Several years ago, we drove west to Houston to visit a sick family member. On impulse, and because we might not have another opportunity, we decided we should take in some of the historical sites in Texas. These, of course, consist mainly of places that figured in the Texas Revolution of 1835-36. There was the Sam Houston Monument in Houston and from its enormous height we looked down upon the US Battleship TEXAS resting in the estuary below. If any national hero emerges as so complex and contradictory a figure as Sam Houston , I have yet to hear of it (though Aaron Burr would be a close second). Sam was complex to say the least. And so is the story of Texas’ struggle to free itself from Mexico- the same Mexico which had so recently won its own independence from Spain.
But we were digging deeper and headed further south, toward the cattle country of south Texas and to the little city of Goliad. It is the site of an old “presidio” a mission and fort not unlike the Alamo. Part of a series of forts planned to defend Spain’s Latin American colonies and trade routes across Mexico, its importance declined in the eighteenth century and was only a minor military outpost under the new Mexican government. That changed in 1835 when Texians- mostly Americans who had settled in the Mexican state that would become Texas- revolted against the government that had offered generous land grants to entice settlers -the same government whose constitution forbade slavery while turning a blind eye to its practice among the settlers arriving from the southern US states. Commerce in slaves attracted capitalist adventurers like West Point drop-out, James Fannin from Georgia. In fact Texians, as they called themselves, were mostly immigrants from the southern states. Many were no more than refugees from the tedium of life in the cotton belt, where wealthy slave-owning planters shaped government and the economy for their own purposes.
Volunteers from many southern states flocked to Texas to help win independence. Some like Davy Crockett felt confined by too much settlement and too many debts. He had fought in the Indian wars with Andrew Jackson and served as the first example of the true westerner in the U.S. Congress. Gifted at self promotion and skillful at storytelling, he was admired universally -except perhaps by his creditors. James Bowie was a famous “Indian fighter”. William “Buck” Travis, Sam Houston and many of those who rallied to the cause of Texas were familiar names back in their home states. Some left those states to escape controversy.
One company of volunteers arrived from Georgia, mostly men from the western counties of the state where planter politics and planter economics had squeezed many of them out. The prospect of land grants and glory were perhaps in the minds of some. A Georgia girl is said to have created their unit flag -one that bore a single star and possibly inspired the future design of the flag of the “Lone Star” state. With other volunteers, they concentrated at La Bahia as Santa Anna moved his well organized federal army into the Mexican state of Taxia to crush the rebels.
Everyone knows the story of the siege of the Alamo , but few seem to recollect the disaster that played out near La Bahia. Ordered to come to the aid of the beleaguered defenders at the Alamo, Fannin learned of the fall of the Alamo and attempted to withdraw from Presidio La Bahia. Caught in the open by a superior Mexican force, Fannin was forced to surrender his first command. What followed was worse than defeat. Held inside the Presidio overnight, the captives were taken out the following morning into surrounding patches of open ground and unceremoniously shot. Fannin alone was executed inside the fort. Several men escaped and lived to tell this awful tale, one that would inspire at least part of the famous battle cry of the Texian army under Sam Houston when they were victorious over Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at San Jacinto: “Remember the Alamo; Remember Goliad!
Much has been written about Goliad and Fannin, part of the great literature about Texas, its Revolution and the events that led to its inclusion in the United States and -for a time-in the Confederate States of America. Is Texas the only state to have once been an independent country? There are New Englanders who might contest that claim. There are other footnotes to the story that are inspiring. One involves the debt incurred to Georgia when Georgia’s governor provided arms for volunteers from his state who departed to fight in Texas. Georgia celebrated its bicentennial in the 1930’s, just as Texas observed the 100 anniversary of its independence. Some sources say that the Texas governor sent a letter to the Georgia Governor offering to repay Georgia for those vital arms. The Georgia governor suggested instead that Texas use the money to build a memorial to those Georgians who died at Goliad -and this was done.
One last detail that stuck with us: the chapel that was built as part of La Bahia continues to serve as the local Catholic Church for the Goliad parish. It is lovely and brimming with history and historical artifacts. There is a very nice museum nearby within the Presidio. Outside stands a statue of the wife of one of the the Mexican officers. She pleaded for the humane treatment of the prisoners. Appeals to Santa Anna availed them nothing. Recalling her voice of reason echoes the fact that many who served Santa Anna were intelligent, compassionate and cultured people caught up in a drama orchestrated by the ego maniacal Santa Anna.
Thanks for this very interesting story. I always enjoy the history you provide.
Joe, you are a wonderful writer. You make history fascinating. I did not know anything about the Texas “wars”. Thank you. And also even more fascinating is the comments and references to the economic controls of the planter class at that time. Not unlike politics of today – so much is so wrong… It is a good lesson for me. Thank you for sharing this great story. I love reading your posts. Please keep it up. You write so well – I think it must take a great deal of time to finalize your post. I much appreciate your writings.
Hi Marnette,
Thanks, again. I hope you noticed I have created a new category, “Connections.” In it I follow threads that connect seemingly unrelated topics. Its fun to do and puts to good use the amount of study and reading I have devoted to southern history over the years. Hope you will help me reach more readers by re-posting my articles, especially Facebook.
Joe
I have forwarded your articles in email to others.
But I do not know how to post your articles on my facebook page.
Do I just copy and paste the link to the article in FB?
If you would please tell me I sure will.
I love your writings!
Thanks. I believe you are correct-copy and paste the link for any particular story, or use my account at longleafjournal,com to sse a list of all my posts. I am not the best at the technology, still I have about five thousand readers.