Happy Texas Independence Day

[392cobra]

176 years ago today !

[elmariachi]

Sadly, its starting to feel a lot less like Texas here and more like Norte Mexico. But in the meantime, "Remember the Alamo and Goliad."

[Beastly]

I was at the Alamo this weekend-Very cool-and in San Antonio this means FIESTA is just a month away!!!!!

[fordracing65]

I remember when Ozzy Osborn got arrested for pissing on the Alamo.

[Beastly]

yeah-I think we banned him from the state....for a while

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by Beastly

yeah-I think we banned him from the state....for a while

That is true, but now you gained the fabulous Hershyl Byrd.

[392cobra]

1836


January 3 James Grant and Frank Johnson are ordered by the Texas General Council to attack Matamoros. They strip the Alamo of most of its remaining men and supplies. The few left to support the Alamo select James C. Neill as their commander.
January 6 Santa Anna arrives at Saltillo.
January 11 James Bowie and William Blount arrive at Goliad to support a Matamoros expedition.
January 14
Sam Houston arrives at Goliad to break up the Matamoros expedition.
J.C. Neill, commander at the Alamo, pleads for supplies.
Philip Dimmitt, commandant at Presidio La Bahia, resigns his post after James Grant strips Goliad of its supplies. Peyton S. Wyatt assumes command.
January 19 James Bowie and James Bonham arrive at the Alamo with thirty men.Houston orders Francis W. Thornton to command at Goliad.
February 1 Elections are held in settlements across Texas for an independence convention.
February 2 James Bowie pleads to Smith for supplies.Fannin arrives with troops at Copano, Texas to aid the Matamoros Expedition.
February 3 William Travis arrives at the Alamo.
February 4 Fannin and troops march to Refugio to link up with Grant and Johnson.
February 7 Fannin at Refugio and is elected colonel of the volunteer troops who will gather around Goliad.Fannin receives information of a Mexican advance upon Texas and abandons a Matamoros attack.
February 8 David Crockett arrives at the Alamo.
February 9 James Grant and Frank Johnson continue on their Matamoros Expedition, gathering horses around San Patricio and South Texas.
February 11 Alamo commander J.C. Neill leaves the Alamo due to a family illness. He appoints Travis commander.
February 12 James Fannin leaves Refugio with his troops and assumes command at Presidio La Bahia in Goliad.
February 13
Santa Anna and his army reach the city of Guerrero.
Urrea reinforces Matamoros and marches toward San Patricio and South Texas.
Travis and Bowie agree upon joint command of the Alamo's forces.
February 16 Santa Anna crosses the Rio Grande.
February 17 Travis sends out letters pleading for men and supplies.General José de Urrea crosses the Rio Grande.
February 21 Santa Anna arrives at the Medina River.
February 22 Heavy rains swell the Medina and spoil a surprise attack by Sesma's cavalry.
February 23
Santa Anna enters San Antonio with generals Sesma, Cos and Castrillón.
The Alamo comes under artillery fire from Mexican troops.
The siege of the Alamo begins.
February 24
Travis writes his famous "To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world" letter.
Bowie becomes ill.
February 25 Fannin, commander of troops at Goliad, receives Travis' plea for aid.
February 26 James Fannin attempts his relief march to the Alamo but turns back. R.M Williamson arrives in Gonzales to help organize the Alamo relief forces gathering there .
February 27 Mexican General José de Urrea attacks and defeats Frank Johnson and a small band of Texans at the Battle of San Patricio.
February 28 Juan Seguin and his relief forces waiting on the Cibolo Creek encounter the Francis L. DeSauque and John Chenoweth party on the Goliad Road (Cibolo crossing), with supplies gathered from the Seguin Ranch, he informs Seguin that Fannin should only be about two days away.
February 29 Houston arrives at Washington on the Brazos. The Gonzales relief forces arrive on the Cibolo below Bexar.
March 1
The Convention of 1836 of elected delegates convenes at Washington-on-the-Brazos.
Thirty-two men from Gonzales of the "Gonzales Company of Mounted Volunteers" enter the Alamo at 1:00 A.M."The Gonzales 32".
March 2
Texas Declaration of Independence is signed and The Republic of Texas is declared.
David G. Burnet is elected interim president by the delegates.
Texans with James Grant are defeated at the Battle of Agua Dulce.
March 3 James B. Bonham arrives back at the Alamo telling Travis that Fannin was not coming.Mexican Aldama, Toluca and Zapadores battalions arrived in San Antonio.
March 4
Sam Houston is appointed commander of all Texas forces.
Santa Anna holds a council of war with Generals Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma, Martín Perfecto de Cos, Manuel F. Castrillónand Colonels Juan Almonte, Agustín Amat, Francisco Duque and Manuel Romero to plan the final assault.
March 5
Mexican artillery stops shelling the Alamo.
Neill at Gonzales in command of the troops gathering there.
March 6 Battle of the Alamo: the Alamo falls. Approximately 180-250 Texians, Tejanos, and Anglos die. The thirteen-day siege resulted in the deaths of all of its defenders, including William B. Travis, David Crockett, and Jim Bowie.Several civilians survived.

