ANALYSIS. A courier despatched by Fannin to hasten the return of the detachment shared the same fate. Ward and his party. 1. Colonel 11. 'No tidings having arrived from King, Fannin despatched a second and larger detachment towards Refugio, under Colonel Ward, the second in command at Goliad. Ward had two engagements with the Mexicans, in the first of which he was victorious; in the second he was over2. Situation powered by numbers, and forced to surrender. With his His retreat force now reduced to 275 effective men, Fannin was in Victoria danger of being overwhelmed by the division of Urrea, of Fannin. whose cavalry was seen within a few miles of Goliad on the 17th of March. Still hoping, however, that Ward would come in, Fannin lingered until the morning of the March 18. 18th, when he crossed the river, and commenced a retreat towards Victoria.* 3. Surrounded by the enemy. p. 644.) repulsed. attack. 12. About two o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, he was overtaken and surrounded on an open prairie a. (See Map, by the enemy's cavalry, which was soon after joined by 4. The enemy a body of infantry, and some Campeachy Indians. "The Texans, forming themselves into a hollow square, facing outwards, successfully resisted and repelled all the charges of the enemy until dusk, when Urrea bethought himself 5 Indian of a more successful plan of attack. The Indians were directed to throw themselves into the tall grass, and ap proach as near the Texans as possible. This they did, and crawling within thirty or forty paces, they commenced a destructive fire, which wounded fifty and killed four in the space of an hour; but as soon as the darkness rendered the flashes of their guns visible, they were rapidly picked off by the alertness of the Texans, and driven from Withdrawal the ground. Urrea then withdrew his troops about a quarter of a mile on each side, where they rested on their arms during the night. The Mexican loss, during the day, was estimated at five or six hundred men; while that of the Texans was only seven killed and about sixty wounded. of the Mexicans. 7. Losses on each side. 8 Farther practicable. 9. A surren der agreed upon. 13. During the night the Texans threw up a breastdefence of the Texans im work of earth, and otherwise fortified themselves with their baggage and ammunition wagons as well as possible; but the morning's light discovered that their labor had been in vain. Urrea had received a reenforcement of 500 fresh troops, with a supply of artillery; against which the slight breastwork of the Texans would have furnished no defence. A surrender, therefore, became necessary: a white flag was hoisted, and terms of capitulation were agreed upon and signed by the Mexican and Texan com March 19. Victoria is on the east bank of the Guadalupe, nearly 25 miles N.E. from Goliad. (Ses Map, p. 644.) tion. manders. 'These terms provided that Fannin and his 1836. men should be marched back to Goliad, and treated as 1. Terms of prisoners of war; that the volunteers from the United the capitula States should be sent to New Orleans at the expense of the Mexican government, and that private property should be respected and restored, and the side-arms of officers given up. lation violated. 14. But notwithstanding the capitulation, the truth of 2 The capitu which was afterwards denied by Santa Anna, the Texans, after being marched back to Goliad, were stripped of every article of defence, even to their pocket-knives, and served with an allowance of beef hardly sufficient to support life. After being detained here a week, their number, including those of Ward's detachment, amounting to about 400 men, orders arrived from Santa Anna for their execution; in accordance, as he afterwards declared, with a law of the supreme government.* March 27. 3 Fannin and his men 15. 'On the morning of the 27th of March, this cruel outrage was consummated; two or three medical men, and some privates employed as laborers, being all who were put to death. spared. The prisoners, under the escort of a strong Mexican guard, were taken out of their quarters in four divisions, under various pretexts, and after proceeding about three hundred yards, they were ordered to halt and throw off their blankets and knapsacks. Before they had time to obey the order, without suspecting its object, a fire of musketry was opened upon them, and most of those who escaped the bullets were cut down by the sabres of the According to the account given by General Filisola, an Italian by birth, but then in the Mexican service, and next in authority to the commander-in-chief, Santa Anna gave orders to General Urrea, "that under his most strict responsibility, he should fulfil the orders of government, shooting all the prisoners; and as regards those lately made (Fannin and his men) that he should order the commandant of Goliad to execute them-the same instructions being given to Generals Gaona and Sesma with respect to all found with arms in their hands, and to force those who had not taken up arms, to leave the country." This war was designed, therefore, to exterminate the Texans entirely. After the defeat of the Mexican forces, General Urrea and the other subordinates in command, were anxious to exculpate themselves from the massacre of the prisoners, at the expense of Santa Anna. But General Filisola, who appears to have been a man of honorable feelings, says of Urrea's successes: "For every one of these