Battle of Coleto and Goliad Massacre

The park around this marker took decades of private effort. William L. Hunter, one of Fannin's men who escaped execution, first marked the battlefield with a pile of rocks. In 1913 Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Hanley of Fannin gave the land, and with Mrs. L. G. Kreisle and the Fannin chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas pressing, Leopold Morris of Victoria and John Henry Kirby carried the bill; John H. Bailey of Cuero won it in the Senate. The state built a rock wall in 1914, and Governor James Ferguson came to the dedication.

What the plaque says

Battle of Coleto and Goliad Massacre After the fall of the Alamo, March 6, 1836, Colonel James Walker Fannin, with about 400 soldiers, mostly volunteers from the United States in the Texas War for Independence, was ordered by Texas General Sam Houston to retreat from Goliad to Victoria. March 19, the heavy Mexican force of General Urrea surrounded the withdrawing Texas contingent near Coleto Creek, and bitter fighting ensued. Fannin's volunteers hurled back the assaults of the Mexican force. On the following day, faced with several times their number, the Texans surrendered in the belief they would be treated as prisoners of war of a civilized nation. After removal to Goliad, the Fannin men were marched out and massacred on Palm Sunday under orders of Santa Anna, the general of the Mexican armies. Thus dictator Santa Anna added another infamy to that of the Alamo and gave to the men who saved Texas at San Jacinto their battle cry, "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad". The memorial to Fannin and his men is near Goliad. (1974)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Site of Battle of El Perdido — 1.6 mi
• Cologne Community — 3.4 mi
• Grave of Colonel J. W. Fannin and His Men — 9.4 mi
• Angel of Goliad — 9.4 mi