[elmariachi]

For all you that have seen the Alamo, you should drive down to Goliad. The Alamo is a tourist trap that, while a sight to see, is so busy and overrun that you can't fully appreciate the magnitude of what happened. Goliad, on the other hand, is desolate. It is quiet, tranquil and untouched compared to the Alamo. You can really get a sense of the scope of what happened in the span of 3 months, especially when you look at the monument erected where Fannin and his men were heaped onto a pile and burned.

[bwcobra15]

Originally Posted by elmariachi

For all you that have seen the Alamo, you should drive down to Goliad. The Alamo is a tourist trap that, while a sight to see, is so busy and overrun that you can't fully appreciate the magnitude of what happened. Goliad, on the other hand, is desolate. It is quiet, tranquil and untouched compared to the Alamo. You can really get a sense of the scope of what happened in the span of 3 months, especially when you look at the monument erected where Fannin and his men were heaped onto a pile and burned.

Here is a GREAT recent episode about the history of the Goliad Massacre. While the Daytripper show is usually quite whimsical and silly, Chet Garner did a fantastic job conveying the story of Goliad in all seriousness.

The Daytripper » Blog Archive » Episode 305: Goliad, TX



.

[392cobra]

March 6th was the 13th day of the Mexican Forces siege of the Alamo.
189 Texians against 4,000 - 6,000 seasoned Mexican Troops.

The assaults started before dawn at 5 AM. The Texians were able to hold the first two assaults. William B. Travis was at his position when he was killed with a bullet to the forehead during the 2nd assault.
The third assault breached the North Wall and the Mexican Forces started to pour in and filled the Plaza.Fierce hand to hand fighting commenced.

Most of the then surviving Texians fell back to the Long Barracks to prepared firing positions. David Crockett and his people were forced back towards the Alamo Church when their position at the South Wall was breached.
James Bowie was in his room in the Low Barracks,very ill on his cot,when his door burst in.He managed to kill a few before being hoisted in the air on their bayonets.

At 6:30 AM ,15 minutes before sunrise and 90 minutes after the 1st assault,it was over.

189 Texians and 1,500 Mexicans were killed in 90 minutes.
Santa Anna lost 1/3 of his fighting force. A very expensive victory.
The Texians accomplished their goals.....bleed the enemy and delay.

Santa Anna had all the Texians gathered on piled in the Plaza.
At 5 PM,12 hours after it had started,Santa Anna set them to fire. The fire burnt for 2 days.

[4RE KLR]

The Goliad story is very interesting. I have not been there but it seems like it would make a great day or weekend trip.

Thanks for the link Bobby.

_____________
Ferrari Killer
Steve

Must Sell Right Now

.

[392cobra]

176 years ago today,21 days after the Alamo fell,Mexican Troops massacred 342 Texians at Goliad.



