Goliad Goliad historic city, seat (1837) of Goliad county, southern Texas, U.S., near the San Antonio River, 85 mi (137 km) southeast of San Antonio. A Spanish mission, Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo Zuñiga (Our Lady of the Holy Spirit of Zuniga), and its protective fort, Presidio La Bahía, were established there in 1749 on the site of an Aranama Indian village. The presidio was occupied briefly in 1812 by a filibustering American expedition, led by Augustus Magee, fighting for Mexico against Spain and again in 1821 by James Long's invading Mississippians. At the beginning of the Texas Revolution (December 1835), the presidio's Mexican garrison was overwhelmed by Texans led by George Collinsworth and Ben Milam, and on December 20 a preliminary "declaration of independence" was published there. A few weeks after the fall of the Alamo, a detachment of 330 American and Texan troops at Goliad under Col. James Fannin surrendered (March 20, 1836, after the Battle of Coleto Creek) to superior Mexican forces under Gen. José Urrea. Although Mexican law stipulated that foreign belligerents taken on Mexican soil be executed for piracy, Fannin surrendered with the understanding that his men would be treated as prisoners of war. Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna overruled the agreement, and the entire force was shot on March 27. "Remember " (along with "Remember the Alamo") became one of the two famed Texan revolutionary battle cries. A monument marks the burial site outside the walls of the well-preserved presidio, the officers quarters of which now serve as a museum. The nearby Mission Espíritu Santo has been restored within State Historic Park. The name Goliad, in use since 1829, is supposedly an anagram of (H)idalgo, the Mexican patriot, but may also be derived from the biblical Goliath. is now a farming centre (cotton, grains, turkeys, and ranching) with oil and gas interests, but it is known chiefly as a monument to the Texas Revolution. Pop. (1990) 1,946. Texas Settlement By the 1730s the Spanish had sent more than 30 expeditions into Texas. San Antonio, which by 1718 housed a military post and a mission, had become the administrative centre. Missions, with military support, were established in Nacogdoches in East Texas, Goliad in the south, and near El Paso in the far west. The French also explored Texas. The explorations of Robert Cavelier, Lord de La Salle, and his colony at Matagorda Bay were the bases of French claims to East Texas. Anglo-American colonization gained impetus when the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 and claimed title to lands as far west as the Rio Grande. By 1819, however, the United States had accepted the Sabine River as the western boundary of the Louisiana Territory. Moses Austin secured permission from the Spanish government to colonize 300 families on a grant of 200,000 acres. When Mexico became an independent country in 1821, his son, Stephen F. Austin, received Mexican approval of the grant. He led his first band of settlers to the area along the lower Brazos and Colorado rivers. By 1832 Austin's several colonies had about 8,000 inhabitants. Other colonies brought the territory's Anglo-American population to about 20,000. Revolution and the republic Unrest throughout Mexico, including Texas, resulted in a coup by Antonio López de Santa Anna, who assumed the presidency in 1833. Texans, hopeful for relief from restrictive governmental measures, supported Santa Anna. Austin expected a friendly hearing about these grievances but instead was imprisoned in Mexico City for encouraging insurrection. He was freed in 1835 and returned home to find that skirmishes had already developed between the colonists and Mexican troops and that Santa Anna was preparing to send reinforcements. Texans formed a provisional government in 1835, and in 1836 issued a declaration of independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos. David G. Burnet was chosen ad interim president of the new Republic of Texas, Sam Houston was appointed its military commander, and Austin became commissioner to the United States with the mission of securing strategic aid and enlisting volunteers. The famous siege of the Alamo in San Antonio lasted from February 23 to March 6, 1836. The strategic objective of the stand was to delay Mexican forces and thereby permit military organization of the Texas settlers. As the battle climaxed with a massive attack over the walls, the defenders (about 183) were all killed. Among the dead were the famous frontiersmen Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett. On April 21 Sam Houston led a surprise attack on the Mexican troops at the San Jacinto River, where he succeeded in