Goliad, Scene of Texas' Darkest Easter 96 Years Ago.

Goliad, Scene of Texas'
Darkest Easter 96 Years Ago.
By W. A. Ownby.

San Antonio Express newspaper, March 27, 1932, Sunday.
Easter Sunday 96 years ago was the darkest of all the dark days in the long and bloody struggle of the Texas Volunteer army for freedom and independence from the tyrannical military rule and despotism of the Mexican government.
The day was marked by a tragedy that shocked the entire civilized world.
Already the defenders of the Alamo had been massacred, but they gave up their lives in open battle with the enemy where they had a chance, although a poor one, to fight their way to freedom through the lines of the Mexican hordes. Their compatriots at the old town of Goliad were not given such an opportunity.
At the break of dawn on Easter Sunday, March 27, 1836, when the La Bahía mission bells of Goliad rang out their joyous peans of praise they sounded the death knell for Colonel W. J. Fannin and more than three hundred of his brave and intrepid followers who were marched out to an open prairie and lined up in front of a firing squad under orders of General Santa Anna, military chieftain of Mexico.
Little dreaming of the fate that awaited them, the followes of Colonel Fannin, who were imprisoned in the Mission La Bahía, spent the last night before their massacre singing "Home, Sweet Home," and looking forward with happy anticipation to the dawning of Easter when it was understood they were to be started on the way to their homes in the Eastern States. While these brave spirits were thus engaged, they did not know they were spending their last night on earth and that before the going down of another sun they would hold rendezvous with death. At the hour when they were having the greatest merriment over the thoughts of going home General Santa Anna was issuing secret orders for their execution at sunrise the next morning.
As the first streaks of dawn began to tinge the eastern horizon with golden hues on the anniversary of the resurrection morning a bugle was sounded and the imprisoned men were ordered to fall in line. Believing that they were to be sent to the port of Velasco under military escort, as they had been promised, the men took their places in line with quick steps and high spirits. One of the conditions of their surrender to the Mexican forces a few days before was that they would be safely escorted to Velasco and there placed aboard a vessel for transportation to their homes in the East. With this hope uppermost in their minds they began the death march. The first realization of their impending fate came when they were lined up a short distance from the mission and a firing squad faced them.
One of the men, guessing the truth, is said to have exclaimed, "Boys, I believe they are going to shoot us." The men were then lined up in three rows of one hundred each and shot to death. 2.
During the execution a few of the prisoners escaped the slaughter by their fleetness of foot. Colonel Fannin was the last to die. He met his fate like a true solider, requesting that he be shot in the breast and not in the head. He tied a hnadkerchilf over his eyes and bared his breast to the executioners. The rifles cracked and the last of three hundred and forty-nine men lay silent in death.
After the prisoners had been executed their bodies were stripped and thrown into piles to be burned. Many of the bodies were only partially consumed. The bones of the martyrs were left at the scene of the funeral pyre until the following September when General Rusk and his company were detailed to gather up and bury all that remained of the massacred Texans. The place of burial is still a subject of controversy, but is supposed to be where the massacre occurred. Niety-two years after the massacre Goliad County authorities located the grave of Colonel Fannin and it has been marked with a suitable monument. But regardless of where the bones of these brave spirts may repose the memory of their supreme sacrifice in the cause of Texas independence will live throughout the endless ages.
Little is known of Colonel Fannin after he came to Texas. He was a native of Georgia and when he decided to cast his fortunes with the Texans in their struggle for liberty he left a wife and children behind. He considered Brazoria County his home and for a time was manager of a large plantation in that county. If he ever moved his family to Texas, history does not record that fact.
Colonel Fannin was authorized on Dec. 5, 1835, to collect what troops he could from the mouth of the Brazos, or any part of Texas, and concentrate them at or near the Port of Copano. He was delayed first in reaching Copano and then Goliad. He orgainzed his command into bodies called the La Fayette and Georgia battalions.
On Saturday night, March 26, 1836, brave, unfortunate Fannin talked with much fondness of his wife and children until late hour, little dreaming that by high noon on the morrow his soul would pass the veil and stand in the light of eternity.
Of the 409 of Fannin's command 349 were murdered, 34 were saved and 26 escaped.
Captain Uriah J. Bullock's company in Fannin;s command, 26 in number, were massacred. Another detachment was destroyed at San Patricio Feb. 27, 1836; Dr. Grant's forces on Agua Dulce on March 2; the Alamo fell in March . Then the slaughter of Goliad on March 27. These came in such rapid succession that it almost paralyzed General Sam Houston in getting enough men together to resist in the invasion of Texas.
The desperate struggle of Colonel Fannin and his men against overwhelming odds, their capture and execution comprise one of the most tragic and thrilling chapters recorded in the history of the fight for Texas independence.
In November, 1835, the Texas Volunteer Army had captured San Antonio from the Mexicans under General Cos. The Texas army then disbanded and many of the men returned to their homes. During this time a Dr. Grant is said to have started a movement with the 3.
invasion of Mexico as its objective. There were many protests, but to no avail. The march toward the west was started, only a small garrsion being left in charge of the Alamo. Colonel Fannin was one of the leaders of the contemplated invasion of Mexico with Matamoras as his destination. In the meantime Dr. Grant was captured at Agua Dulce and put to death by the Mexicans. The manner of his death was perhaps one of the most brutal of any ever perpetrated by the Mexicans. It is recorded by one historian that a wild horse was captured and to his tail and hind feet Dr. Grant was tied. The animal was turned loose and dashed wildy across the prairie. Dr. Grant was dragged to death.
About this time Colonel Fannin abandoned his proposed march to Matamoras and began concentrating his troops at Goliad. After obtaining provisions for his men, Colonel Fannin began an eastward march, hoping to reach the coast or form a juncture with Sam Houston on the Brazos. While camped near the town of Fannin the Texans were attacked by the Mexicans under General Urrea and after a desperate fight Colonel Fannin surrendered. The terms of the surrender included the promise of a safe escort to the Mexican Gulf coast where they were to be placed aboard vessels bound for the States. The prisoners were marched to Goliad and locked in the church of the Mission La Bahía. The agreement to send them back to the States was never fulfilled. It is recorded that on Saturday night, March 26, General Santa Anna issued secret orders for the prisoners to be shot.
Besides a State park that has been established near the town of Fannin in Goliad County in memory of Colonel Fannin and his men, the heroic sacrifice of their lives for the freedom of Texas is further commemorated by the erection of a monument in the City Park at Goliad and one in the Battlefield Park. The monment in the City Park is a 33-foot marble shaft upon a granite base.