"The Goliad Massacre

Around 6:00 a.m. on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, after being held captive for one week, Fannin's men were told to gather up their things. They thought that they were going to the Port of Copano and then on to New Orleans. They were happy and singing. They knew that Col. Fannin had returned from the Port of Copano the previous day. What they didn't know was that at 7:00 p.m. the pervious evening,Colonel Portillia had received word directly from General Santa Anna to execute the men. About an hour after Portilla received the execution orders from Santa Anna, he received another order from General Urrea to "Treat the prisoners with consideration, particularly their leader, Fannin, and to employ them in rebuilding Goliad."

It was a foggy morning at sunrise. The able bodied men were formed into three groups, and under very heavy guard taken out of the fort. The Mexican troops were lined up on each side of the line of prisoners. One group was taken out on the San Antonio road, another on the Victoria road, and the other on the Copano road. The prisoners had little suspicion of their fate, because each group had been given a different story as to where they were going. One group was told that they were going to gather wood, another to drive up cattle, and the other group was told that they were going to the port of Copano. At selected spots on each of the three roads from one half to three-fourths of a mile from the fort, the groups were halted. After they halted, the guards on one side stepped through the ranks so that all the guards were on one side, they turned and fired at very close range. Those men that where not killed ran and were pursued by the cavalry.

The soldiers then returned to the fort and executed the wounded that were in the chapel. The wounded were taken out and laid in front of the chapel doors. There were about forty of them. They were then shot as they laid on the ground. Col. Fannin was saved until last. Fannin was taken outside the chapel, blind folded and seated in a chair next to a trench by the watergate. He made three requests, not to be shot in the face, his personal possessions be sent to his family, and that he be given a Christian burial. He was shot in the face, an officer took his personal possessions, and his body was burned along with many of the other bodies. Not all bodies were burned, some were left where they died. There were 342 men who died in the Goliad Massacre, which is almost twice the number of men who died at the Alamo and San Jacinto combined. Twenty-eight men did escape from the three massacre sites and seventeen men's lives were spared. It is from the accounts of the men who escaped and were spared that we know what happened at Presidio La Bahia.

After The Massacre

The clothes of those massacred were stripped off the dead bodies. The women took the clothes to the river and washed out the blood of the men killed, so they could be used by the Mexicans. Eye witness accounts of those spared from the massacre were filling up a water barrel as they watched the river turn red with the blood of their companions.

The bodies would be exposed to the elements and wild animals for over two months. Abel Morgan, one of the few men spared to care for the wounded Mexican soldiers wrote in his account of the massacre: "...Shirlock and I went down to the river after water and Shirlock observed me 'old man, they are going to make a clean turn of us in the morning.' About that time I felt as if it would not make much difference with me; for we were kept at work day and night and if we could have had time to sleep, who could have slept while there were hundreds of wolves and dogs eating the remains of our fellow soldiers, in our hearing?..."

Note: Those that were spared from the massacre were given white arm bands to wear and were allowed to walk about freely. If they lost the arm band, they would be shot immediately, as the Mexican troops were still looking for those that had escaped the massacre and for any Texian troops that might be in the area.

After the battle of San Jacinto, a rumor circulated that General Santa Anna had been rescued from Sam Houston's army, and that Houston had surrendered. This rumor set the troops in the presidio into a celebration. One of the celebratory actions was to shoot at the chapel bells, and this went on for the entire day. Today, you can view one of the bellsvthat was cracked from a gun shot.

By the time it was realized that General Santa Anna had indeed surrendered, the troops in the presidio gathered up what few remains they could find of the men. At this time, almost month had passed and they tried to burn the remains again. The troops then abandoned the presidio and headed south.


Formal Burial Of Fannin And His Men

More than two months after the March 27th massacre, Texas General Thomas J. Rusk , who established his headquarters at Victoria, was escorting second in command of the Mexican army, General Vincente Fillsola and the remainder of the retreating Mexican army around Goliad. General Filisola came by Goliad, but did not dare enter it, as he feared the tempers of the very few remaining men there. This was about June 3rd, 1836.

