"Remember Goliad!". It was a cry that rang out across a land that would become Texas. It was as significant to those who fought for Texas Independence as "Remember The Alamo!".
Three hundred forty- two men were massacred on that Palm Sunday in 1836. They had been captured in a battle at Coleto Creek under Colonel Fannin. The men were marched to La Bahia in Goliad. Orders came from the virtual dictator of Mexico, General Santa Anna, that all prisoners would be executed. Fannin had negotiated a peace settlement at surrender. The men all thought they were going to be released. They were marched out of the mission and fort, (Which still stands) in three different groups. About a half mile or so from the mission the killing began. The men were ordered to kneel,which they refused to do. They were shot point blank. A few were missed and ran for the river. Cavalry chased them and bayoneted or lanced the ones they could. Some did make an escape. Colonel Fannin was at the mission/fort. They saved him for last so he could hear the awful, murderous fire. He requested that he not be shot in the face, and that he be given a Christian burial. He was shot in the face and his body burned.
I walked the grounds near this fort this week. The history of those days permeated the entire area. It was moving. This Saturday and Sunday the events will be re-enacted as best possible. It will be the twenty-fifth year such an event has been staged. It is the only one of it's kind in Texas.
The price of freedom is often costly. There are a thousand "Goliads" and "Alamos" around the world. They are in places with names like Iwo Jima and Bataan; Normandy and Verdun. The list is too long to quote here. For Texans, and those who enjoy the state, GOLIAD is a place never to be forgotten in our history. It happened on a Palm Sunday.