capturing Santa Anna and in securing victory for the Texans. The Texan revolution was not simply a fight between the Anglo-American settlers and Mexican troops; it was a revolution of the people who were living in Texas against what many of them regarded as tyrannical rule from a distant source. Many of the leaders in the revolution and many of the armed settlers who took part were Mexicans. The Republic of Texas was officially established with Sam Houston as president and Stephen Austin as secretary of state. Cities were named in their honour: Houston was the capital until 1839, when Austin was approved as the permanent capital. The republic had a difficult 10-year life. Financing proved critical, and efforts to secure loans from foreign countries were unsuccessful. Protection against raids from Mexico and occasional attacks by Indians required a mobile armed force. During the republic a squad of armed men, the famous Texas Rangers, was maintained to ride long distances quickly to repel or punish raiding forces. Santa Anna, Antonio López de born Feb. 21, 1794, Jalapa, Mex. died June 21, 1876, Mexico City An army officer and statesman who was the storm centre of Mexico's politics during such events as the Texan revolt (1836) and the Mexican War (1846-48). The son of a minor colonial official, Santa Anna served in the Spanish army and rose to the rank of captain. He fought on both sides of nearly every issue of the day. In 1821 he supported Agustín de Iturbide and the war for Mexican independence, but in 1823 he helped overthrow Iturbide. In 1828 he backed Vicente Guerrero for president, only to help depose him later. Santa Anna gained much prestige in 1829 when he fought against Spain's attempt to reconquer Mexico, and he became known as the Hero of Tampico. This surge of glory helped him gain the presidency in 1833 as a Federalist and opponent of the Roman Catholic church; in actuality, however, he established a centralized state. He remained in power until 1836, when he marched into Texas to quell a rebellion by U.S. settlers there. During the course of this punitive expedition, Texas declared its independence from Mexico (March 2). Santa Anna, after defeating Texan forces at the Alamo and Goliad, then moved eastward to the San Jacinto River, where he was defeated and captured by Sam Houston on April 21. He was sent to Washington, D.C., for an interview with President Andrew Jackson, who returned him to Mexico, where he was forced into retirement. In 1838, when the French navy seized Veracruz and demanded an indemnity for injuries to French citizens in Mexico, Santa Anna led forces to Veracruz, only to shoot at the ships as they departed. He lost a leg in the skirmish. He gained enough prestige from this event to act as dictator from March to July 1839, while the president was away. Two years later he led a revolt and seized power, which he held until he was driven into exile in 1845. When war with the United States broke out, Santa Anna contacted U.S. president James Polk, who arranged for a ship to take him to Mexico for the purpose of working for peace. Santa Anna took charge of the Mexican forces upon his return; but instead of acting for peace, he led his men against the United States until he was routed by U.S. forces under General Winfield Scott. Santa Anna again retired, moving to Jamaica in 1847 and to New Granada in 1853. Ten years later he sought U.S. support in an attempt to oust the emperor Maximilian, whom the French had placed on the Mexican throne; at the same time, he offered his services to Maximilian. Both proposals were refused. Two years before he died, poor and blind, Santa Anna was allowed to return to his country. Santa Anna possessed a magnetic personality and real qualities of leadership, but his lack of principles, his pride, and his love of military glory and extravagance, coupled with a disregard for and incompetence in civil affairs, led Mexico into a series of disasters and himself into ill repute and tragedy. Goliad Campaign of 1835 (9 October 1835) The town of Goliad held a strategic position at the time of the Texas Revolution. It was located some 50 miles up the San Antonio River on a key route between San Antonio and the port of Copano on the Gulf coast. Thus, any Mexican naval supply line to San Antonio passed by the town. Further, Goliad was the site of a well fortified Spanish presidio elevated above the banks of the river. In a plan to reinforce Mexican forces at Goliad and San Antonio, Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos landed at Copano and occupied Goliad on October 2, 1835 with an advanced force. These forces were soon joined by a main force of over 400 men. By October 5, however, Cos took most of his men and