In Goliad (the area around Presidio La Bahia), the ghastly remains of the massacred men of Fannin's Command were found in the partially covered trenches where they had been dumped and burned. Some bones, gnawed by coyotes and dogs were on top of the ground. General Rusk immediately gave orders for a formal military burial of the bones. Rusk issued the following order for the military funeral:

ARMY ORDER: June 3, 1836 A general parade of the army will take place tomorrow morning half past 3 O'clock A.M., The funeral is ordered at 9 O'clock A.M. Sherman will take command and conduct the procession in the following order: First Artillery, 2nd. Music, 3rd Maj. Morehou's Command, 4th 6 company officers---6 company officers, 5 Mourners. Those of Fannin's command who were in the army and who have so miraculously escaped will attend as mourners, 6. commander in Chief & Staff, 7. Medical Staff, 8. 2nd Regt. comd. by Major Wells , 9. 1st Regnt. Comd. by Lieut. Col. Summerville, 10. Regulars Comd. by Lieut. Col. Milliard ,Major Poe will order a minute gun fired from the fort, commencing with the time the procession moves until it arrives at the grave. Major Morehouses' Command will fire 3 rounds of Blank Cartridges at the grave. Signed Thos J. Rusk Brigr. Gn Com. On reaching the grave General Rusk delivered a short, but feeling and eloquent address."

"FELLOW SOLDIERS: In the order of Providence we are this day called upon to pay the last sad offices of respect to the remains of the noble and heroic band, who, battling for our sacred rights, have fallen beneath the ruthless hand of a tyrant. Their chivalrous conduct entitles them to the heartfelt gratitude of the people of Texas. Without any further interest in the country than that which all noble hearts feel at the bare mention of liberty, they rallied to our standard. Relinquishing the ease, peace, and comforts of their homes, leaving behind them all they held dear, their mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives, they subjected themselves to fatigue and privation, and nobly threw themselves between the people of Texas and the legions of Santa Anna. There, unaided by re-enforcement's and far from help and hope, they battled bravely with the minions of a tyrant, ten to one. Surrounded in the open prairie by this fearful odds, cut off from provisions and even water, they were induced, under the sacred promise of receiving the treatment usual to prisoners of war, to surrender. They were marched back, and for a week treated with the utmost inhumanity and barbarity. They were marched out of yonder fort under the pretense of getting provisions, and it was not until the firing of musketry did the shrieks of the dying, that they were satisfied of their approaching fate. Some endeavored to make their escape, but they were pursued by the ruthless cavalry and most of them cut down with their swords. A small number of them stand by the grave-a bare remnant of that noble band. Our tribute of respect is due to them; it is due to the mothers, sisters, and wives who weep their untimely end, that we should mingle our tears with theirs. In that mass of remains and fragments of bones, many a mother might see her son, many a sister her brother, and many a wife her own beloved and affectionate husband. But we have a consolation- yet to offer them: their murderers sank in death on the prairies of San Jacinto, under the appalling words, "Remember La Bahia." Many a tender and affectionate woman will remember, with tearful eye, "La Bahia." But we have another consolation to offer. It is, that while liberty has a habitation and a name, their chivalrous deeds will be handed down upon the bright pages of history. We can still offer another consolation: Santa Anna, the mock hero, the black-hearted murderer, is within our grasp. Yea, and there he must remain, tortured with the keen pain of corroding conscience. He must oft remember La Bahia, and while the names of those whom he murdered shall soar to the highest pinnacle of fame, his shall sink down into the lowest depths of infamy and disgrace."

http://www.presidiolabahia.org/massacre.htm

[lovehamr]

Originally Posted by elmariachi

For all you that have seen the Alamo, you should drive down to Goliad. The Alamo is a tourist trap that, while a sight to see, is so busy and overrun that you can't fully appreciate the magnitude of what happened.

Agreed, especially considering the Alamo has been rebuilt how many times since then?