The Goliad Massacre (27 March 1836) was the execution of 350 to 400 Texians, of the garrison of Fort Defiance at Goliad, by the Mexican Army under orders from Mexican President and General Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794 to 1876). General José de Urrea (1797 to 1849) was commanding the troops who had defeated the forces of Texian Colonel James W. Fannin (1804 to 1836) at the Battle of Coleto (19 to 20 March 1836) and was in charge of the prisoners between then and 27 March, but Urrea disagreed with Santa Anna's policy of executing prisoners of war and so left it to his senior staff, chiefly Colonel José Nicolás de las Portilla, to deal with the prisoners.

Prior to this, between 27 February and 14 March, Urrea had sent prisoners of war under guard to Matamoros, refusing to kill them. At Goliad, however, although Urrea ordered Portilla to treat the prisoners well (especially Fannin), Portilla chose to follow Santa Anna's directive and had the Texian prisoners executed. Out of the 350 to 400, 28 survived by feigning death or managing to escape, others were rescued by Francita Alavez, the "Angel of Goliad," and another 20 were spared because they were considered useful to the cause of the Mexican army as doctors, interpreters, or laborers.

The Goliad Massacre and the Battle of the Alamo would become central to the victory of General Sam Houston (1795 to 1863) over Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto on 21 April 1836. Rallying his men with the cry, "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!", Houston won the battle in 18 minutes and, in so doing, won the independence of Texas.

Although conflict between Texians and the Mexican government began with the Anahuac Disturbances of 1832 and 1835, the Texas Revolution began with the Battle of Gonzales on 2 October 1835. Between October and December of that year, the Texians won every engagement. On 10 October, the Texians took the Presidio La Bahía near Goliad, renaming it Fort Defiance. Between 4 and 5 November, Texian forces under Philip Dimmitt (1801 to 1841) took Fort Lipantitlán. Dimmitt had earlier proposed a strike against the Mexican port of Matamoros. Now that he had Lipantitlán, however, he no longer felt that taking Matamoros was necessary. By December, he had changed his mind, encouraging others to take part in the attack, and various plans for a Matamoros Expedition were exchanged among the Texian command. James Grant (1793 to 1836) and Frank W. Johnson (1799 to 1884) were to lead the expedition, but differences within the command structure led to Colonel Fannin also being appointed to command.

After Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos (1800 to 1854) surrendered the Alamo after the Siege of Béxar (12 October to 11 December 1835) and left the region, many Texians believed the war was over and went home. Many others, however, did not. Volunteers were still stationed at the Alamo in San Antonio de Béxar, at Fort Defiance in Goliad, at Lipantitlán, and elsewhere. Grant and Johnson recruited men from these posts, taking 200 from the garrison at the Alamo and others from Goliad.

Sam Houston rejected the Matamoros Expedition as costly and unnecessary, arguing that Santa Anna would no doubt return to take Texas, and all available troops should be deployed to defend the positions won since October 1835. In early February 1836, Houston convinced many of the men under Grant and Johnson to abandon the Matamoros campaign, which they did. They then fell under Colonel Fannin's command, and he marched them from Refugio back to Fort Defiance at Goliad. Grant and Johnson were still determined to go on to Matamoros.

Santa Anna had heard of the Matamoros Expedition, however, and sent General José de Urrea to stop it. Prior to sending Urrea out, Santa Anna had secured from the Mexican Congress the Tornel Decree of 30 December 1835, which defined anyone who had taken up arms against Mexico a "land pirate" to be executed without due process of law. Santa Anna then issued this directive to his officers – including Urrea – ordering them to take no prisoners.

Urrea defeated Johnson's command at the Battle of San Patricio on 27 February 1836, and Grant was killed at the Battle of Agua Dulce on 2 March, ending the Matamoros enterprise. All that plan had accomplished was to bring General Urrea to Texas, and, so far, he had won both engagements and recruited more men. This is not to say Urrea would not have marched on Texas without the Matamoros Expedition, but that was the immediate catalyst. He now marched on toward Goliad, where, as he had been informed, a large Texian army was garrisoned at Fort Defiance.

While Urrea was marching up the coast, Santa Anna had arrived in San Antonio de Béxar on 23 February and laid siege to the Alamo under the command of William Barret Travis (1809 to 1836) and James "Jim" Bowie (1796 to 1836). The Alamo was severely undermanned – in large part due to the removal of the 200 volunteers taken by Johnson – and Travis wrote to Fannin for reinforcements.

Fannin had attended West Point for two years before dropping out following an altercation with a fellow cadet that led to a duel. By 1834, he was in Texas, making a living in the slave trade and establishing a large plantation. Fannin took part in almost all the major engagements of the Texas Revolution in the fall of 1835 and was commissioned a colonel in the regular army that December. Although he had at first welcomed command of a post, once he had been given Goliad, he did not find the responsibility to his liking. According to scholar J. R. Edmondson (and others), on 14 February 1836, Fannin wrote to Lieutenant Governor Robinson:

I do not desire any command, and particularly that of chief. I feel, I know, if you and the Council do not, that I am incompetent. Fortune, and brave soldiers, may favor me and save the State, and establish for me a reputation far beyond my desserts. I do not covet, and I do earnestly ask of you, and any real friend, to relieve me, and make a selection of one possessing all the requisites of a commander.

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Fannin received Travis' letters but had not been ordered by any higher authority to relieve the Alamo and so did not respond on 23 February. He finally moved out with around 320 men on either 25 or 26 February, but his wagons broke down, the oxen wandered off, the men had forgotten to bring along provisions, and they had little ammunition. Fannin ordered his command to abort the mission and return to Fort Defiance. The Battle of the Alamo was fought on the morning of 6 March 1836 and fell with a loss of all the defenders.