departed for San Antonio. A small residual force of some 30 men remained at Goliad to hold the presidio and the supplies it contained. Meanwhile, a force of some 50 Texas volunteers under George Collingsworth determined to take the Goliad presidio. Marching from nearby Victoria, they were joined by Ben Milam just prior to the attack in the late evening of October 9. The Texans entered the presidio by forcing through the doors of the ajoining church, and overtook the Mexican defenders in the matter of a few minutes. Casualties were light on both sides. In taking Goliad, the Texans not only gained the strategic presidio, but also captured much needed supplies. These were used in the following months to helped sustain the Texas forces during the Siege of Baxer. The small attack force of Texans were soon augmented by a larger group of volunteers. Goliad Massacre (27 March 1836) As part of the Mexican invasion of Texas in early 1836, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his main force of at least 5000 men followed an inland route toward San Antonio. At the same time, Mexican General Jose Urrea with some 900 troops, left Matamoros and followed a coastal route into Texas. The first town approached by Urrea was San Patricio, where on February 27 he encountered Frank Johnson and about 50 Texans. Johnson and four of his men escaped, but the rest were either killed or captured. A few days later, the Mexicans also fell upon James Grant and another 50 men, and all but one of the Texans were killed. Citizens of Refugio, the next town in Urrea's path, were slow to evacuate. To provide assistance, James W. Fannin, commander of forces at Goliad, sent two relief forces. The first of these groups numbered about 30 men under Aaron King, followed by a larger group of some 150 men under William Ward. Like Johnson's force, both of these groups were eventually killed or captured by the Mexicans. Meanwhile back in Goliad, Fannin and his remaining force of about 350 were called on to aid William Barrett Travis and the Alamo defenders. Afterwards, he was also ordered by Sam Houston to retreat with back to Victoria. Due to indecision and carelessness by Fannin, however, he failed to accomplish either of these missions. After a delay of about five days following Houston's order, Fannin finally began his retreat. It was not long, however, before the Texans found themselves surrounded on open prairie. Several attacks by Urrea resulted each time in the Mexicans being repulsed by the deadly fire of the Texans. By dusk, the Texans had lost about sixty men killed or wounded against some 200 of the Mexicans. Still heavily outnumbered and with no water and few supplies, the Texans waved the white flag of truce the following morning. Believing that they would be taken captive and eventually returned to their homes, the Texans surrendered the morning of March 20. The were escorted back to Goliad as prisoners. When news of their capture reached Santa Anna, however, he was furious that the Texans had not been executed on the spot. Citing a recently passed law that all foreigners taken under arms would be treated as pirates and executed, Santa Anna sent orders to execute the Goliad prisoners. Santa Anna's orders were followed. On Palm Sunday, the 27th of March, the prisoners were divided into three groups, marched onto open prairie, and shot. Thus, all of Fannin's command except a few that managed to escape and several physicians and others deemed useful by the Mexicans, were massacred, collected into piles, and burned. Like the defenders at the Battle of the Alamo who died only three weeks earlier, the men of Goliad served as martyrs for the remaining forces in Houston's army. Three weeks later, the Texans sought their revenge. Inspired by cries of "Remember " and "Remember the Alamo," the outnumbered Texans won one of history's most decisive victories at the Battle of San Jacinto San Jacinto, Battle of (April 21, 1836) Defeat of a Mexican army of about 1,500 troops under General Antonio López de Santa Anna by about 800 men (mostly recent arrivals in Texas) led by General Sam Houston. The outcome assured the success of American settlers in Texas in their war for independence from Mexico. Along the San Jacinto River, near the site of what was to be the city of Houston, Houston's men, after days of retreat, took the Mexican fortified position by surprise, shouting "Remember the Alamo, remember Goliad" (the scenes of their previous defeats by Santa Anna); in less than a half hour, they killed about 600 Mexicans and wounded 200 more. Within 24 hours, 700 more were captured, including Santa Anna, who was freed after he came to terms with Houston to end the war. Six of Houston's men were killed, about 30 wounded.