Site of Battle of El Perdido

Perry trained as a physician, the third generation of his family to do so. He joined the Gutiérrez-Magee expedition in 1812, took command of the Republican Army of the North in June 1813 and won at Alazán Creek, then helped push José Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara out of the revolution's leadership. After Medina he served as a U.S. artillery captain at New Orleans, recruited filibusters in defiance of the Neutrality Act and camped at Perry's Point near the mouth of the Trinity before sailing with Francisco Xavier Mina in 1817. He broke with Mina and turned back toward Texas.

What the plaque says

Site of Battle of El Perdido During 1810 - 1819 efforts to expel Spain from Texas, a bloody clash occurred here on June 19, 1817, between the forces of Col. Antonio Martinez, last Spanish governor of Texas, and a Mexican Republican Army of invasion that was on its way to attack and capture La Bahia. Republicans had 42 men under Col. Henry Perry and Maj. James H. Gordon, former U.S. officers, veterans of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. Outnumbered 3-to-1, Perry and Gordon refused offer of safe surrender, saying they would die first. Along with 24 of their men, both were killed. (1967)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Battle of Coleto and Goliad Massacre — 1.6 mi
• Cologne Community — 3.2 mi
• First Baptist Church of Goliad — 9.7 mi
• Grave of Colonel J. W. Fannin and His Men — 10.0 mi