Remember Goliad!

This isn't just a podcast, it's a Texas state of mind.

Transcript

Setting The Scene At Goliad

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Goliad. Imagine standing on the open prairie near Goliad in March of 1836. The smoke is cleared from the battle at Kalido Creek, and exhausted Texian soldiers believe they're about to become prisoners of war. But history had something far darker in store. Hello there, I'm Tweed Scott, and this is today's episode of The Texan Edge. On March 27, 1836, one of the darkest moments in the Texas Revolution took place. Colonel James Fannon and his Texian soldiers had surrendered days earlier after being surrounded by Mexican forces near Colido Creek, just outside the town of Goliad. After a brutal fight on the open prairie, with little water and little ammunition, and wounded men scattered among the ranks, Fannon realized that they could not hold out much longer. So he surrendered under the belief that his men would be treated as prisoners of war and eventually paroled. They were marched back to Presidio La Bahia at Goliad and held there for several days. Some of the wounded were still being cared for, and many of the prisoners believed that negotiations were still underway. But General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana had already made up his mind. He had issued orders that the captured Texian soldiers were to be treated not as prisoners of war, but as pirates and rebels. In his eyes, they were to be executed. On Palm Sunday morning, March 27th, the prisoners were marched out of the presidio in several groups under armed guard. Some believed that they were being moved to gather firewood. Others thought that they were simply being relocated. That many of the men still believed that they were going to be treated as prisoners of war. A few even joked with the guards as they walked out onto the prairie that morning. They had no idea about what was about to happen. Instead, once they were outside the walls, the Mexican soldiers turned their weapons and opened fire. More than 300 Texian soldiers were killed that morning in what history now remembers as the Goliad Massacre. It was meant to send a message of fear across Texas. Santa Ana likely believed that if he killed enough of these men, the rest of the Texian resistance would just collapse and the people would abandon the fight and go home. But he grossly misjudged the spirit of the people that he was dealing with. You see, they didn't get scared, they got mad. And when the news of Goliad spread across the Texas settlements, it traveled quickly through ranches and towns and frontier camps. Riders carried the story east. There were relatively few survivors who escaped that battle in the brush there, you know, the massacre. But they went on to tell their stories of what they had seen. The reaction was immediate. Men who had been unsure about joining the Texian army suddenly made up their minds. And in just a few weeks later, when Sam Houston's army finally met Santa Anna's forces on the plains at San Yacinto, those soldiers carried two cries into the battle. Remember the Alamo. Remember Goliad. Those words weren't just about revenge. They were about resolve. The understanding that sacrifice demands that the living continue the fight for something greater than themselves. Here's something to think about today. When hardship enters your life, could it become the very thing that strengthens your resolve? History shows that it is possible. And that's today's Texan Edge. I'm Tweed Scott, and we'll sharpen the edge again on Monday. I'll plan on seeing you then. In the meantime, take care of your precious selves.