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 Grave of Col. James Fannin and his men -- Goliad TX
N 28° 38.766 W 097° 22.778
14R E 658369 N 3169851
The grand monument at the grave of Col. James Fannin and his men, who were captured at Goliad and executed en masse here on Palm Sunday, 27 Mar 1836, one of the bloodiest days of the Texas War for Independence.
Waymark Code: WMF7YX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/07/2012
Views: 9
This mass grave of Texas heroes remained unmarked for decades and was almost lost to history. Over the years, charred bone fragments and other bits of human remains would be unearthed near the site. In 1928 two acres where these remains were often found was purchased and given to the City of Goliad. A subsequent archaeological investigation confirmed that this was the site of the mass grave for Fannin's army. In 1936 the state of Texas appropriated money for this grand monument, which was dedicated in 1938. It is made of Texas pink granite, and is a popular pilgrimage site for everyone interested in the Republic of Texas and the Texas War of Independence.
Description:
Col. James Fannin was a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point who brougt his family to Texas in 1834. He was a plantation owner and slave trader who, like so many Anglo settlers living in Mexican Texas, joined the fight for Texas independence.
Because of his formal military training, Fannin was first appointed captain of the Brazos Guards, and saw action at the Battle of Gonzales. He led the Texan forces at the battle of Conception.
Army Commander in Chief Sam Houston commissioned Fannin as a colonel in the regular army on December 7, 1835. Two months later Fannin was elected colonel of the Provisional Regiment of Volunteers at Goliad.
In 1836 Mexican General Jose Urrea was operating in the area around Goliad. Fannin had orders to retreat with his army to Victoria, but he hesitated to wait for part of his command which he had sent on a mission to Refugio. This delay proved fateful, as it allowed Urrea to catch and surround Fannin and his men at the Battle of Coleto Creek.
Fannin and his men surrendered to Gen Urrea, who ordered that they be treated appropriately as prisoners of war. That order was overruled by Mexican dictator General Santa Anna, who ordered that Fannin and his men be executed without mercy.
On March 27, 1836, most of Fannin's men were marched out of the Presidio la La Bahia at Goliad and shot at point-blank range. Those who did not die of their gunshot wounds were clubbed or hacked to death.
Fannin was shot last.
Before he was executed, Fannin had given his watch and other valuable possessions to a Mexican soldier with the promise that in exchange he and his men would have proper burials. Instead, the bodies of most of the dead were burned. Those that did not make it into the funeral pyre were left to rot.
The burned and rotting bodies lay in the open for two months.
In all, 342 men died in the massacre. Fewer than 40 of Fannin's men were spared, mostly because they had medical skills that would be useful to the Mexican Army.
The war ended on 21 Apr 1836, less than a month later, when Gen. Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna's Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto.
A few months after the Battle of San Jacinto, Republic of Texas Army Gen. Thomas Rusk was escorting the remnants of the Mexican Army on their retreat back to Mexico. When he came through Goliad, Rusk discovered the remains of Fannin's men in the trenches where they had been burned and on the ground where they had been scattered by animals.
Rusk immediately ordered that the remains be collected and given a proper military funeral. Fannin and his men were buried with full honors in a mass grave on June 4, 1836.
The Goliad massacre and tragic end of Col. Fannin and his men is well known. The town of Fannin in Goliad ounty is named for him, as is Fannin County in North Texas (Bonham, the county seat). Camp Fannin, a United States Army installation, is also named in his honor.
Date of birth: 01/01/1804
Date of death: 03/27/1846
Area of notoriety: Military
Marker Type: Monument
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: The monument is open 24/7/365.
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
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