Houston, meanwhile, had sent orders for Fannin to march and join with the army at Victoria, but Fannin had learned of the Mexican victories at San Patricio and Agua Dulce and understood that Urrea was marching toward Goliad. Not wanting to be caught out in the open, Fannin delayed responding to Houston's orders. He then heard that Texian families were being harassed by Mexican militia at Refugio and so sent Captain Amon B. King to evacuate them.

King ignored his orders and, instead, engaged with the Mexican militia. His forces were routed, and he retreated to the mission at Refugio, sending word to Fannin for help. Fannin sent Lt. Colonel William Ward to assist, which he did, but King refused to recognize his authority and continued the conflict with the militia. Urrea arrived, captured and executed King, and tracked down Ward's men, who were taken prisoner and rounded up by 22 March.

Urrea disagreed with the Tornel Decree and, at San Patricio and Agua Dulce, spared those who surrendered and sent them as prisoners to Matamoros. At Refugio, however, he ordered the Texians to be marched back to Goliad because, by the 22nd, he had won the Battle of Coleto, and Fort Defiance was now a prison under Mexican guard.

Fannin had waited for the return of King and Ward for as long as he could and finally left on the road to Victoria on 19 March. He was met by Urrea's forces, caught out in the open just as he had feared, and ordered his men to form a square for defense. They held their position near the Coleto Creek until the 20th, when, running low on ammunition and out of water, they surrendered and were marched back to Goliad.

Fannin had surrendered at Coleto with the understanding that he and his men would be "at the disposal of the Supreme Mexican Government" but had been assured that, as prisoners of war, they would be treated with all due respect and, after laying down their arms, would be returned home. Urrea offered these assurances to end the battle quickly before there were any more casualties, as he was sure that if the Texians knew of the Tornel Decree, they would have fought to the last man.

General Urrea wrote to Santa Anna requesting clemency for the Goliad garrison, but this was refused. Urrea left Goliad under the command of Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla, and on 26 March, Santa Anna wrote Portilla, ordering him to execute the prisoners. Portilla had already received orders from Urrea to spare them, but Santa Anna outranked Urrea, and so Portilla, after struggling with the decision, chose to obey Santa Anna.

The prisoners had been assured they would soon be allowed to return home and, on the evening of 26 March, sang "Home, Sweet Home" after dinner. At sunrise on 27 March 1836, Palm Sunday, the garrison was roused and told to prepare to leave Fort Defiance. They were given various reasons for the early wake-up, including that some of them were needed to gather wood, others were to be sent to the Port of Copano for deportation to New Orleans, and some were to find and return wayward cattle.

The prisoners were divided into three columns. One was marched up the Béxar Road toward the San Antonio River, another was marched down the Victoria Road, and the third was taken down the San Patricio Road. The columns were flanked by two rows of heavily armed Mexican soldiers. At a certain point, about a mile's march from Fort Defiance, a halt was called, the line of soldiers on the right of the column marched around to join with the line on the left, and, at the shout from the officers, the soldiers shot the prisoners.

Of the 350 to 400, 24 managed to escape from the slaughter on the first two roads, while only four from the San Patricio Road. Back at Fort Defiance, the wounded were brought out and executed by firing squad in the courtyard. Fannin was forced to watch these executions before his time came. He asked that he be shot in the heart, that his personal belongings be returned to his family, and that he be given a Christian burial. He was shot in the face, his possessions taken and distributed, and he was burned along with all the others on a pyre.

Those who survived the Goliad Massacre, aside from the ones who either escaped or played dead, owed their lives to the intercession of Francita Alavez (circa 1816 to circa 1906), the "Angel of Goliad", who was the wife of Captain Telesforo Alavez. Francita was responsible for suggesting that some be spared as interpreters, doctors, and laborers, and also was able to hide some of the men prior to the massacre. Colonel Francisco Garay supported her and ensured these men were spared.

The fall of the Alamo and the Goliad Massacre sparked the Runaway Scrape in which Texians and Tejanos fled en masse toward the east to escape the advance of the Mexican army. Houston, who had gathered up a small army waiting for Fannin at Gonzales, retreated north, with Santa Anna following.

Santa Anna believed his brutal treatment of the Alamo defenders and the execution of Fannin and his men at Goliad would demoralize the Texians and put an end to the Texas Revolution. He was wrong. The Goliad Massacre outraged the Texians as well as citizens of the United States. Houston's army swelled with recruits who wanted to avenge their friends, neighbors, and brothers-in-arms.

On 21 April 1836, General Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, rallying his men with the cry, "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" The battle was over in 18 minutes. Santa Anna was captured and later forced to sign the Treaties of Velasco, granting Texas its independence.

On 3 June 1836, General Thomas J. Rusk (1803 to 1857) came to Goliad, gathered the remains of the fallen garrison, and buried them with full military honors. Today, this is the site of the Fannin Memorial Monument, which was commissioned in 1936 for the Texas Centennial and dedicated on 4 June 1938.

Although the Alamo stands out as the most dramatic and memorable engagement of the Texas Revolution, the Goliad Massacre was equally important, as it characterized Santa Anna as not only heartless but also duplicitous. Survivors of the Goliad Massacre testified to how they had been told they would be released and, instead, unarmed, were slaughtered. This outrage, as much as the fall of the Alamo, drove the men who made up Sam Houston's army at San Jacinto and won Texian independence.