skirmishes Urrea deserved a court martial, and condign punishment, for having assassinated in them a number of brave soldiers, as he might have obtained the same results without this sacrifice." Santa Anna, when afterwards a prisoner, and reproached with his cruelty to the Texans who had fallen into his power, especially at the Alamo and Goliad, excused himself on the ground that he had acted in obedience to the orders of the Mexican government. To this it was justly replied, that he was that government, and that on him the responsibility of its orders rested. Santa Anna moreover denied that any terms of capitulation had been entered into with the unfortunate Fannin; and he supported his assertion by a summary of General Urrea's official rep, which stated that Fannin surrendered at discretion. On the contrary it is positively maintained by the Texans, and supported by the evidence of three survivors of Fannin's force, that terms of capitulation were agreed upon and signed by the Mexican and Texan conmanders; and there is no reason for supposing that Fannin and his men would have laid down their arms without an understanding that their lives were to be spared. The prisoners were cheered also by repeated promises of speedy liberation, evidently in accordance with the terms of surrender; and General Filisola, in alluding to Urrea's report of their capture, uses the word capitulation, indicating thereby his belief that stipulations had preceded the surrender. But even had Fannin surrendered unconditionally, it would have furnished no palliation for the foul crime with which Santa Anna, as head of the Mexican government, stands charged. ANALYSIS. cavalry. A very few, who were uninjured by the first 1. A fete fire, leaped a fence of brushwood, concealed themselves in a thicket, and, swimming the San Antonio,* succeeded in rejoining their countrymen beyond the Colorado. escape. 2. Refinement related by one of the 16. Such was the refinement of cruelty practised upon of cruelty the prisoners by their unfeeling captors, that, when led unconsciously to execution, their minds were cheered, by specious promises of a speedy liberation, with the thoughts 3. Incident of home. One of the prisoners who escaped relates, that, as the division to which he belonged was complying with survivors. the command of the officer to sit down with their backs to the guard, without suspecting its object, a young man named Fenner, on whose mind first flashed a conviction of the truth, suddenly started to his feet, exclaiming-"Boys, they are going to kill us-die with your faces to them like men." 4. The last request of Fannin. 5. The character of this massacre. the act. 17. 'Fannin, who had been placed apart from his men, was the only one of the prisoners who was apprised of his intended fate. He asked the favor of being shot in the breast, instead of the head, and that his body might be decently interred; but the last request of the gallant soldier was unheeded, and on the following day his body was discovered lying in the prairie, with the fatal wound in hishead. 18. This massacre of Fannin and his brave companions in arms, an act of more than barbarian cruelty, stamps with infamy the government which authorized it, and the officers under whose immediate command it was executed. 8. Impolicy of As a matter of policy, moreover, this systemized butchery of prisoners was an egregious blunder, by which every chance of the establishment of Mexican rule in Texas was utterly swept away. From the hour that the fate of the garrison of the Alámo, and of Fannin and his comrades, was known in the United States, a spirit was awakened among the hardy population of the west, which would never have slumbered while a Mexican soldier remained east of the Rio Grande. 7. The elated hopes of at this period. 19. After the fall of the Alámo, and the capture of Santa Anna Johnson and Grant, Santa Anna was so much elated with his successes, that, under the impression that the enemy would make no farther resistance, he began to apportion his force to different quarters for taking possession of * The San Antonio River flows into the Guadalupe a few miles above the entrance of the latter into the Bay of Espiritu Santo. (See Map, p. 644.) "Four springs, which rise in a small eminence a short distance from San Antonio de Bexar, (see Map, p. 624,) and unite about a mile above the town, form the river, which is 50 yards wide, and 10 or 12 feet deep,→ ever pure, ever flowing, and preserving an equality of temperature throughout the year. The rapid waters of the San Antonio, running over a pebbly bed, are remarkably wholesome, and so clear that small fish may be seen distinctly at a depth of ten feet. The river is navi. for small steamboats to within ten miles of Goliad."-Kennedy. 1836. Texas. 'One division of his army was directed to cross the Colorado and take possession of San Felipe de Austin; another division was to march for Goliad; while a third prescribed for was ordered to secure the post of Nacogdoches, near the American frontier. 20. The confident spirit which directed these movements was heightened when he heard of the abandonment of Goliad and the capture of Fannin; and believing that his presence in the country was no longer necessary, and that he ought to return to the capital of Mexico, he made preparations for resigning his command to General Filisola. He also announced, in a general order of the day, that the whole brigade of cavalry, and a large portion of the artillery, should be got in readiness to leave Texas, on the 1st of April, for San Luis Potosi. 