared it
was a “war to the death” and ordered execution of all captives.
On
Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Fannin’s men were marched in file
formation in three lines to a peach orchard adjoining the Presidio.
They were shot at close range and bayoneted by Mexican soldiers.
About fifty tried to escape by running for cover and jumping into the
San Antonio River. They were targets for Mexican sharpshooters.
Only one or two survived to tell the gruesome story.
Following
execution of his 342 men, guards brought Colonel Fannin, strapped to
a chair and blind-folded, into the courtyard at the Presidio. He was
shot.
Bodies
of the massacred soldiers were stirpped, piled in a large heap in a
field outside the Presidio, with Colonel Fannin’s body at the top.
A bonfire was lighted and the bodies burned.
Of
the 343 men killed that day, 141 of them were former Georgians. They
had gone to Texas to claim land and make homes. They became martyrs
in the Texas War for Independence.
Called
the darkest day in Texas history, the Goliad massacre of Palm Sunday,
March 27, 1836, succeeded in adding one more rallying battle cry to
the Texans’ repertoire. “Remember Goliad!” Combined with
“Remember the Alamo!” this new cry spurred patriotism and
determination.
Amazingly,
only one month after the massacre at Goliad, on April 21, 1836,
General Santa Anna met defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto. That
battle lasted only fifteen minutes.
Texas
became a free republic. A little more than nine years later, on
December 29, 1945, Texas was annexed as a state in the United States
of America.
Today,
visitors to the Alamo, Goliad, Fannin and Coleto Creek see these
places and wonder at the sacrifices in suffering and blood that
earned Texas its independence. The museums and monuments, programs
and printed guides give mute evidence of the price paid for Texas’
liberty.
At
Goliad, a monument and cannon honor Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr,
Hero of Goliad. At Presidio la Bahia, visitors cans see the rooms
where Fannin and his men were captives. Nearby, a huge granite stone
bears the names of the 343 men who were massacred, burned, then
buried in a common grave when their charred remains were interred on
June 3, 1836. A solemn pageant is held yearly on or near March 27 to
honor these men.
In
the town of Goliad at the Corner Souvenir Shop, we met and talked to
Dorothy Simmons, a mover and shaker behind the pageant held each
March to commemorate the massacre at Goliad. In her, we found a
kindred spirit, a history-lover, one who appreciates and honors those
who pledged and gave “their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
honor” for the cause of freedom.
Even
the leaves of “The Hanging Tree” on the lawn at the Goliad County
Courthouse whispered a rustle of peace to us, a testimony to a young
man from Georgia, who, at the age of 32, gave the supreme sacrifice
for the freedom of Texas.
After
our trek into Texas history, I have a greater appreciation for
Colonel James Walker Fannin, Jr., Fannin County’s namesake. I hope
his story gives you a sense of pride and patriotism, too.
[©2015.
Ethelene Dyer Jones. First published in The
News Observer, Blue
Ridge, Georgia, August 19, 1992, Section A, Page 4.]
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