This book offers extensive research of what and why American prisoners were slaughtered in the fight of Texas' independence from Mexico. Presenting a historical background of Texas and Mexican history as well as the factors that led to the massacre, the author pays particular attention to the leadership on both sides during the revolution and deglamorizes the fight against Santa Anna's army while acknowledging the Mexican perspective.

Accounts of survivors of the Goliad Massacre during the Texas Revolution

Firsthand accounts of survivors of the Goliad Massacre of March 1836, a pivotal part of the Texas Revolution.

When Sam Houston's revolutionary soldiers won the Battle of San Jacinto and secured independence for Texas, their battle cry was "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" Everyone knows about the Alamo, but far fewer know about the stirring events at Goliad. Craig Roell's lively new study of Goliad brings to life this most important Texas community. Though its population has never exceeded two thousand, Goliad has been an important site of Texas history since Spanish colonial days. It is the largest town in the county of the same name, which was one of the original counties of Texas created in 1836 and was named for the vast territory that was governed as the municipality of Goliad under the Republic of Mexico. Goliad offers one of the most complete examples of early Texas courthouse squares, and has been listed as a historic preservation district on the National Register. But the sites that forever etched this sleepy Texas town into historical consciousness are those made infamous by two of the most controversial episodes of the entire Texas Revolution—the Fannin Battleground at nearby Coleto Creek, and Nuestra Señora de Loreto (popularly called Presidio La Bahía), site of the Goliad Massacre on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836. This book tells the sad tale of James Fannin and his men who fought the Mexican forces, surrendered with the understanding that they would be treated as prisoners of war, and then under orders from Santa Anna were massacred. Like the men who died for Texas independence at the Alamo, the nearly 350 men who died at Goliad became a rallying cry. Both tragic stories became part of the air Texans breathe, but the same process that elevated Crockett, Bowie, Travis, and their Alamo comrades to heroic proportions has clouded Fannin in mystery and shadow. In Remember Goliad!, Craig Roell tells the history of the region and the famous battle there with clarity and precision. This exciting story is handsomely illustrated in a popular edition that will be of interest to scholars, students, and teachers.

In this thoroughly researched account of the Battle of Coleto and subsequent massacre of Texian soldiers at the Presido La Bahía near the settlement of Goliad, Texas, author David E. Garlock describes the capture and brutal massacre of Colonel James Fannin's soldiers by the Mexican Army. While stationed at La Bahía, Col. Fannin--known to be stubborn and unpredictable, treating direct orders like suggestions--delayed for a crucial week after receiving orders from Sam Houston to quickly abandon the presidio. This allowed time for Mexican General José de Urrea's forces to secretly track Fannin's men and follow them until they were too far from the presidio to return. Thoroughly unprepared and caught in an open field, the outnumbered Texians were surrounded and forced to surrender. The captured men didn't realize their fate when Mexican soldiers divided them into three groups and began marching them down separate roads toward Victoria, San Antonio de Bexar, and San Patricio. Expecting to be freed, the men were suddenly told to kneel and were executed on orders from General Santa Anna--just a month before the war came to an end at San Jacinto. In a compelling and careful retelling of this narrative, Garlock weaves archival research with the diaries, memoirs, and correspondence of decision-makers and foot soldiers on both sides into a detailed history. Many blamed Urrea for reneging on an agreement with Fannin to parole the Texians back to the United States. However, a "secret" surrender document lay hidden for nearly a century. Signed by both Fannin and Urrea--it specified a "surrender at discretion," meaning no such guarantee of life was made. Three Roads to Death offers new perspectives and sets the record straight on the worst massacre in Texas history.

Remember Goliad! was as famous a rallying cry during the Texas Revolution as Remember the Alamo! Despite the disparity in casualties (Goliads were over twice those of the Alamo), relatively little is remembered about the grisly massacre of an estimated 490 Texan and American prisoners of war by order of Santa Anna on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1865. Killing Fannin is not only about the execution of the Texas commander at Goliad. It is a recounting of the decisions leading to his defeat by a superior Mexican army. Overriding Fannins death is the tragic, cruel massacre of his men, most of them volunteers from the US who cared enough for Texan independence that they fought and lost their lives for it. Remember Goliad!