21. 'Remonstrances from some of his generals, however, and information that the Texans showed a disposition to defend the passage of the Colorado, induced him to suspend the order for a return of part of his army, and to relinquish his intention to depart for the Mexican capital. "His forces, in several divisions, were ordered to cross the Colorado in different places; and, on the 31st of March, Santa Anna and his staff left Bexar, and followed in the rear of the army. 2. 1. The routes his forces. Santa Antions for Texas, in the country was already na's prepara leaving the belief that Causes that to relinquish of immediate induced him his intentions An advance Santa Anna ordered, and leaves Bexar. March 31. of the Texan forces under General the command 22. In the meantime, General Houston, the comman- 5. Movements der-in-chief of the Texan forces, had remained on the left bank of the Colorado until the 26th of the month, at the head of about 1300 men impatient for action; when, apprehensive of being surrounded with the army that was then the main hope of Texas, he ordered a retreat to San Felipe on the Brazos, which he reached on the 27th. Hav. ing secured the best crossing-places of the river, he remained on its eastern bank until the 12th of April, at which time the advanced division of the enemy, led by Santa Anna *himself, had reached the river HOUSTON lower down, in the vicinity of Columbia. Harrisburg is on the south side of Buffalo Bayou, a short distance east from Houston. (See Map.) † New Washington is on the west side of the head of Galveston Bay Map.) عد 6. Movements ing forces towards the of Galveston west branch ANALYSIS. the head of the west branch of Galveston Bay.* General Houston, in the meantime, diverging from his march east. ward with the main body of his army, with the determination of giving battle to Santa Anna, proceeded rapidly towards Harrisburg, the neighborhood of which he reached on the 18th. By the capture of a Mexican cou. 1 Capture of rier on the same evening, he fortunately obtained posses sion of despatches from Filisola, showing the enemy's position, plans, and movements. April 18. a Mexican courier. April 19. Houston Bayou of Santa 24. On the morning of the 19th, after leaving his bag 2. Advance of gage, the sick, and a sufficient camp guard in the rear, down Buffalo he crossed Buffalo Bayout below Harrisburg, and de. scended the right bank of the stream; and by marching April 20. throughout the night, arrived on the morning of the 20th within half a mile of the junction of the Bayou with the 3. Approach San Jacinto River. A short time after halting, the army of Santa Anna, which had been encamped a few miles below, on the San Jacinto, was discovered to be ap proaching in battle array, and preparations were imme1. Withdraw diately made for its reception. Some skirmishing ensued, when the enemy withdrew to the bank of the San Jacinto, about three-quarters of a mile from the Texan camp, and commenced fortifications. In this position the two armies remained during the following night. Anna. al of the enemy. April 21. 5. Numbers of of the enemy cut of. 25. 'About nine o'clock on the morning of the 21st, the the opposing enemy were reenforced by 500 choice troops under the forces. command of General Cos, increasing their effective force to nearly 1600 men; while the aggregate force of the 6. The retreat Texas numbered but 783. At half-past three o'clock on the same day, Houston ordered his officers to parade their respective commands, having previously taken measures for the destruction of the bridges on the only road communicating with the Brazos; thus cutting off all possibil ity of escape for the enemy, should they be defeated. 7. Enthusiasm of the Texans. 8. Order of battle, and advance against the enemy. 26. The troops paraded with alacrity and spirit; the disparity in numbers seeming to increase their enthusiasm, and to heighten their anxiety for the conflict. The order of battle being formed, the cavalry, sixty-one in number, Galveston Bay extends about 35 miles from north to south, and from 12 to 18 miles from east to west. The streams that enter it are numerous, the most important of which is Trinity River, from the north. The average depth of water in the bay is nine or ten feet. About 18 miles above Galveston Island the bay is crossed by Red Fish Bar, on which the water is only five or six feet deep. The principal entrance to the bay, between Galveston Island and Bolivar Point, is about half a mile in width. At low water the depth on the bar at the entrance is only ten feet. A southwestern arm of Galveston Bay extends along the coast, to within two or three miles of the Brazos River. There is also an eastern arm called East Bay, at the head of which enters a deep creek whose source is near that of a similar creek that enters Sabine Lake. (See Map, preceding page.) ↑ Buffalo Bayou, flowing from the west, enters the northwestern extremity of Galveston Bay. It is navigable at all seasons for steamboats drawing six feet of water, as far as Houston, about 35 miles from its mouth by the river's course. (See Map preceding page.) The San Jacinto River, flowing from the north, enters the northwestern extremity of Calveston Bay. It is navigable only a short distance, for small steamboats. (See Map.) |